Assessing the impact of Workplace Spirituality and Psychological Empowerment on Employees’ Innovative Work Behaviour in the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry: The Mediating Role of Employees’ Readiness for Change

Odunayo Paul  SALAU; Titilayo  OWOLABI; Adebukola  DAGUNDURO

doi:10.34118/jeba.v2i2.4896

Odunayo Paul SALAU Department of Employment Relations and Human Resource Management Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State
Titilayo OWOLABI Department of Business Administration, School of Management Sciences, Babcock University
Adebukola DAGUNDURO Department of Employment Relations and Human Resource Management Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State

DOI: https://doi.org/10.34118/jeba.v2i2.4896

Keywords: Employees’ Readiness for Change, Employees’ Innovative Work Behaviour, Psychological Empowerment, Telecommunications Industry, Workplace Spirituality

Abstract

The issue of encouraging innovative work behaviour in employees is becoming a challenge to organisations in the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry despite the investments in human resource practices and workplace initiatives. Nevertheless, the current literature has focused on Workplace Spirituality and Psychological Empowerment separately with little focus on the behavioural pathway through which these variables are converted to innovation thus leaving a research gap regarding the mediating role of Employees Readiness to Change. Based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Theory and Social Exchange Theory (SET), this paper evaluated how Workplace Spirituality and Psychological Empowerment affect the Innovative Work Behaviour of Employees. The quantitative research method was used to conduct a descriptive research design. The sample included those employees of four major telecommunication companies in Nigeria listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), that is, MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, Globacom and 9mobile. The data was gathered using the hard-copy and Google Forms questionnaires and 401 valid responses were retrieved out of 423 distributed questionnaires, which is a high response rate. Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM-PLS version 4.1.1) was used to code and analyse the data. The results indicated that the constructs were highly reliable and valid, as the values of Cronbachs Alpha and Composite Reliability were high. Spirituality of the Workplace (β = 0.390, t = 8.438, p = 0.000) and Psychological Empowerment (β = 0.602, t = 12.518, p = 0.000) were found to have significant effect on the Readiness of Employees to Change, with the latter being more powerful. The indirect effects revealed that the Workplace Spirituality (β = 0.373, t = 8.286, p = 0.000) and Psychological Empowerment (β = 0.576, t = 12.798, p = 0.000) had a significant positive impact on enhancing the Employees Innovative Work Behaviour using the Employees Readiness to Additionally, the mediating role of Employees Readiness to Change was highly significant in Innovative Work Behaviour (β = 0.957, t = 147.727, p = 0.000). The research finds that the willingness of employees to change is a major channel through which workplace spirituality and empowerment influences innovation and recommends that organisations should encourage meaningful working conditions and empower employees to maintain innovation in telecommunications industry.