Exploring Empowerment in Education: Enhancing Efficiency Through Workflow Optimization, Employee Selection, and Training Practice

Abstract

This phenomenological study was conducted to explore the critical role of school administrators in creating empowerment and efficiency in educational settings by implementing tactics such as workflow optimization, employee selection, and training practices. It aimed to articulate the lived experiences and characteristics of school principals in fostering empowerment and productivity in educational environments. The participants for this study were the ten school principals, five for focus group discussions (FGD) and the remaining five for in-depth interviews conducted face-to-face within the division of Davao City, who already had five years or more of experience handling schools. The participants were chosen by purposive sampling. The methods utilized in this study include direct observation, interviews, and document analysis. Also important in this study was the utilization of triangulation. Mertler (2006) describes triangulation as an invaluable aspect of qualitative research, allowing the researcher to connect various sources of data and establish trustworthy findings with as little bias as possible. This study was guided by three research questions. The first research question, which had three sub-questions, divulged how optimizing workflows impacts educators' daily experiences and contributes to their sense of empowerment and efficiency in the educational setting. The second research question revealed the lived experiences of teachers regarding the influence of employee selection processes on their empowerment and efficiency within the educational environment. The last research question was able to expose the emerging themes that can be drawn from the ongoing training practices that shape educators' professional identity and confidence. The predominant themes were clarity, driving educator empowerment, improving accountability, clear guidance, and fostering a culture of growth. The findings of this study imply that school principals could benefit from incorporating the themes that have emerged here into their administrations. These themes are regarded as significant and dependable, having been recommended as efficacious by seasoned school principal participants. Moreover, this study could be repeated in the future to evaluate the generalizability of the results in various demographic settings. Doing comparable studies in areas with larger sample sizes would be very fascinating since it would allow future researchers to collect more comprehensive and diverse data on effective school principals.