Employee epowerment ? terminological and practical perspective in Poland
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24136/oc.v8i2.19Keywords:
employee empowerment, human resource management, employee participationAbstract
Research background: The 1980s saw popularization of the management paradigm requir-ing that employee intellectual potential should be noticed and used. The subjective approach to employees is fully reflected in the empowerment process. The definition scope of the analysed notion has not been unambiguously delineated to date. In narrow terms, empowerment means delegating power in the decision-making process and is considered a management method. In broad terms, in turn, the idea is at times called even a management concept.
Purpose of the article: The aim of this paper is to provide answers to the following research questions: (1) Can empowerment be called a separate management concept? (2) What is the awareness of the essence of empowerment among contemporary employees? (3) What are the barriers to implementing empowerment assumptions in enterprises?
Methods: The research process was based on literature studies and empirical research that was conducted in Poland under two separate research projects. One, carried out in the period 2006?2015, was oriented towards assessing the level of interest in employee participation and identifying the approach to implementing such participation in enterprises. The research covered over 300 respondents. It used structured interview complemented with free interview and analysis of the provided documents of the respondents? enterprises. The results of the research encouraged a closer look at the category of empowerment. Pilot empirical research on the category of empowerment was conducted in 2016 with questionnaire surveys. The research sample was 63 employees.
Findings: It was found that empowerment should be perceived as certain expansion of employee participation rather than a separate management concept. It consisted in sharing not only information but also power with employees. The results of the empirical research permitted the ascertainment that interest in lower participation forms prevailed among the respondents. Barriers related to applying empowerment were sought in this context. The pilot research allowed a conclusion that the barriers should be sought primarily in the failure to prepare (also mentally) employees and employers for using empowerment. Although the presented results of the research are not representative, they encourage further in-depth research within the discussed area.
Downloads
References
Berry, D., Cadwell, Ch., Fehrmann, J. (1994). 50 activities for coaching/mentoring. Amherst: Human Resource Development Press Inc.
Błaszczyk, B. (1988). Employee participation in enterprise management in the Western European countries. Warszawa: PWE.
Bowen, D. E., & Lawler, E. E. (1992), The empowerment of services workers: what, why, how and when. Sloan Management Review, 33.
Bratnicki, M. (2000). The basics of modern thinking about management. Dąbrowa Górnicza: Wyd. WSB w Dąbrowie Górniczej.
Brilman, J. ( 2002). Modern concepts and methods of management. Warszawa: PWE.
Bugdol, M. (2006). Organizational values. Sketches about the theory of organization and management. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego.
Cierniak-Emerych, A. (2012). Employee participation in enterprise potential management. Wrocław: Wyd. UE we Wrocławiu.
Emamgholizadeh S., Matin H. Z., & Razavi H.R. (2011). Is participation in decision making related to employee's empowerment?. African Journal of Business Management, 5(9).
Fortier M., Albert M.-N. (2015). From resource to human being: toward persons management. SAGE Open, 5(3). doi: 10.1177/2158244015604347.
Gableta, M., & Cierniak-Emerych, A. (2005). Employee participation and empowerment in EU enterprises. Prace i Materiały Wydziału Zarządzania Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego. 5.
Hanaysha J., & Tahir P. R. (2016). Examining the effects of employee empowerment, teamwork, and employee training on job satisfaction. Procedia ? Social and Behavioral Sciences, 219. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.05.016.
http://social.un.org/empowerment (11.07.2016).
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/ngo/outreachmaterials/empowerment-booklet.pdf (11.07.2016).
Jain, S., & Jain, R. (2014). Employee empowerment in Indian banks: an empirical study. Journal of Institute of Public Enterprise, 37(3-4).
Kanafa-Chmielewska, D. (2012). Empowerment ? the concept and its essence. Współczesne Zarządzanie, 1.
Kanter, R. M. (1977). Men and women of the corporation. New York: Basic Books.
Krawczyk-Bryłka, B. (2012). Empowerment ? management strategy based on trust. Zarządzanie i Finanse, 4(1).
Lee, M., & Kohn, J. (2001). Is empowerment really a new concept?. International Journal of Management Review, 12 (4). doi: 10.1080/713769649.
Mendel, T. (2001). Participation in modern organizations? management. Poznań: Wydawnictwo Akademii Ekonomicznej.
Moczydłowska, J., & Kowalewski, K. (2014). The new people management concepts. Warszawa: Difin.
Nauman, S., Khan, A. M. , & Ehsan, N. (2010). Patterns of empowerment and leadership style in project environment. International Journal of Project Management, 28(7). doi: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2009.11.013.
Ongori, H. (2009). Managing behind the scenes: A view point on employee empowerment. African Journal of Business Management, 3(2).
Ostrowski, P. (2009). Formation of trade unions in the private business sector in Poland. Warszawa: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
Peccei, R., & Rosenthal, P. (2001). Delivering customer-oriented behavior through empowerment: an empirical test of HRM assumptions. Journal of Management Studies, 38(6).
Piwowar-Sulej, K. (2010). Evolution of an employee position in an organization. In A. P. Balcerzak (Ed.). Enterprise in Highly Competitive Environment. Toruń: Wyd. Naukowe Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika.
Pool, M.(1992). Industrial democracy. In G. Szell (Ed.). Concise encyclopedia of participation & co-management. Berlin-New York: Walter de Gruyter.
Randeniya, R., Baggaley, N., & Rahim, M. A. (1995). Total qality management: the need to uncouple empowerment. Total Quality Management, 6(3). doi: 10.1080/09544129550035387.
Rudolf, S., & Skorupińska, K. (2012). Direct form of employee participation. Poland and the old UE member countries. Łódź: Wyd. Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego.
Sanders, K., & Yang, H. (2016). The HRM process approach: the influence on employees? attribution to explain the HRM performance relationship. Human Resource Management, 55(2). doi: 10.1002/hrm.21661.
Shah, T. A., Nisar, M., Rehman, K., & Rehman, I. (2011). Influence of transformational leadership on employees outcomes: mediating role of empowerment. African Journal of Business Management, 5(21).
Sharma, M. K., & Kaur, G. (2008). Employee empowerment: a conceptual analysis. Journal of Global Business Issues, 2(2).
Spreitzer, G. (1995). Psychological empowerment in the workplace: dimension, measurement, and validation. Academy of Management Journal, 38(5). doi: 10.2307/256865.
Story, M. R. (1995). The secrets of successful empowermentational. Productivity Review, 14.
Weiss, D. (1978). Industrial democracy: co-management or employee control?. Paris: Editions d?Organisation.
Weiss, M., & Kruger, H. (Eds.) (1990). Industrial relations in Federal Republic of Germany. Baden-Baden: Ein Glosser.
Wilkinson, A. (1998). Empowerment: theory and practice. Personal Review, 27(1). doi: 10.1108/00483489810368549.
Zeffane, R., & Al Zarooni, M. H. (2012). Empowerment, trust and commitment: the moderating role of work-unit centrality. International Journal of Management, 29(1/2).
