INFLUENCE OF EMPLOYEE PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT ON ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT IN KENYA CIVIL SERVICE
Abstract
Organizational commitment is a critical element of staff retention and highly associated with intent to leave and actual turnover. Due to lack of commitment, the public service in Kenya has been characterized by exodus of the employees joining the private sector and other employment opportunities. Moreover, services by public organizations have been very poor despite the fact that public services provide enabling environment under which the players in the economy are able to operate effectively and efficiently. There is therefore need to introduce new strategies that will enhance organizational commitment. Sharing power, resources, and knowledge with employees through empowerment serves to increase job satisfaction and commitment. This study aimed to determine the influences of employee psychological empowerment on organizational commitment in Kenya civil service. Among the factors of empowerment the study emphasized on meaning cognition, competence cognition, self-determination cognition and impact cognition which are strategies in employee empowerment that leads to organizational commitment. The study employed a cross-sectional descriptive survey research approach and used both qualitative and quantitative methods in the selection of the participants and collection of data. Cluster sampling was employed to select 384 respondents from four public organizations in the education sector: Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, Higher Education Loans Board, Teachers Service Commission and Kenya National Examination Council. Data collection instruments included semi-structured questionnaires and document reviews. The collected data was captured in MS Excel and analyzed using SPSS. Inferential data analysis techniques such as regression and correlation analysis were used to analyze the collected data. The analyzed data was presented in suitable graphs and tables.
Key words: Organizational commitment, psychological empowerment, meaning cognition, competence cognition, self-determination cognition, impact cognition and Kenya Civil service.
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Ashforth, B. E. (1989). The experience of powerlessness in organizations. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 43(2), 207-242.
Boudrias, J. S., Gaudreau, P., Savoie, A., & Morin, A. J. S. (2009). Employee empowerment: From managerial practices to employees’ behavioral empowerment. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 30, 625–638.
Brymer, R. (1991). “Empowerment: A guest-driven leadership strategy”. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 32, 58-68.
Carriere, J., & Bourque, C. (2009) The effects of organizational communication on job satisfaction and organizational commitment in a land ambulance service and the mediating role of communication satisfaction. Career Development International , 14, (1), 29-49.
Conger, J.A., & Kanungo, R.N. (1988). The empowerment process: Integrating theory and practice. Academy of Management Review, 13(3), 471-482.
Government of Kenya (GoK) (2012). Report on evaluation of the performance of public agencies for the financial year 2010/2011. Available at: http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/sites/default/files/Performance_Evaluation_Report_FY_201011_GP.pdf
Humborstad, S.I.W. and Perry C. (2011). Employee empowerment, job satisfaction and organizational commitment: An in-depth empirical investigation. Chinese Management Studies. 5(3): p. 325-344.
Kipkebut, D. J. (2010). Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction in Higher Educational Institutions: The Kenyan Case. PhD thesis, Middlesex University.
Krishna, Y. R. (2007). Psychological empowerment and organizational commitment. The Icfai Journal of Organizational Behavior, 6(4), 26-36.
Lambert, E. G., Hogan, N. L. & Jiang, S. (2008) Exploring antecedents of five types of organizational commitment among correctional staff: it matters what you measure. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 19 (4), p. 466-490.
Li, C.P., (2006). Psychological empowerment: Measurement and its effect on employee work attitude in China. Acta Psychological Sinica. 38(1): p. 99-106.
Lockwood, N. R. (2007). Leveraging employee engagement for competitive advantage: HR’s strategic role. Alexandria: Society for Human Resource Management
Pratt, M. G., & Ashforth, B. E. (2003). Fostering meaningfulness in working and at work. In K.S. Cameron, J. E. Dutton, & R. E. Quinn (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship: Foundations of a new discipline (309-327), San Francisco: Berrett- Koehler Publishers Inc.
Spreitzer, G. M., Kizilos, M. A., & Nason, S. W. (1997). A dimensional analysis of the relationship between psychological empowerment and effectiveness, satisfaction, and strain. Journal of Management 23(5), 679-704.
Spreitzer, G.M. (1995). Psychological empowerment in the workplace: Dimensions, measurement and validation. Academy of Management Journal, 38(5), 1442-1465.
Thomas, K. B., & Velthouse, B. A. (1990). Cognition elements of empowerment: an "interpretive"model of intrinsic task motivation. Academy of Management Review, 15, 666-681.
Thomas, K. B., & Velthouse, B. A. (1990). Cognition elements of empowerment: an "interpretive"model of intrinsic task motivation. Academy of Management Review, 15, 666-681.
Thomas, K.W., & Velthouse, B.A. (1990). Cognitive elements of empowerment: A “Interpretive” Model of intrinsic task motivation. Academy of Management Review, 15(4), 666-681.
Vacharakiat, M. (2008). The relationships of empowerment, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment among Filipino and American registered nurses working in the USA. (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of George, Mason.
World Bank (2001), Implementation Completion Report on a Credit in the Amount of SDRs 17.2 Million to the Government of the Republic of Kenya for an Institutional Development and Civil Service Reform Project. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Zimmerman, M.A. (1990). Taking aim on empowerment research: On the distinction between individual and psychological concepts. American Journal of Community Psychology, 18(1), 169-177.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.61426/sjbcm.v3i1.217
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
PAST ISSUES:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.