Influencing employee innovation through structural empowerment initiatives: the need to 'feel' empowered

This study examines the relationship between various structural empowerment initiatives, psychological empowerment, and employee innovation. Structural empowerment initiatives---defined here as progressive human resource management practices that include participative decision making, information sharing, recognition and reward, training and development, and non-excessive workload---were hypothesised to impact the innovation process indirectly through psychological empowerment. A questionnaire survey among 756 employees from an Australian manufacturing firm provides some support for the proposed indirect linkage. Overall, findings suggest it is not sufficient to simply provide empowering conditions in the workplace (e.g., structural empowerment initiatives like progressive HRM practices). Instead, employees must psychologically interpret and react to these conditions via felt empowerment. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.