The effect of psychological empowerment on withdrawal behaviours as mediated by organisational citizenship behaviour and work engagement in a South African military university
Date
2021-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
Abstract
ENGLISH SUMMARY : Absence from the place of work (especially without a plausible reason), tardiness, and erosion of skilled employees in an organisation could disrupt work processes and adversely affect individual performance and organisational productivity. Organisations that empower their employees become positive places to work, through building trust in teams and ensuring employee pride and enjoyment of work. The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of psychological empowerment on withdrawal behaviours as mediated by organisational citizenship behaviour and work engagement. Survey data was collected using online self-report questionnaires from South African military university uniformed members, which included staff members, lecturers, and students.
The final sample of 250 participants was assessed on psychological empowerment in their workplace, as well as their organisational citizenship behaviour, work engagement, and withdrawal behaviours. The measuring instruments used to collect data were the 12-item psychological empowerment scale by Spreitzer (1995), the 24-item organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) scale by Podsakoff et al. (1990), the 17-item work engagement scale by Schaufeli et al. (2002), and the 20-item withdrawal behaviours scale by Erdemli (2015). SPSS was used to compute reliability and dimensionality analyses from the collected data. Confirmatory factor analyses for each scale were computed. The revised measurement and structural model can generally be regarded as good. Measurement and structural models were fitted to the data using structural equation modelling (SEM) through LISREL.
The findings indicated that psychological empowerment has a positive, significant effect on organisational citizenship behaviour; psychological empowerment has a positive, significant effect on work engagement; psychological empowerment has a negative, significant effect on withdrawal behaviours; and organisational citizenship behaviour has a positive, significant effect on work engagement. The findings also indicated that organisational citizenship behaviour mediated the effect of psychological empowerment on withdrawal behaviours, while work engagement mediated the effect of psychological empowerment on withdrawal behaviours. Support was not found for the effect of organisational citizenship behaviour on withdrawal behaviours, nor for the effect of work engagement on withdrawal behaviours. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future studies were presented. The findings will help managers and leaders better manage their employees to reduce their withdrawal behaviours in the organisation.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING : Geen opsomming beskikbaar.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING : Geen opsomming beskikbaar.
Description
Thesis (MCom)--Stellenbosch University, 2021.
Keywords
Employee empowerment -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa, Social isolation, Work environment -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa, Employee loyalty, Organizational commitment, Organizational behavior, Military art and science -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa, UCTD