Not All Autonomy is the Same. Different Dimensions of Job Autonomy and Their Relation to Work Engagement & Innovative Work Behavior

Abstract

Job autonomy is a key enabling factor for employee engagement and innovative employee behavior. Although job autonomy used to be viewed as a multi‐dimensional construct, there has been little recent discussion on the different dimensions of job autonomy and how they relate to employee outcomes. This study uses a sample of 927 employees from different sectors to research the relation between autonomy regarding the (1) work method, (2) work scheduling, (3) work time and (4) place of work and two main employee outcomes: work engagement (WE) and innovative work behavior (IWB). The results show that all studied dimensions of autonomy are bivariatly related to higher levels of WE and IWB. Yet, when simultaneously analyzing the dimensions of job autonomy using structural equations modelling, most of the effects become insignificant. For WE, only the effect of work method autonomy is statistically significant. For IWB, work method and locational autonomy play a positive role. This signals that the current managerial attention for, e.g., work time autonomy (flexitime) does only contribute to enhanced work engagement and IWB insofar as such a systems result in higher work method autonomy.

Lost in Autonomy – Temporal Structures and Their Implications for Employees’ Autonomy and Well-Being among Knowledge Workers

“…For instance, the ambiguous role of autonomy has been previously addressed in critical psychology (Schwartz 2005) and there has been considerable discussion on the "weariness" of autonomous individuals in Western societies in the sociology of mental health (e.g., Ehrenberg 2010). In this manner, our study further specifies and develops some of the earlier critical remarks in the field of occupational health (e.g., De Spiegelaere et al 2016;Muntaner and O'Campo 1993;Newton 1995;Schaufeli and Taris 2014;Smollan et al 2010). Overall, a determined and well-planned application of interdisciplinary approaches would likely enhance the novelty and practical implications of work stress studies and occupational health psychology in general.…”

“…In addition, critical discussions in the field of work sociology (e.g., Ehrenberg 2010;Näswall et al 2008) as well as in the field of occupational health psychology (e.g., Schaufeli and Taris 2014) suggest that the assumption concerning the beneficial impact of autonomous functioning at work on one's well-being might be too straightforward in the plurality of current information societies, in which autonomy is realized in a new working life context. It has been proposed that the different dimensions of work autonomy play a distinctive role in wellbeing (De Spiegelaere et al 2016).…”

Examining Structural Relationships between Work Engagement, Organizational Procedural Justice, Knowledge Sharing, and Innovative Work Behavior for Sustainable Organizations

“…As knowledge sharing itself is a self-motivated and proactive behavior, employees will be more likely to share work-related ideas and expertise with their co-workers only when they are dedicated to their work and enthusiastic about it [31]. Studies have also shown that employee work engagement is significantly and positively related to employee innovative work behavior [28,44,45]. With a great deal of attention being focused on the work engagement domain, many researchers have agreed that work engagement is a strong factor affecting organizational performance and success.…”

Employee Empowerment, Trust, and Innovative Behavior: Testing a Path Model

“…Empowerment facilitates employees to engage in "trial-and-error", a vital requirement in the process of innovation (Ramamoorthy, Flood, Slattery, & Sardessai, 2005). Empowerment allows experimentation and unconventional techniques which land into innovations and inspire original ideas (De Spiegelaere, Gyes, & Hootegem, 2014). Roberg (2007) shows that empowerment is related innovative behavior.…”