Investigating the effects of employee empowerment on turnover intention in a mining organisation

Abstract

Orientation: Mining plays a significant role in the South African economy and is crucial for job creation opportunities. Mining organisations are plagued by various challenges, which include turnover intention.Research purpose: The current study sought to establish whether employee empowerment (psychological and structural empowerment) predicts turnover intention in a mining organisation.Research approach/design and method: The study followed a quantitative research approach and used a cross-sectional design. A non-probability sampling technique was used, and a purposive sampling method was selected. The sample comprised 371 mining employees (men = 276; women = 95). Data were collected through pre-established measures, all of which reported acceptable Cronbach’s alphas. Various statistical techniques were employed to address the main research objective.Main findings: Employee empowerment negatively impacts turnover intention. The employees who perceived having informal power were more likely to consider leaving the organisation. Employees who perceived less formal power were more likely to consider leaving than the employees who perceived having formal power.Practical/managerial implications: Recommendations are made to HR practitioners regarding employee empowerment of mining employees, which, when implemented, have the potential to reduce employee turnover intention.Contribution/value-add: The results of this study provide a better understanding to human resource managers about the relationship between employee empowerment and turnover intention of mining personnel. This study contributed to theory, as some key findings are different from previous studies within the South African context.

The Role of Organizational Politics on The Relationship Between Human Resource Management Practices and Employee Performance: Evidence from Public Sector Organization in Oman

“…High performing employees are usually more satisfied with their jobs (Mahmood & Sahar, 2017). Empowerment influences job satisfaction (Ngqeza & Dhanpat, 2021), and employees can use informal skills to influence managers to make appropriate decisions for specific service situations. informal skills can help workers learn the language (Eriksson & Engstrom, 2018).…”

“…Perceptions of formal and informal skills can influence access to organizational empowerment structures, and a combination of formal power, informal power, and access to empowerment structures can predict the level of employee involvement in workrelated decisions. Empowerment programs significantly affect employee performance (Eriksson & Engstrom, 2018;Ngqeza & Dhanpat, 2021).…”

“…Empowered employees tend to stick with the employer through good times and bad. Empowering managerial practices can result in a more energetic and resilient workforce (Ngqeza & Dhanpat, 2021). Empowered employees are also more likely to be innovative and able to provide solutions for organizational clients (Kostopoulos, 2019).…”

“…High-performing employees typically have higher job satisfaction levels (Mahmood & Sahar, 2017). Employees can encourage supervisors to make the right decisions for particular service scenarios by using informal skills (Ngqeza & Dhanpat, 2021). Job happiness is influenced by empowerment (Ngqeza & Dhanpat, 2021).…”

The impact of human resource practices on employee retention: A study of three private higher educational institutions in the United Arab Emirates

“…According to Yesufu (2020) and Beijer et al (2021), different organisations apply HR practices before and after recruiting an employee. The pre-recruitment practices include communication, recruitment and selection, compensation and benefits, whilst the practices after recruitment include training, development, empowerment, compensation and benefits (Modau, Dhanpat, Lugisani, Mabojane, & Phiri, 2018;Ngqeza & Dhanpat, 2021;Yesufu, 2020). Kumudha and Harsha (2016) in their study on the relationship between HR practices and employee retention in a private hospital in the UAE found that the lack of organisational commitment impacts employees' perceptions and sense of belonging to an organisation as most of these employees are unable to relate their career growth to the organisation's path and are dissatisfied with the practices of HR policies.…”