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Human Resources for Health
Published in: Human Resources for Health 1/2016

Open Access 01-12-2016 | Research

Transformational leadership, empowerment, and job satisfaction: the mediating role of employee empowerment

Authors: Sang Long Choi, Chin Fei Goh, Muhammad Badrull Hisyam Adam, Owee Kowang Tan

Published in: Human Resources for Health | Issue 1/2016

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Abstract

Background

Recent studies have revealed that nursing staff turnover remains a major problem in emerging economies. In particular, nursing staff turnover in Malaysia remains high due to a lack of job satisfaction. Despite a shortage of healthcare staff, the Malaysian government plans to create 181 000 new healthcare jobs by 2020 through the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). This study investigated the causal relationships among perceived transformational leadership, empowerment, and job satisfaction among nurses and medical assistants in two selected large private and public hospitals in Malaysia. This study also explored the mediating effect of empowerment between transformational leadership and job satisfaction.

Methods

This study used a survey to collect data from 200 nursing staff, i.e., nurses and medical assistants, employed by a large private hospital and a public hospital in Malaysia. Respondents were asked to answer 5-point Likert scale questions regarding transformational leadership, employee empowerment, and job satisfaction. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the measurement models and to estimate parameters in a path model. Statistical analysis was performed to examine whether empowerment mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and job satisfaction.

Results

This analysis showed that empowerment mediated the effect of transformational leadership on the job satisfaction in nursing staff. Employee empowerment not only is indispensable for enhancing job satisfaction but also mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and job satisfaction among nursing staff.

Conclusions

The results of this research contribute to the literature on job satisfaction in healthcare industries by enhancing the understanding of the influences of empowerment and transformational leadership on job satisfaction among nursing staff. This study offers important policy insight for healthcare managers who seek to increase job satisfaction among their nursing staff.
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Metadata
Title
Transformational leadership, empowerment, and job satisfaction: the mediating role of employee empowerment
Authors
Sang Long Choi
Chin Fei Goh
Muhammad Badrull Hisyam Adam
Owee Kowang Tan
Publication date
01-12-2016
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Human Resources for Health / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 1478-4491
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-016-0171-2

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