The Impact of Employee Empowerment on Job Engagement: Evidence from Jordan

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of employee empowerment (i.e., structural and psychological empowerment) on job engagement (i.e., physical, emotional, and cognitive engagement). A quantitative approach was adopted in order to achieve such a study aim, and the data was collected via an online questionnaire. The sample of this study consisted of 300 employees from the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), one of the biggest Jordanian organisations in Aqaba, with a total of 293 questionnaires retrieved and 7 excluded due to their being invalid for statistical analysis. This yielded a total of 286 accepted questionnaires, or 95.3% of the total questionnaires provided. Moreover, the Statistical Analysis Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used for data analysis, the results of which indicating that the level of implementation of employee empowerment dimensions had a medium rate amongst ASEZA’s employees, as the structural empowerment was applied more than the psychological empowerment. Furthermore, the level of present job engagement dimensions also had a medium rate amongst the surveyed ASEZA employees. The results also indicated there to be a significant statistical impact by structural and psychological empowerment on physical engagement and cognitive engagement, whilst there was no significant statistical impact made by structural empowerment on emotional engagement compared to psychological empowerment, which had a significant statistical impact on it. In light of the findings of this research, ASEZA managers must pay more attention to the role of empowerment of employees in promoting work engagement, since this enhances the organisation’s ability to achieve the appropriate strategy and gain a comparative advantage.

The impact of employee empowerment on organizational performance: A mediating role of employee engagement and organisational citizenship behaviour

“…The results are linked with those obtained in previous studies (Azlan & Wahab, 2020;Al-Dmour et al, 2019), showing that psychological empowerment is an element of motivation for employee engagement (Alhozi et al, 2021). Through psychological empowerment, employees develop a strong willpower and preference for their jobs, which motivate them to give greater attention to their work (Alhozi et al, 2021;Jose & Mampilly, 2014). These employees become agents of growth and support the vision of the company by contributing fresh ideas to ensure the organisation's continuous stay in business (Azlan & Wahab, 2020).…”

“…The analysis confirmed that psychological empowerment has a significant positive effect on employee engagement. The results are linked with those obtained in previous studies (Azlan & Wahab, 2020;Al-Dmour et al, 2019), showing that psychological empowerment is an element of motivation for employee engagement (Alhozi et al, 2021). Through psychological empowerment, employees develop a strong willpower and preference for their jobs, which motivate them to give greater attention to their work (Alhozi et al, 2021;Jose & Mampilly, 2014).…”

“…This finding is similar to what was found in Hassona (2013). Structural empowerment motivates employees thereby increasing their level of engagement towards the organisation (Alhozi, Al Hawamdeh & Al-Edenat, 2021), and consequently, provides the opportunity to retain employees for higher productivity. The management bodies of companies are encouraged to apply the best empowerment strategies to empower their workers for higher level of engagement for better outcomes (Bekirogullari, 2019).…”

How Transformational Leaders Are Engaged in Work Settings During Episode of Covid-19? Exploring Mediating Effects of Structural Empowerment and Process Innovation

“…A study revealed that implementing the dimension of empowerment had a medium rate among staff, as the SE was applied more than the psychological empowerment. The outcomes demonstrated that there was a critical factual effect by structural and psychological empowerment on physical engagement and cognitive engagement, while there was no huge measurable effect made by structural empowerment on emotional engagement contrasted with psychological empowerment, which genuinely affected it during challenging times (Alhozi et al, 2021).…”

Investigating the impact of human resource management practices on employee engagement, and the moderating role of strategy implementation in Egypt

“…On the other hand, EE refers to the degree to which employees have positive affection towards their tasks and their organisations. It is linked to the emotions that affect employees' attitudes, whether negative or positive, towards the organisation and its top managers (Alhozi, Hawamdeh, & Al-Edenat, 2021). Employees' positive emotional experiences, as well as their relationship with their colleagues, would form meaningful connections with the organisation (Luthans & Peterson, 2002).…”