Moderating effect of job characteristics on the relationship between employee empowerment and commitment in star-rated Hotels in Kisumu City, Kenya

Abstract

Empowered employees deserve autonomy and control in their jobs to increase their commitment; in the absence of these factors, their commitment is low. The purpose of the study was to determine the moderating effect of job characteristics on the relationship between employee empowerment and commitment in selected star rated hotels in Kisumu City, Kenya. Specifically, the study determined the relationship between structural, psychological, and behavioural empowerment and employee commitment and the moderating effect of job characteristics on this relationship. The study was anchored on job characteristics theory, Kanter’s theory, social cognitive theory and the three-component model of Commitment. The study adopted sequential explanatory research design. The target population was 1372 general employees and 130 management employees from 34 star rated hotels. The sample size comprised of 310 general and 13 management employees from 13 star rated hotels. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select general employees, while purposive sampling was used to select the management employees and the hotels. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used to collect data from the general and management employees respectively. Quantitative data was analyzed using multiple regression and PROCESS macro, while for qualitative data, content analysis was used. The regression model had a coefficient of determination R2 of .558, indicating that 55.8% variation in employee commitment was explained by the empowerment dimensions. The findings indicated that there was a positive significant effect of structural (β1=0.406, p=0.000) and behavioral (β3=0.314, p=0.001) empowerment on employee commitment. Psychological empowerment (β2=0.168, p=0.099) had no significant effect on employee commitment. There was a positive significant relationship between structural (r>.705, p=0.000), psychological (r>.691, p=0.000) and behavioral (r>.700, p=0.000) empowerment and employee commitment. The interaction between structural empowerment and job characteristics was significant (ΔR2=.010, p=.0207) while between psychological (ΔR2=.004, p=.135) and behavioral (ΔR2=.004, p=.122) empowerment and job characteristics on employee commitment were not significant. Managers revealed that despite employees being empowered to make decisions, they lacked self confidence which affected their commitment. The study concluded that structural and behavioral empowerment influenced employees’ commitment whereas psychological empowerment did not. On the other hand, job characteristics moderated the relationship between structural empowerment and employee commitment but did not between behavioral and psychological empowerment. The study recommends that the hotel management should support the employees by providing adequate resources. Further the managers should involve the employees in decision making to enable them perform the jobs tasks effectively by putting more effort. The management of hotels should ensure the employees utilize their self determination and competency while performing tasks. For efficient utilization of resources, support and opportunities offered to employees, adequate feedback should be given in order to enhance commitment of employees. The knowledge derived from the study is that job characteristics moderated only the relationship between structural empowerment and employee commitment but not behavioral and psychological empowerment.