Literature Review On Psychological Empowerment

In the paradigm of management, empowerment is viewed as losing authority and control over people and resources. Generally, people resent being driven, controlled and being seen as part of company equipment. This breeds apathy in employees towards the organisation’s intents in the market place and destroys accountability.

The purpose of this paper is to create a concept analysis and identify a nursing concept that is within a nursing theory. A concept analysis is a process where concepts and their characteristics are researched and clarified. The eight steps on conducting a concept analysis include selection of a concept used in a nursing theory, identification of the aims or purposes of the analysis, identification of possible use of the selected concept, determination of defining attributes, identification of model cases, identification of antecedents and consequences, and lastly definition of empirical referents (Walker & Avant, 2011). The nursing concept selected for this paper is “empowerment” within the nursing profession. The nursing theory from which the empowerment concept was obtained is Kanter’s Theory on Structural Empowerment. In order to empower someone, an individual needs the tools and resources to feel powered. According to Laschinger, Gilbert, Smith, & Leslie (2010), Kanter defines power as the ability to mobilize information, resources and support to get things done in an organization. The role of management is to provide employees with power tools that empower them to maximize their ability to accomplish their work in a meaningful way. Kanter goes on to describe two primary empowerment structures in organizations, first being the structure of opportunity and second the structure of power. The structure of opportunity relates to job conditions that provide

Empowerment is a concept we all have heard at one time or another it is utilized in numerous professions and specialties. Analysis of this concept will further understanding of empowerment for nursing professionals in areas from research, theory development or practice. Exploring the attributes, consequences, implications and model cases of empowerment can assist the nursing professional in utilizing empowerment to its fullest potential. Within the scope of nursing, empowerment can be seen not purely as how it relates to the client, or the nurse but also how it relates to both the client and the nurse (Rodwell 1996). The Walker-Avant method was used to analyze this concept, as it was the most commonly seen in nursing literature (McEwen &

In many ways, empowerment embodies principles effective managers and leaders have practiced for years. Two new driving forces in business, increased diversity and high-speed change, magnify the need for empowerment. Empowering people is now indispensable for effective personal productivity and maximum team success.

Employee empowerment is defined as giving employees a degree of autonomy and responsibility for decision-making. The benefits are

According to Hyde (2008), “Culture is determined by how people behave, and the only way to change culture is to change behaviors” (p. 6). A key aspect of changing behavior is enabling (empowering) employees to make decisions and create change within their work scope. By giving employees the power to make changes not only improves their morale, but also benefits the company in which they work by increasing their productivity. According to Marshall, et. Al (2006), “Allowing employees to make decisions increases their job satisfaction and sense of responsibility and translates into improvements in the quality and timeliness with which duties are performed, freeing management for more significant matters” (p. 39). By giving decision making authority to followers, transformation leaders are using what Bass (1991) referred to as psychological empowerment. In other words, empowerment influences follower outcomes.

Psychological empowerment, according to Zimmerman (1995, p. 590), has three major components that “merge to form a picture of a person who believes that he or she has the capability to influence a given context [intrapersonal component], understands how the system works in that context [interactional component], and engages in behaviours to exert control in the context” [behavioural component], which exemplify development of consciousness.

In addition, leadership itself can be described in various forms and through the highlight of different skill sets, but the one thing that all definitions have in common is that “leadership involves influencing the attitudes, beliefs, behaviours and feelings of other people” Spector’s work (as cited in Curtis, de Vries, & Sheerin, 2011, p.306). When the skill set of a leader is compared to that of a manager, true differences are noted. Some of these key differences are apparent even in the approach utilized to reach the desired goals. While a manager directs, a leader transforms, a manager sustains and a leader improves, a manager controls, a leader motivates, a manager’s focus is on short-term goals and a leader’s is long-term based, managers ask how and when, while

The single most important component associated with managing a successful organization, entails the empowerment of employees. People that are empowered are able to make smart decisions without always having to rely on authority, to point them in the right direction. Creating an empowered organization involves interest in the workplace; minimal absence from work, high retention rates; loyal and motivated team members; as well as efficient results and effective communication amongst team members. In the book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Weichun, Z., Sosik, J. J., Riggio, R. E., & Baiyin, Y. (2012). Relationships between Transformational and Active Transactional Leadership and Followers' Organizational Identification: The Role of Psychological Empowerment. Journal Of Behavioral & Applied Management, 13(3), 186-212.

In many companies, operational employees also need information to handle tasks and make decisions that were assigned to supervisors. This trend, called empowerment, gives employees more

Empowerment is an issue that is imperative to the change process. We touched on the idea of empowerment while exploring power, and politics in the workplace. Empowerment is important in regards to The Heart Of

Motivation and empowerment. In R. L. Daft, Leadership (pp. Chapter 8 pages 200 - 220).

Empowerment addresses the power inequality inherent in subordination. Food and Beverage manager Michelle Cook is above Executive chef Ritchie Gravy in formal authority but she is subordinate because Ritchie is in a relational position of power over her. Empowerment, therefore, concerns releasing the shackles placed on floor staffs by kitchen staffs who have power in Café Hip. In this case, as management is empowering the

Empowerment is the best way to promote a good long-lasting employee-customer relationship (Fragoso, 1999). Empowerment can also bring certain benefits to employees of an organization. It makes the employees give more input to company improvements; it promotes higher productivity, and is a good balance between their personal and professional lives. It exercises employees’ minds to find better solutions to problems on the job and increases the employees’ potential for promotions and job satisfaction. It results in personal growth, feelings of confidence and control in themselves and their companies. It makes workers utilize their potentials and it enables them to stand behind their decisions, assume risks, participate and take actions. It is a win-win-win situation: customers benefit from employees, organization benefit from the employees and the customers, and employees benefit from higher confidence and self-esteem (Fragoso, 1999).