Employee Work Empowerment as Predictor of Role Innovation and Organizational Trust

Abstract:

The study investigated the role of Employee empowerment on organizational trust and role innovation among 272 employees drawn from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Organization trust was assessed with 32-item scale that addresses five dimensions of trust built from Mishra’s (1996) model for organizational trust, while employee work empowerment was assessed with 12-item empowerment scale developed and validated by Spreitizer (1995). Role innovation was measured with 6-item scale originally developed by west (1987). Results showed that employee work empowerment positively predicted organizational trust (B=.27,P .01)., while it negatively predicted role innovation (B=-. 15,P .05). The findings and implications were discussed based on the theoretical and empirical background and in relation to Nigeria socio- economic realities. Limitations of the study were highlighted and suggestions made for further research    social science2