1.

Introduction
1.1 Employee Empowerment
Employee empowerment is a term used to express the ways in which non-managerial staff can
make autonomous decisions without consulting a boss/manager. Employee empowerment is
employees actual involvement and influence over organizational processes and decisionmaking.
In this era of globalization there is need for employees empowerment in organization so that
employees will be in position to make quick decision and respond quickly to any changes in the
environment. Organization that are committed to employee empowerment they are in a position
to motivate and retain their employees, although its a complex management tool which needs to
be nurtured and handled with a lot of care (Nick et al., 1994). Employee empowerment is a
motivational technique that is designed to improve performance if managed properly through
increased levels of employees participation and self determination. Employee empowerment is
concerned with trust, motivation, and decision-making. When employees feel that they have
choice and can make direct decisions related to their work, this does often lead to a greater
feeling of self-worth. And an employee who does not feel constantly watched and criticized is
more likely to consider work as a positive environment, rather than a negative one. Thus
employee empowerment will lead to improving productivity, performance and job satisfaction.
There are two views of empowerment. The first one is proposed by Robbins(2005) defining the
concept of empowerment as a participative management, delegation, and the granting power to
lower-level employees to make and enforce decisions. This definition is consistent with a
functional view of empowerment. According to this view, a manager intervenes to delegate more
of his or her power to employees, to reduce direct supervision and to provide overall vision. The
employees enjoy more flexible job descriptions. This framework presupposes that the amount of
power in the organization is fixed; hence the management can simply distribute its power
throughout the hierarchy to empower the employees. This way, an organization could achieve the
goals of the employee empowerment creating better business outcomes, happier and motivated
workforce.
1

The second view of empowerment is proposed by Thomas and Velthouse (1990). They define it
in term of cognitive motivational concept or psychological empowerment. It is mainly based on
the following five tasks related cognitions: (1) choice fullness, i.e., the employees feelings of
choosing what work activity they ought to put their effort on, (2) meaning, i.e., the employees
determination of the intrinsic value of a particular work role, (3) competence, i.e., self-belief in
the employees ability to fully perform specific tasks, (4) self-determination, i.e., the employees
belief that he or she has control over decisions about work-related activities and behaviors, (5)
impact, i.e., the employees belief that his or her actions can make a difference in the
organization strategies, tactics, and outcomes.

1.2 Employee Empowerment Definition

The Oxford dictionary defines the verb "empower" as "to enable". Thus, empowerment implies
more than simply sharing power or authority. Every organization that is involved in the
empowering employees defines empowerment according to its usefulness and scope in practice.
Even though it is difficult to assign an exact definition to the term empowerment, five general
definitions are listed below:1. Employee empowerment is defined as a transfer of power from the employer to the
employees (Randolph, 1995).
2. Empowerment is not only having the freedom to act, but also having higher degree of
responsibility and accountability (Blanchard et al., 1996). This indicates that management
must empower their employees so that they can be motivated, committed, satisfied and
assist the organization in achieving its objectives.
3. Empowerment is the process of enhancing feelings of self-efficiency among
organizational members through the identification of conditions that foster powerlessness
and through their removal by formal organizational practices and informal techniques of
providing effective information (Conger & Kanungo, 1988).
4. Empowerment involves management practices that distribute information, knowledge,
power and rewards throughout the organization. An empowered employee has the
necessary competence required for her/his job, has control over her/his work and is likely
to be motivated by company goals (Bowen and Lawler, 1995).

5. Empowerment is a state of mind. An employee with an empowered state of mind

experiences feelings of 1) control over the job to be performed, 2) awareness of the
context in which the work is performed, 3) accountability for personal work output, 4)
shared responsibility for unit and organizational performance, and 5) equity in the
rewards based on individual and collective performance (Mohammed et al., 1998).
According to Hummuda and Dulaimi (1997), Conger and Kanungos definition of empowerment
is a comprehensive description of empowerment emphasizing various aspects, including:

empowerment as a quality achiever as well as a motivator

empowerment as an organizational process, a whole restructuring
involvement of every member in the organization; as an individual or selfmanaged team
powerlessness in organizations as a barrier to the adoption of empowerment
formal and informal practices and techniques to implement empowerment

1.3 Benefits of Empowerment

Empowerment is a principle that was implemented along with Total Quality Management. Its
purpose was primarily to enable and authorize employees to make products as good as possible.
The obvious benefit was an increase in quality along with a reduction in warranty costs. Other
benefits of empowerment also evolved into obvious excuses for implementation of the principle.
According to experts R. Ripley and M. Ripley (1992) and Spatz (2000) empowerment will:

increase motivation to reduce mistakes and have individuals take more responsibility for

their own actions

increase the opportunity for creativity and innovation
assist the continuous improvement of processes, products, and services
improve customer satisfaction by having the employee closest to the customer make

rapid, relevant decisions

increase employee loyalty, while at the same time reducing turnover, absenteeism, and
illness increase productivity by increasing employee pride, self-respect, and self-worth

use peer pressure and self-managing team methods for employee control and productivity
relieve middle and upper management from being the control dogs and from doing
lower level tasks, thereby allowing more time for strategic planning and achieving a

greater market share and customer satisfaction increase the bottom line by such methods

as reducing waste and building quality while meeting customer requirements

increase upper managements time for development of the top line (sales and revenue)
maintain and increase competitiveness
increase trust and cooperation with management
increase communication among employees and divisions

1.4 Empowerment Misconceptions

The benefits of employee empowerment can be easily recognized by management, but they can
also be easily misconstrued. Two of the most common misconceptions are that managements
role will be diminished and that management will be eliminated when employees are given more
power (Hammuda et al., 1997).
Diminished role of management
Many managers fear that through the empowerment of employees, the role of managers will
diminish until the managerial position will become obsolete. Empowering employees requires
managers to trust more and to loosen up the reins. Oftentimes, middle management can play a
blocking role. Empowerment, however, allows more opportunities for employees. The
managerial role will not be done away with, but rather it will be redefined. The managerial role
becomes one of coach and leader. Newly empowered employees require guidance and someone
in a position to rally around them. In this new role, managers will not be making the decision for
their employees, but they will provide the structure and framework within which the employees
themselves can make good decisions (Hammuda et al., 1997).
More power to employee
Some owners believe that by empowering employees, the eventual result will be an organization
full of empowered employees with no organizational control. The empowerment of employees
can occur in ways that may not require giving the employees more power. The feeling of
employee empowerment can be improved by listening and being more responsive to employee
comments, providing necessary training, encouragement by management and fellow employees,
providing employees with the necessary resources to do their jobs, allowing access to relevant

information and matching employees to their tasks according to training and experience
(Hammuda et al., 1997).

1.5 Three Keys Approach to empowerment

Ken Blanchard (1999) and his associates have provided a clear and practical approach to
creating empowerment. They define three interrelated keys that together can create structural
empowerment in organizations:
share accurate information widely,
create autonomy via boundaries,
replace hierarchical thinking with self-managed teams.
1. The First Key: Share Accurate Information Widely Open- sharing of information is
crucial to empowerment, since without information people cannot act responsibly, even if
they want to. The problem in most organizations is that top managers are often reluctant
to share financial, performance, and strategic information with people throughout the
organizational hierarchy. They feel that this information is too complex and too sensitive
for such sharing. But without the vertical and horizontal sharing of information that is
needed to make business decisions, empowerment will go nowhere. Information sharing
is the lifeblood of empowerment.
2. The Second Key: Create Autonomy via Boundaries- This key means making sure that
individuals and teams know exactly where their responsibilities begin and end. Clear
boundaries must be constructed by defining goals, roles, and values, and by designing
organizational structures and systems consistent with them. These boundaries spell out an
area of freedom so that everyone, within this area as well as outside it, knows where to
act with autonomy.
3. The Third Key: Replace Hierarchical Thinking with Self-Managed Teams- The call
for greater team emphasis and especially for teams that control their own work has been
heard before and often ignored by top man- agers. But much evidence suggests that such
teams can have real benefits in today's complex and dynamic business world, especially if
they are empowered, self-managed teams. The collective application of a team's
knowledge, skills, and motivation can create a powerful synergistic impact for an
5

organization. Aside from increased satisfaction on the part of team member-employees,

self-managed work teams have been shown to increase employee commitment, improve
management-employee communication, increase efficiency, and reduce costs.
The three keys, when implemented properly and as an interactive package, result in what is
known as organizational empowerment. That is, rather than simply encouraging people to "feel
empowered," the three keys actually make changes in an organization's operating structures.
These changes create the empowering conditions needed to make empowerment real. Without
them, empowerment will fail and its promised results will not materialize

1.6 Psychological perspective

Wilkinsons (1998) psychologically employee empowerment affects the employees inner
natures (e.g. attitudinal shaping); their expressed behaviour (e.g. information sharing) or both
(e.g. self imaging). This form of empowerment is internal state of intrinsic motivation. Thomas
and Velthouse (1990) model depicted that employee empowerment is based on four dimensions
or task assessment that affected a person intrinsic motivation for the job at hand and these are:

Meaningfulness: the meaning of a value of a task goal or purpose judged in relation to

individual own ideals of standards.

Competence; competence is an individuals belief in his or her capability to perform task

activities skilfully.
Self determination (or choice); autonomy in the initiation and continuation of work

behaviours and processes and impact.

Perception of the degree to which an individual can influence certain outcomes of work.

In order for the individual to be empowered, the person must experience all four dimensions of
empowerment mentioned above.

1.7 Multidimensional Nature of The Empowerment

One dimensional approach is not enough to view employee empowerment. Employee
empowerment to be effective in organizations, management should view it as part of the system.

Power is a complex interactive process, whereas employee empowerment is an act of developing

Figure 1. Conceptual framework showing the influence of employee empowerment perceptions
and increasing power by working with others. Empowerment involves educating, leading,
on employee intent to turnover mediated by power distance and job satisfaction
mentoring/supporting, providing, structuring and one that incorporates all the above. This clearly
indicates that empowerment is a multi-dimensional process which involves many elements in an
organization.
The multidimensional nature of the empowerment is shown in fig.1 which depicts the
relationship between empowerment, power distance, intent to leave and ultimately job
satisfaction in the organization (Spreitzer, 1995).

1.8 Job satisfaction

Job satisfaction describes how content an individual is with his or her job. Job satisfaction has
been defined as a pleasurable emotional state resulting from an affective reaction to ones job and
an attitude towards ones job. The happier people are within their job, the more satisfied they are
said to be. Job satisfaction is not the same as motivation, although it is clearly linked. Job design
aims to enhance job satisfaction and performance; methods include job rotation, job enlargement
and job enrichment. Other influences on satisfaction include the management style and culture,
employee involvement, empowerment and autonomous work groups. Job satisfaction is a very
important attribute which is frequently measured by organizations.
Practical implications of job satisfaction

Job Satisfaction can be an important indicator of how employees feel about their jobs and a
predictor of work behaviors such as organizational citizenship, absenteeism, and turnover
(Wegge et at., 2007). Further, job satisfaction can partially mediate the relationship of personality
variables and deviant work behaviors. Job satisfaction has a rather tenuous correlation to
productivity on the job and the relationship between satisfaction and performance can be
moderated by job complexity, such that for high-complexity jobs the correlation between
satisfaction and performance is higher than for jobs of low to moderate complexity (Judge et at.,
2001).

Importance of Employee Satisfaction

The effects employee satisfaction has on an organizations business are numerous. Some of the
most relevant and profitable effects are described below: Not only are employee turnover, customer satisfaction, labor costs, and pretax margins
improved by addressing employee satisfaction, but customers, products, and the

company itself are also positively affected

Profit and growth are stimulated directly (and primarily) by customer loyalty. Customer
loyalty is a direct consequence of customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is heavily
influenced by customer perceptions of the value of services they receive. Value is created
by satisfied, loyal and productive employees. Employees who feel a sense of teamwork
and common purpose, a strong commitment to communication, and managerial
empowerment are most able, and willing, to deliver the results that customers expect.

1.9 Elements of job satisfaction and employee empowerment

According to the review of literature, job satisfaction consists of following elements (Halvorsen
2005):
a. Recognition/Appreciation
c. Work Environment
e. Benefits/Perks
g. Management/Leadership
i. Participation/Job Responsibility
Accomplishment
k. Communication

b. Financial Compensation
d. Advancement Opportunities
f. Support/Encouragement
h. Training
j. Challenging/Personal

The literature review also disclosed following elements that contribute most to employee
empowerment (Halvorsen 2005):
a. Training
c. Freedom/Autonomy
e. Authority/Power
g. Decision Making
i. Responsibility
k. Growth Opportunity

b. Necessary Resources
d. Information Sharing
f. Management Support
h. Accountability
j. Recognition

1.10 Need and Significance of Study

In IT sector, organizations are required to adjust to the rapid changes in business requirements in
the same time while they are coping with fast technological changes as well. The combinations
of these external and internal factors are making the old way of managing the human capital
obsolete. In order to deal with this complexity and the continual changes, it is absolutely
necessary to include the employees in the decision-making processes. The concept of empowered
virtual work groups is becoming more prevalent in IT industry. Hence, the employees
empowerment becomes the key to a successful work environment, but the employees and
employers have different aims of empowerment. The outcomes of the research project and the
analysis of results and conclusions will be beneficial to the employer to understand the
importance of employee empowerment and help in reducing turn over, retaining talent employee,
increase their motivation, and job satisfaction. And help in finding right ways to empower
employees to increase their performance.
This study also seeks to find out the elements that lead to empowerment and satisfaction in
employees. When identified, companies should be able to use these elements as tools to satisfy
and empower their employees, thus obtaining more control over turnover, safety, productivity,
and product and service quality.

2. Review of Literature
Studies on employee empowerment:
Tulli (2009), Social cognitive theory provided an appropriate framework to integrate
empowerment climate, psychological empowerment and job performance behaviours from a
multilevel perspective and to subsequently test the resulting relationships. Results lend empirical
support to the theoretical distinctiveness of empowerment climate and psychological
empowerment but also confirm that the experience of empowerment can be fostered by an
empowering work climate. This is supported by the substantial variance that empowerment
climate accounted for in both individual empowerment (42%) and team empowerment (46%).
The results further suggest that such a work climate can be created through the provision of
access to information, support, resources, opportunity to learn and grow as well as access to
formal and informal sources of power Our results also confirm that taskwork and teamwork
behaviours are empirically distinct from their individual analogues of task and contextual
behaviours. While individual and team empowerment both explained almost equal variance in
task behaviours (average 45%), team empowerment was a stronger predictor of contextual
behaviours. This is also an important finding as it suggests that while individual empowerment
may contribute to high performance of ones tasks.
Voisard (2008), investigated the impact of employee empowerment on employee satisfaction in
healthcare industry. Using a model that combines the employees age, tenure, community time to
work, having or not a flexible work schedule, job-rank, and perceived degree of employee
empowerment. It may also indicate that employee empowerment has a more relevant effect on
employee satisfaction over other employment variables such as salary. The reported evidence
may have two limitations. First, the scope of this research was limited to the analyzed variables.
Second, the sample utilized on this project was representative of the employee population
studied. However, it cannot be said to be representative of other employers in healthcare or
across industries. Even though limited in its scope, this research project presented compelling
10

and valuable insights on the positive and statistically significant effect of employee
empowerment initiatives on employee satisfaction.
Zeng (2008), investigated whether empowerment can work in the collectivism, high power
distance and how western concepts of empowerment works in the Chinese context and then finds
out which factors influence the effectiveness of empowering progress. Study concluded that an
important part of enterprise effectiveness is employee empowerment and their work incentives
the empowering elements which impact their working attitudes, satisfaction and performance.
The further way of empowerment management in leader aspect, employee aspect, culture aspect
and other effective aspects. Study also supports that less employee control may lead to positive
staff satisfaction, emotional well-being and inversely associating with stress. If cultural
differences are not well understood by managers, they may actualize those empowered theories
in the organization dogmatically, which may affect employees performance, job satisfaction and
may fail the organizational changing practice.
Sutherland et al. (2007), examined the relationship between conscientiousness, empowerment
and job performance among information technology professionals. An Employee Empowerment
Questionnaire (EEQ), a Conscientiousness Scale and a Social Desirability Scale were
administered to 101 information technology customer service engineers. Managers completed a
Performance Evaluation Questionnaire (PEQ) for each customer service engineer. The results
indicated a significant relationship between conscientiousness and empowerment. A curvilinear
relationship was found between empowerment and performance.
Hechanova (2006), employee empowerment gives job satisfaction to the employees and
associated with positive outcomes. Although the relationship between psychological
empowerment and job satisfaction was robust, the relationship of empowerment and
performance was weak, although still significant. This is understandable given that performance
is determined by many other factors (e.g. supervisor-worker relations, degree of supervision)
outside the control of worker, supervisory style, personality of the rater, etc. Thus, empowerment
is just one of the many determinants of performance. The results support gender differences in
empowerment; men report greater confidence in their abilities as well as more meaning in their
work. It was also found significant differences in the level of empowerment across service
sectors. Respondents in call centers and airlines reported the lowest levels of empowerment

11

whereas bank and hotel front-liners reported significantly higher levels of empowerment and job
satisfaction.
Bhatnagar(2005), Psychological empowerment results in organizational commitment and
greater job satisfaction in Indian managers. The level of psychological empowerment of powersector managers was the highest while the level of organizational commitment of the banking
sector was the highest. The managers of this sector had almost a parallel level of psychological
empowerment and organizational commitment. Looking at these two variables was beyond the
scope of this study; thus future studies may look at the variable of psychological contract and
psychological empowerment with organization commitment as a mediating variable.
Melhem (2004), Access to information is an important element of empowerment. Transparent
sharing of information is an essential requirement of empowerment, since employees cannot act
responsibly even if they wish to do so without adequate information. Adequate internal
communication is likely to affect the empowerment of employees who deal with customers,
ensuring that employees obtain necessary information to plan and deliver effective customer
service. Sharing of information about the firms vision is also important as this helps to create a
sense of meaning and purpose, and enhances an employees ability to make decisions that are
aligned with the firms mission.
Petter (2002), Empowerment generally connotes the granting of authority or ability. Employee
empowerment, therefore, means the transferring of some managerial authority, prerogative, or
ability to employees. And yet employee empowerment entails so much more than simply the
rigid dispensing of managerial authority. Generally accepted components of employee
empowerment include: Power, Decision Making, Autonomy, Initiative and Creativity,
Knowledge and Skills, Accountability. The intended outcomes of employee empowerment align
themselves along two branches: those outcomes benefiting the employee and those that benefit
the organization. Empowerment to the individual are a sense of fulfillment, greater motivation
and heightened commitment. The expected organizational rewards for empowering their
employees include increased innovation, greater effectiveness and better performance.
Powell (2002), Survey results presents and explains that purport to show the perceptions of
employees involved in de-layering and horizontal management structures. To determine whether
or not the employees have acquired a real sense of empowerment, Powell examines the climate,
12

job meaningfulness, communications, work intensity and personal motivation. The findings are
that old attitudes persist and an investment in changing the culture is required in order to
maximize employee empowerment in new structures.
Lawson (2001), Empowerment means making people feel valued by involving them in
decisions, asking them to participate in the planning process, praising them, and continually
providing adequate training and support. The virtues of empowerment and offers these four
keys for successfully empowering an organizations personnel: Involve your employees in the
decision-making process; involve your employees in the planning process; offer praise freely;
and provide continual training and support.
Randolph (2000) reiterates that empowerment requires fundamental changes in an organization
culture, behavior, leadership style, and employees shared of risks and responsibilities. The
autocratic leadership style defines the external commitment in term of job description, behaviors,
and performance goals for employees. In the other hand, the empowerment means building an
organization from an internal commitment paradigm where the employees define their own tasks,
action plans, and The Employee Empowerment goals in the context of the companys vision and
strategy. The best way to achieve an empowered culture is to adopt multifaceted, counterintuitive
and nonlinear processes. There are three major steps to do this. First, starting and orienting the
process of change, second, making changes and dealing with discouragement, and third, adopting
and refining empowerment to fit the organization subculture.
Hammuda & Dulaimi (1997), The idea of employee empowerment is a concept that is fairly
unused when compared with the size of the employee population. Also, empowerment can easily
be misconstrued, depending on an organizations use of the principle. Employee empowerment is
closely related to employee involvement, a concept that is easily understood and more uniform
throughout organizations. Employee involvement has been defined as a participative process to
use the entire capacity of workers, designated to encourage employee commitment to
organizational success (Lawler & Mohram, 1989). The process comes about by giving
employees a combination of information, influence, and/or incentives.
Gandz & Bird (1996), Empowerment offers much for many people in organizations and
dependent on organizations. For the most part the benefits are positive, leading to organizational
and individual growth but, as with any major organizational change, there are potential and
13

actual causalities. The roles that people have learned to play so well in organizations have been
perfected at the behest of the organization in its old, pre-empowerment incarnation. Adjusting to
the new state of things in the empowered organization requires an organization to go beyond the
minimal obligations that it might adopt in a conventional redundancy situation. These standards
of excellence are based on full disclosure, patience in managing people through the change
process, the provision of the training and information required for people to succeed in their new
roles, and flexibility in relocating people whose roles are obsolete in the empowered
organization. In this respect the interests of the multiple stakeholders in the organization can both
be satisfied through good management practice.
Parker & Slaughter (1995) equated employee empowerment as management-by-stress strategy
that pushes people and systems to the breaking point by forcing workers to do more. Lack of
employee empowerment in organization is considered as a stressor to individual and members of
the team. Management has a prerogative duty to ensure that stressors are caused by lack of
employee empowerment are minimized by encouraging employee empowerment. Employee
empowerment is a management practice, which all managers should practice to improve
organizational performance. Management needs to take into account the following facts to ensure
that empowerment in their organizations is enhanced and nurtured.
Kelley (1993) distinguished among three types of discretionary empowerment: routine, creative,
and deviant, available during the service-delivery process. Routine discretion is implemented
when employees select an alternative from a list of possible actions to do their jobs. Creative
discretion is present when employees develop alternate methods of performing a task. Deviant
discretion, which is not preferred by organizations, involves behaviors outside the scope of an
employees formal job description and authority.
Ripley & Ripley (1992) in 1970s the U.S. was losing market share in many industries and
product lines despite superior productivity. By now the Japanese had turned their weaknesses
into strengths. By pursuing quality, worker empowerment, variety, customization, convenience,
and speed in getting to the market, they not only expanded the terms of competition beyond
productivity but also found new routes to products as they were made. Mounting evidence began
to suggest that productivity, on the one hand, and quality, worker empowerment, variety,

14

customization, convenience, and rapid change, on the other, were not only compatible but also
mutually reinforcing competitive standards.
Vogt and
Marrel (1990) argued that power is a complex interactive process, whereas employee
empowerment is an act of developing and increasing power by working with others. In addition,
they identified six core dimensions to empower employees in organizations, educating, leading,
mentoring/supporting, providing, structuring and one that incorporates all the above. This clearly
indicates that empowerment is a multi-dimensional process which involves many elements in an
organization.

3. Methodology/ Research design

This chapter is organized in the following subsections namely Research Objectives, Research
Hypothesis, Methodology, Method of data collection, Questionnaire, Sampling, Data collection,
Data Analysis Technique and Profile of sample.

15

3.1 Research Objectives and Hypothesis

1. To study the employee empowerment and job satisfaction in IT industry.
2. To find out the relationship between the Employee Empowerment and Job satisfaction in IT
industry
3. To determine level of empowerment in different employees depending upon their age, gender,
marital status, qualification, tenure, and salary

3.2 Research Hypothesis

Hypothesis-1: Employee empowerment has a positive effect/relationship with the degree of
employee satisfaction.
Hypothesis-2: Older employees perceive themselves as being less empowered than their
younger counterparts.
Hypothesis-3: Female employees perceive themselves as being less empowered than their male
counterparts.
Hypothesis-4: Employees with a longer work experience perceive themselves as being more
empowered than employees with shorter work experience.
Hypothesis-5: Employees earning a high salary perceive themselves as being more empowered
than employees earning a lower salary.
Hypothesis-6: Married employees perceive themselves as being less empowered than unmarried
employees.
Hypothesis-7: Employees with a higher level of qualification perceive themselves as being more
empowered than employees with lower level of qualification.
Other research hypothesis
Hypothesis-8: Older employees perceive themselves as being more satisfied than their younger
counterparts.
Hypothesis-9: Female employees perceive themselves as being more satisfied than their male
counterparts.
Hypothesis-10: Employees with a longer work experience perceive themselves as being more
satisfied than employees with shorter work experience.
Hypothesis-11: Employees earning a high salary perceive themselves as being more satisfied
than employees earning a lower salary.
Hypothesis-12: Married employees perceive themselves as being more satisfied than unmarried
employees.
Hypothesis-13: Employees with a higher level of qualification perceive themselves as being
more satisfied than employees with lower level of qualification.
16

3.3 Research Method

The survey research method was the basic research design for analyzing the relationship between
the Employee Empowerment and Job satisfaction in IT industry in and around Chandigarh. A
questionnaire is used for assessing employee empowerment and job satisfaction scores of
individuals.

3.4 Sampling Procedure and Data Collection

3.4.1 Sampling Method
The sampling procedure used was Random sampling. Eight IT organizations are selected from
the list of IT companies in and around Chandigarh.

3.4.2 Sample Size

Sample size consists of 109 software engineers working in organizations in IT sector in and
around Chandigarh.
Data was collected from the following organizations:
1. A1 tech ltd, Mohali

2. Didon infotech, Chandigarh

3. Fidelity, Mohali

4. IDS Infotech ltd, Mohali

5. Infosys, Chandigarh

6. Net Solutions, Chandigarh

7. Smart Data, Mohali

8. Tech Mahindera, Chandigarh

3.4.3 Method of Data Collection

Data was collected through the use of a questionnaire which has three separate measuring
instruments1. Biographical Information Questionnaire
2. Employee Empowerment Questionnaire
3. Job Satisfaction Questionnaire
17

3.4.4 Data collection instrument

Data collection instrument used is a Questionnaire designed by David Lars Halvorsen(2005).
Details of questionnaire are:Questionnaire includes 32 questions (10 demographic questions, 11 questions addressing
satisfaction, and 11 questions addressing empowerment)
Employee empowerment measured on three elements:
1. Participation, defined as the amount or quality of participation employees feel they have
in regards to what, when, or how their job responsibilities are to be completed;
2. Authority, defined as the amount of authority an employee has to fulfill assigned job
responsibilities; and
3. Responsibility, defined as the magnitude of responsibility and accountability an employee
has.
And employee satisfaction is also measured on three elements:
1. Value, defined as an employees sense of value to the company as perceived by the
employee;
2. Management/Leadership, defined as an employees attitude toward the management and
leadership of the company; and
3. Training, defined as the amount or quality of on-the-job training an employee receives.
Based on the six main elements mentioned above a Questionnaire of 32 questions was prepared
Questions 1 to 10 in Section A were designed to obtain demographic data i.e. Age,
Gender, Marital status, Education, Length of tenure etc.
Questions based on elements of employee empowerment in Section B:

Questions 3, 5, 8, and 13 identify whether the employees have any input or

participation into deciding how their job requirements will be fulfilled.

Questions 6 and 17 identify if the employees are held accountable and responsible

for their actions by upper management.

Questions 2, 11, and 14 identify if the employees have the authority to perform
required responsibilities.
18

Question 20 is a direct question allowing the employees to record their level of

empowerment.
Questions 22 used to identify the top five elements employees think lead to
empowerment.

Questions based on elements of employee satisfaction in Section B:

Questions 1, 4, 10, and 18 identify whether the employees feel valued by the

company.
Questions 12 and 15 identify the employees level of trust and confidence in

supervisors and managers.

Questions 7, 9, and 16 identify if the employees received enough training to

perform the assigned responsibilities.

Question 19 is a direct question allowing the employees to record their level of

satisfaction.
Questions 21 used to identify the top five elements employees think lead to

employee satisfaction.
A five-point Likert scale was used for simplicity and effectiveness. The selections in the
Likert scale were:
(a) disagree strongly, (b) disagree somewhat, (c) neutral, (d) agree somewhat, and (e) agree
strongly.

3.5 Data Analysis Technique:

Correlation technique was applied to determine the correlation between employee empowerment
and job satisfaction, ANOVA technique using SSPS15 applied to determine the significance of
difference of means with respect to age, salary etc. and T-test was applied to determine the
significance of difference of means with respect to gender, marital status and qualification.

3.5.1 Profile of the Sample obtained

There were 109 respondents, whose demographic profile is as shown:Demographical information of Respondents

19

Age in Years
21-25
26-30
31-35
Total

No of Respondents Percent
91
83.5
17
15.6
1
.9
109
100.0

Gender
Male

No of Respondents Percent
68

62.4

Female

41

37.6

Total

109

100.0

Work Experience in years

<1
1-2
3-5
6-10
Total

No of Respondents Percent
10
9.2
69
63.3
23
21.1
7
6.4
109
100.0

Salary/Month in Rs.
15000
15001 to 25000
25001 to 35001
35001 to 45001
45001
Total

No of Respondents Percent
7
6.4
16
14.7
76
69.7
8
7.3
2
1.8
109
100.0

Marital Status
Unmarried
Married
Total

No of Respondents Percent
95
87.2
14
12.8
109
100.0

Gender
Male
Female
Total
Qualification
Grad
Post Grad
Total

No of Respondents
68
41
109
No of Respondents
87
22
109

20

Percent
62.4
37.6
100.0
Percent
79.8
20.2
100.0

4. Data Analysis and Interpretation

Following hypothesis has been checked using SPSS. Various tests have been done such as T-test,
Correlation and ANOVA to check validity of Hypothesis and following results are obtained as:

4.1 Relationship between Employee Empowerment and Job Satisfaction

Correlation analysis is used to check the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis-1: Employee empowerment has a positive effect/relationship with the degree of
employee satisfaction.
Descriptive Statistics of employee empowerment and job satisfaction
Descriptive Statistics
Empowerment Mean Std. Deviation No. of Respondents
employee empowerment 3.188
.3469
109
job satisfaction
2.654
.2794
109
Correlations between employee empowerment and job satisfaction
Correlations of means Employee Empowerment
Employee Empowerment Pearson Correlation
1
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
109
Job Satisfaction
Pearson Correlation
.706(**)
Sig. (2-tailed)
.000
N
109
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Job Satisfaction
.706(**)
.000
109
1
109

Correlation test is applied on the Employee Empowerment and job satisfaction using SPSS15.
From the test, Pearson correlation value comes out to be .706 which is significant at the 0.01
level (2-tailed) that shows there is strong positive relation between employee empowerment and
job satisfaction.
21

4.2 Relationship between Employee Empowerment and Demographic

Variables of employees
4.2.1 Relation between Employee Empowerment and Age of Employees
ANOVA has been applied to check is there any relation between employee empowerment and
age of employee and to test the following hypothesis as follows:
Hypothesis-2: Older employees will perceive themselves as being less empowered than their
younger counterparts.
Following results have been obtained as:
Descriptive Statistics of employee empowerment and age
Age in Years No of Respondents Empowerment Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error
21-25
91
3.196
.3502
.0367
26-30
17
3.112
.3039
.0737
31-35
1
3.800
.
.
Total
109
3.188
.3469
.0332
The above table represents the employee empowerment scores of employees belonging to
different age groups. The mean empowerment score for each category has been mentioned
against it.
Result of ANOVA between employee empowerment and age
Sum of Squares Df
Between Groups .479
2
Within Groups
12.516
106
Total
12.994
108
From the above analysis made between

Mean Square F
Sig.
.239
2.027 .137
.118
employee empowerment and age using ANOVA, it is

found that p-value (.137) has come out to be greater than significant level (.05), hence there no
difference in level of empowerment in older employees and young employees.
So, the hypothesis that older employees will perceive themselves as being less empowered than
their younger counterparts is rejected.

22

4.2.2 Relation between Employee Empowerment and Gender of Employees

T-test has been applied to check is there any relation between employee empowerment and
gender of employee and to test the following hypothesis as follows:
Hypothesis-3: Female employees perceive themselves as being less empowered than their male
counterparts.
Following results have been obtained as:
Group Statistics
Gender
Male
Female
Total

No of Respondents
68
41
109

Empowerment Mean
3.178
3.205
3.188

Std. Deviation
.3372
.3660
.3469

Std. Error Mean

.0409
.0572
.0332

The above table represents the employee empowerment scores of both the genders. The t-test
shows that that there was no significant difference in the mean employee empowerment of men
and women. The p-value for the two mean scores has come out to be 0.696 which is greater than
assumed alpha 0.05, so there is no significant difference in employee empowerment of two
genders.
So, the hypothesis that female employees perceive themselves as being less empowered than
their male counterparts is rejected.
4.2.3 Relation between Employee Empowerment and Work Experience of Employees
ANOVA has been applied to check is there any relation between employee empowerment and
work experience of employee and to test the following hypothesis as follows:
Hypothesis-4: Employees with a longer work experience perceive themselves as being more
empowered than employees with shorter work experience.
Following results have been obtained as:
Descriptive Statistics of employee empowerment and Work Experience
Work Experience No of

Empowerment

in years
<1

Mean
3.320

Respondents
10

Std. Deviation
.3645
23

Std. Error
.1153

1-2
3-5
6-10
Total

69
23
7
109

3.148
3.222
3.286
3.188

.3359
.3680
.3579
.3469

.0404
.0767
.1353
.0332

The above table represents the employee empowerment scores of employees with varied work
experience.
Result of ANOVA between employee empowerment and Work Experience
Sum of
Between
Groups
Within
Groups
Total

Mean

Squares

Df

Square

Sig.

.379

.126

1.050

.374

12.616

105

.120

12.994

108

From the above analysis made between employee empowerment and work experience using
ANOVA, it is found that p-value (.374) has come out to be greater than significant level (.05),
hence there no relationship in empowerment and work experience of employee So, the
hypothesis that employees with a longer work experience perceive themselves as being more
empowered than employees with shorter work experience is rejected.
4.2.4 Relation between Employee Empowerment and Salary of Employees
ANOVA has been applied to check is there any relation between employee empowerment and
salary of employee and to test the following hypothesis as follows:
Hypothesis-5: Employees earning a high salary perceive themselves as being more empowered
than employees earning a lower salary.
Following results have been obtained as:
Descriptive Statistics of employee empowerment and Salary
Salary/Month in Rs. No of Respondents Empowerment Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error
15000
7
3.357
.3910
.1478
15001 to 25000
16
3.231
.3554
.0888
24

25001 to 35001
35001 to 45001
45001
Total

76
8
2
109

3.154
3.225
3.400
3.188

.3408
.3240
.5657
.3469

.0391
.1146
.4000
.0332

The above table represents the employee empowerment scores of employees with varied salary.
Result of ANOVA between employee empowerment and Salary
Sum of Squares
Between Groups .419
Within Groups
12.575
Total
12.994

Df Mean Square F
Sig.
4
.105
.867 .487
104 .121
108

From the above analysis made between employee empowerment and salary using ANOVA, it is
found that p-value (.867) has come out to be greater than significant level (.05), hence there no
relationship in empowerment and salary of employee So, the hypothesis that employees earning
a high salary perceive themselves as being more empowered than employees earning a lower
salary is rejected.
4.2.5 Relation between Employee Empowerment and Marital Status of Employees
T-test has been applied to check is there any relation between employee empowerment and
marital status of employee and to test the following hypothesis as follows:
Hypothesis-6: Married employees perceive themselves as being less empowered than unmarried
employees.
Following results have been obtained as:
Group Statistics
Marital Status
Unmarried
Married
Total

No of Respondents
95
14
109

Empowerment Mean
3.176
3.271
3.188

Std. Deviation
.3439
.3688
.3469

Std. Error Mean

.0353
.0986
.0332

The above table represents the employee empowerment scores of both married and unmarried
employees. The t-test shows that that there was no significant difference in the mean employee
empowerment of both married and unmarried employees. The p-value for the two mean scores
25

has come out to be 0.338 which is greater than assumed alpha 0.05, so there is no significant
difference in employee empowerment of married and unmarried employees.
So, the hypothesis that married employees perceive themselves as being less empowered than
unmarried employees is rejected.
4.2.7 Relation between Employee Empowerment and Level of Qualification of Employees
T-test has been applied to check is there any relation between employee empowerment and level
of qualification of employee and to test the following hypothesis as follows:
Hypothesis-7: Employees with a higher level of qualification perceive themselves as being more
empowered than employees with lower level of qualification.
Following results have been obtained as:

Group Statistics
Qualification
Bachelors Degree
Masters Degree
Total

No of Respondents
87
22
109

Empowerment Mean
3.182
3.214
3.188

Std. Deviation
.3575
.3075
.3469

Std. Error Mean

.0383
.0656
.0332

The above table represents the employee empowerment scores of employees with different level
of qualification. The t-test shows that that there was no significant difference in the mean
employee empowerment with different level of qualification. The p-value for the two mean
scores has come out to be 0.701 which is greater than assumed alpha 0.05, so there is no
significant difference in employee empowerment with different level of qualification.
So, the hypothesis that employees with a higher level of qualification perceive themselves as
being more empowered than employees with lower level of qualification is rejected.

4.3 Relationship between Job Satisfaction and Demographic Variables of

employees
26

4.3.1 Relation between Job Satisfaction and Age of Employees

ANOVA has been applied to check is there any relation between job satisfaction and age of
employee and to test the following hypothesis as follows:
Hypothesis-8: Older employees will perceive themselves as being more satisfied than their
younger counterparts.
Following results have been obtained as:
Descriptive Statistics of job satisfaction and age
Age in Years No of Respondents Satisfaction Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error
21-25
91
2.649
.2790
.0293
26-30
17
2.641
.2501
.0607
31-35
1
3.300
.
.
Total
109
2.654
.2794
.0268
The above table represents the job satisfaction scores of employees belonging to different age
groups. The mean satisfaction score for each category has been mentioned against it.
Result of ANOVA between job satisfaction and age
Sum of Squares
Between Groups .422
Within Groups
8.009
Total
8.431

Df Mean Square F
Sig.
2
.211
2.793 .066
106 .076
108

From the above analysis made between job satisfaction and age using ANOVA, it is found that pvalue (.066) has come out to be greater than significant level (.05), hence there no difference in
level of satisfaction in older employees and young employees.
So, the hypothesis that older employees will perceive themselves as being more satisfied than
their younger counterparts is rejected.
4.3.2 Relation between Job satisfaction and Gender of Employees
T-test has been applied to check is there any relation between job satisfaction and gender of
employee and to test the following hypothesis as follows:
Hypothesis-9: Female employees perceive themselves as being more satisfied than their male
counterparts.
27

Following results have been obtained as:

Group Statistics
Gender
Male
Female
Total

No of Respondents
68
41
109

Satisfaction Mean
2.641
2.676
2.654

Std. Deviation
.2787
.2826
.2794

Std. Error Mean

.0338
.0441
.0268

The above table represents the job satisfaction scores of both the genders. The t-test shows that
that there was no significant difference in the mean job satisfaction of men and women. The pvalue for the two mean scores has come out to be 0.536 which is greater than assumed alpha
0.05, so there is no significant difference in job satisfaction of two genders.
So, the hypothesis that female employees perceive themselves as being more satisfied than their
male counterparts is rejected.
4.3.3 Relation between Job satisfaction and Work Experience of Employees
ANOVA has been applied to check is there any relation between job satisfaction and work
experience of employee and to test the following hypothesis as follows:
Hypothesis-10: Employees with a longer work experience perceive themselves as being more
satisfied than employees with shorter work experience.
Following results have been obtained as:
Descriptive Statistics of job satisfaction and Work Experience
Work Experience in years
<1
1-2
3-5
6-10
Total

No of Respondents
10
69
23
7
109

Satisfaction Mean
2.650
2.641
2.648
2.814
2.654

Std. Deviation
.3440
.2799
.2391
.3132
.2794

Std. Error
.1088
.0337
.0498
.1184
.0268

The above table represents the job satisfaction scores of employees with varied work experience.
Result of ANOVA between job satisfaction and Work Experience
28

Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F

Sig.
Between Groups .193
3
.064
.821 .485
Within Groups
8.237
105 .078
Total
8.431
108
From the above analysis made between job satisfaction and work experience using ANOVA, it is
found that p-value (.485) has come out to be greater than significant level (.05), hence there no
relationship in satisfaction and work experience of employee So, the hypothesis that employees
with a longer work experience perceive themselves as being more satisfied than employees with
shorter work experience is rejected.
4.3.4 Relation between Job satisfaction and Salary of Employees
ANOVA has been applied to check is there any relation between job satisfaction and salary of
employee and to test the following hypothesis as follows:
Hypothesis-11: Employees earning a high salary perceive themselves as being more satisfied
than employees earning a lower salary.
Following results have been obtained as:
Descriptive Statistics of job satisfaction and Salary
Salary/Month in Rs. No of Respondents Satisfaction Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error
15000
7
2.714
.3132
.1184
15001 to 25000
16
2.656
.3204
.0801
25001 to 35001
76
2.645
.2695
.0309
35001 to 45001
8
2.638
.2200
.0778
45001
2
2.850
.6364
.4500
Total
109
2.654
.2794
.0268
The above table represents the job satisfaction scores of employees with varied salary.
Result of ANOVA between job satisfaction and Salary
Sum of Squares
Between Groups .111
Within Groups
8.320
Total
8.431

Df Mean Square F
Sig.
4
.028
.347 .846
104 .080
108
29

From the above analysis made between job satisfaction and salary using ANOVA, it is found that
p-value (.846) has come out to be greater than significant level (.05), hence there no relationship
in satisfaction and salary of employee So, the hypothesis that employees earning a high salary
perceive themselves as being more satisfied than employees earning a lower salary is rejected.
4.3.5 Relation between Job satisfaction and Marital Status of Employees
T-test has been applied to check is there any relation between job satisfaction and marital status
of employee and to test the following hypothesis as follows:
Hypothesis-6: Married employees perceive themselves as being more satisfied than unmarried
employees.
Following results have been obtained as:
Group Statistics
Marital Status
Unmarried
Married
Total

No of Respondents
95
14
109

Satisfaction Mean
2.647
2.700
2.654

Std. Deviation
.2809
.2746
.2794

Std. Error Mean

.0288
.0734
.0268

The above table represents the job satisfaction scores of both married and unmarried employees.
The t-test shows that that there was no significant difference in the mean job satisfaction of both
married and unmarried employees. The p-value for the two mean scores has come out to be
0.513 which is greater than assumed alpha 0.05, so there is no significant difference in job
satisfaction of married and unmarried employees.
So, the hypothesis that married employees perceive themselves as being more satisfied than
unmarried employees is rejected.
4.3.6 Relation between Job satisfaction and Level of Qualification of Employees
T-test has been applied to check is there any relation between job satisfaction and level of
qualification of employee and to test the following hypothesis as follows:
Hypothesis-7: Employees with a higher level of qualification perceive themselves as being more
satisfied than employees with lower level of qualification.
30

Following results have been obtained as:

Group Statistics
Qualification
No of Respondents Satisfaction Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
Bachelors Degree 87
2.648
.2844
.0305
Masters Degree
22
2.677
.2636
.0562
Total
109
2.654
.2794
.0268
The above table represents the job satisfaction scores of employees with different level of
qualification. The t-test shows that that there was no significant difference in the mean job
satisfaction with different level of qualification. The p-value for the two mean scores has come
out to be 0.666 which is greater than assumed alpha 0.05, so there is no significant difference in
job satisfaction with different level of qualification.
So, the hypothesis that employees with a higher level of qualification perceive themselves as
being more satisfied than employees with lower level of qualification is rejected.

4.4 Analysis of elements employee empowerment and job satisfaction

4.4.1 Ratings of Elements of Empowerment
Table shown below contains elements of employee empowerment and their respective scores.
From the table it clear that top elements which software engineers in IT companies thinks leads
to empowerment are Freedom/Autonomy(21.68%), Information Sharing(16.87),
Authority/Power(16.06), Growth Opportunity(11.45), and other elements with respective points
and percentages are shown in table. Freedom/Autonomy is considered as the most important
factor of empowerment by respondents.
Elements of Employee Empowerment
a. Training
b. Necessary Resources
c. Freedom/Autonomy
d. Information Sharing
e. Authority/Power
f. Management Support
g. Decision Making
h. Accountability

Points
29
9
108
84
80
26
44
17

Percentage
5.82
1.80
21.68
16.87
16.06
5.22
8.84
3.41
31

i. Responsibility
j. Recognition
k. Growth Opportunity
Total

19
25
57
498

3.82
5.03
11.45
100

4.4.2 Ratings of Elements of Job Satisfaction

Table below shows elements of job satisfaction and their respective scores. From the table it
clear that top elements which software engineers in IT companies thinks gives to satisfaction
them are Financial Compensation(18.29%), Recognition/Appreciation(15.45%), Advancement
Opportunities(11.59%), Challenging/Personal Accomplishment(9.55%) and other elements with
respective points and percentages are shown in table. Average age group of sample is 21-25, its
very young age group and early in their professional career. Thus financial compensation,
recognition/appreciation, advancement opportunities and personal accomplishment give them a
feeling of satisfaction.
Elements of Job Satisfaction
a. Recognition/Appreciation
b. Financial Compensation
c. Work Environment
d. Advancement Opportunities
e. Benefits/Perks
f. Support/Encouragement
g. Management/Leadership
h. Training
i. Participation/Job Responsibility
j. Challenging/Personal Accomplishment
k. Communication
Total

Points
76
90
44
57
23
27
31
33
42
47
22
492

Percentage
15.45
18.29
8.94
11.59
4.67
5.49
6.30
6.71
8.54
9.55
4.47
100

5 Findings and Conclusions

5.1 Findings of the Study
Findings of various applied tests have been described here as follows:

32

1. Value of Pearsons Coefficient of Correlation between comes out to be .706 which shows
that there is a strong positive relation between employee empowerment and job
satisfaction. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
2. Mean value of employee empowerment for 109 respondents has come out to be 3.188
which show there is good level of employee empowerment in IT sector.
3. Mean value of job satisfaction for 109 respondents has come out to be 2.654 which show
that employees in IT sector are moderately satisfied.
4. There is no significant relation between employee empowerment and age as p-value has
come out to be .137 which is greater than significant level (.05).
5. There is no significant relation between employee empowerment and gender as p-value
has come out to be .696 which is greater than significant level (.05).
6. There is no significant relation between employee empowerment and work experience as
p-value has come out to be .374 which is greater than significant level (.05).
7. There no is significant relation between employee empowerment and salary as p-value
has come out to be .487 which is greater than significant level (.05).
8. There is no significant relation between employee empowerment and marital status as pvalue has come out to be .338 which is greater than significant level (.05).
9. There is no significant relation between employee empowerment and qualification as pvalue has come out to be .701 which is greater than significant level (.05).
10. There is no significant relation between job satisfaction and age as p-value has come out
to be .066 which is greater than significant level (.05).
11. There is no significant relation between job satisfaction and gender as p-value has come
out to be .536 which is greater than significant level (.05).
12. There is no significant relation between job satisfaction and work experience as p-value
has come out to be .485 which is greater than significant level (.05).
13. There is no significant relation between job satisfaction and salary as p-value has come
out to be .846 which is greater than significant level (.05).
33

14. There is no significant relation between job satisfaction and marital status as p-value has
come out to be .513 which is greater than significant level (.05).
15. There is no significant relation between job satisfaction and qualification as p-value has
come out to be .666 which is greater than significant level (.05).

5.2 Limitations of the Study

1. The research is limited in its scope as it is restricted to the area in and around Chandigarh.
2. The samples used in this study were just a small portion the entire
population of interest (and restricted to the area of Chandigarh). Hence, the results
cannot be generalized to the entire IT industry.
3. The sample enterprises covered in the survey are IT or software companies results of this
study can be translated to business sectors other than IT as another sectors may not
operates under similar environment and organizational settings.
4. Data was collected at a single point of time, which does not allow for changes in
perceptions and attitudes over time.

5.3 Directions for Further Research

The first recommendation would be to get more specific with the study. For
example, this study could be directed towards all level of employees from
top level to bottom. Similar research can be carried out on a large scale with
34

a good representation of population of interest. Also similar research can be

carried out in other regions of the country, in order to full understand the
level of empowerment and its correlation with job satisfaction. Similar
research can be conducted in various business sector so as to know the
empower level in different sectors and relative job satisfaction.

5.4 Conclusion
The results show that the employee empowerment has strong influence upon job satisfaction of
employees which in turn lead towards high commitment to organization. It implies that more an
employee feels empowered, more he tends to feel satisfied and committed with his job and thus
more committed towards the organization. They start working towards various other activities
which were never touched upon too. Also empowerment fosters innovation and creativity as
more autonomy gives a person liberty to look for his own ways of doing things.
Results of ANOVA and T-tests applied between empowerment and demographic variables show
that empowerment has no significant relationship with age of the respective employees in case of
software engineers. Similar results are in relation of empowerment with gender, qualification,
salary, marital status, work experience. This may due to the fact that sample used is of very
young age group and early in their career and share similar interests.
Results shows that top four elements, which gives feeling of empowerment to employees, have
received maximum points are freedom/autonomy(21.68%), information sharing(16.87),
authority/power(16.06) and growth opportunity(11.45). Freedom/autonomy received highest
point, it suggest that software engineers likes independence, free will and liberty. And top four
35

elements that gives maximum satisfaction to employees are financial compensation(18.29%),

recognition/appreciation(15.45%), advancement opportunities(11.59%) and challenging/personal
accomplishment(9.55%). Monetary compensation is the biggest satisfier for young professional
but next three elements reveals that they wants to grow, likes challenging jobs and wants
recognition for their.

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39

Ref No.

7. ANNEXURE
A QUESTIONNAIRE TO DETERMINE EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT
I am a post-graduate student of University Business School, Panjab University, Chandigarh. As a
part of my curriculum I am carrying out a research on employee satisfaction and empowerment
in the IT industry. Empowerment involves the delegation of responsibility down the hierarchy so
as to give employees increased decision-making authority in respect of the execution of their
primary work tasks with less control and direction from their manager. I would appreciate your
help by completing the linked survey.
All answers to questions remain anonymous and will be treated confidentially; there will be no
reference to your identification at any point in the research.
You are requested to answer the questions with absolute honesty and to answer according to what
takes place in your work environment. There are no right or wrong answers to the questions.
Thank you in advance for your participation.

Section: A
Instructions: Please tick [] (or write your answer if needed) the right answer to the following
questions
1. Name of the Company: (optional)
40

2. Name: (optional)
3. Designation:
4. Age (in years):
5. Gender:
6. Marital Status:

20

21-25

Male

31-35

35+

Female

Unmarried

7. Highest Qualification:

26-30

Married

1.Post-school diploma or certificate

3.Masters degree

2. Bachelors degree

4.Doctoral degree

5.If you have

any other additional qualifications, please specify:........

..........................
8. Years of Service in IT industry:

<1

12

35

6 10

11 20

21 +
9. Salary (in Rs/month): < 15,000

15,001-25,000

35,001-45,000
10. Your scheduled work hours:

25,001-35,000

45,001& above
1. Day shift

2. Night shift

3. Flexi time

Section: B
Instructions: These questions should be answered with reference to work related matters. Do not
hesitate too long before you answer. The first answer that comes to mind is usually the most
relevant one. Please tick [] your answer for each question using the scale that follows:
Disagree

Disagree

Strongly

Somewhat

1. I am regularly recognized for my work

2. I have the authority to make necessary

1
1

2
2

decisions in order to complete assigned tasks

3. My participation is encouraged regarding

41

Neutral

Agree

Agree

Somewhat

Strongly

3
3

4
4

5
5

when and how my work will be done

4. I am made to feel like I am an important part

of my company
5. I receive encouragement to come up with new

and better ways of doing things

6. I have control over those aspects of my job for

which I am accountable
7. I have opportunities to learn and grow
8. I am involved in decisions that affect my work
9. I get the training I need to do my job well
10. My supervisor makes me feel like I am an

1
1
1
1

2
2
2
2

3
3
3
3

4
4
4
4

5
5
5
5

important team member

11. I have access to the information I need to do

my job well
12. I have confidence in the leadership of my

company
13. I am encouraged to develop creative and

innovative ideas
14. I have the materials and equipment I need to

do my job well
15. My supervisor is an effective manager

16. I get regular training that helps me achieve

my duties and perform my job well

17. I am accountable for the results I achieve
18. My work gives me a feeling of personal

1
1

2
2

3
3

4
4

5
5

accomplishment
19. I am a satisfied employee
20. I am an empowered employee (i.e. the power,

1
1

2
2

3
3

4
4

5
5

information, freedom, etc., given to an employee

to help him/her improve processes, quality,
productivity, etc.)

42
PTO

21. According to you what are the top five elements that lead to employee satisfaction? Please
select any 5 elements, which you think are more important than others, from the list given
below:a. Recognition/Appreciation

b. Financial Compensation

c. Work Environment

d. Advancement Opportunities

e. Benefits/Perks

f. Support/Encouragement

g. Management/Leadership

h. Training

i. Participation/Job Responsibility

j. Challenging/Personal

Accomplishment
k. Communication

22. According to you what are the top five elements that lead to employee empowerment? Please
select any 5 elements, which you think are more important than others, from the list given
below:a. Training

b. Necessary Resources

c. Freedom/Autonomy

d. Information Sharing

e. Authority/Power

f. Management Support

g. Decision Making

h. Accountability

i. Responsibility

j. Recognition

k. Growth Opportunity

THANK YOU

43

Table of Contents
Certificateii
Acknowledgement......iii
Executive Summaryiv
Table of Contentsv
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Employee Empowerment........................................................................................................1
1.2 Employee Empowerment Definition.......................................................................................2
1.3 Benefits of Empowerment.......................................................................................................3
1.4 Empowerment Misconceptions...............................................................................................4
1.5 Three Keys Approach to empowerment..................................................................................5
1.6 Psychological perspective.......................................................................................................6
1.7 Multidimensional Nature of The Empowerment.....................................................................7
1.8 Job satisfaction........................................................................................................................8
1.9 Elements of job satisfaction and employee empowerment.....................................................9
1.10 Need and Significance of Study..........................................................................................10
2. Review of Literature..................................................................................................................11
3. Methodology/ Research design..................................................................................................17
3.1 Research Objectives and Hypothesis....................................................................................17
3.2 Research Hypothesis.............................................................................................................17
3.3 Research Method...................................................................................................................18
3.4 Sampling Procedure and Data Collection.............................................................................18
3.4.1 Sampling Method..........................................................................................................18
3.4.2 Sample Size..................................................................................................................18
3.4.3 Method of Data Collection...........................................................................................19
3.4.4 Data collection instrument............................................................................................19
3.5 Data Analysis Technique:......................................................................................................21
3.5.1 Profile of the Sample obtained.....................................................................................21
4. Data Analysis and Interpretation...............................................................................................23
4.1 Relationship between Employee Empowerment and Job Satisfaction.................................23
4.2 Relationship between Employee Empowerment and Demographic Variables of employees
.....................................................................................................................................................24
4.3 Relationship between Job Satisfaction and Demographic Variables of employees..............29
4.4 Analysis of elements employee empowerment and job satisfaction.....................................34

44

5 Findings and Conclusions...........................................................................................................36

5.1 Findings of the Study............................................................................................................36
5.2 Limitations of the Study........................................................................................................38
5.3 Directions for Further Research............................................................................................38
5.4 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................39
6. References..................................................................................................................................40
7. ANNEXURE..............................................................................................................................44

45