Empowering Employees: Structural Empowerment as Antecedent of Job Satisfaction in University Settings

With more organizations looking for employees who take the initiative and respond creatively to the challenges of the job, empowerment important at both individual and organizational levels. Empowered employees are generally more satisfied with their work, committed effective at work. According to Kanter's structural empowerment, this study examines the role of access to opportunity, resources, support information, and two types of power, formal and informal, as antecedents of job satisfaction. A cross sectional study using questionnaires conducted. The sample consisted of 226 Spanish university teachers. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses have revealed that job satisfaction was significantly predicted by formal power and access to opportunity, and job satisfaction with supervisor was by informal power, and access to resources, information, and support. Results support Kanter's theory of structural empowerment, suggest strong relationships between job satisfaction and structural empowerment. It is a link between empowering work settings and outcomes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, effectiveness). On a practical level, Kanter's structural empowerment provides a framework for understanding empowering workplaces and empowered employees.