Investigating the effect of employees’ empowerment on innovative behavior with mediating role of joy and its positive outcoms

 This study focuses on employees’ joy and its mediating role in the relationship between empowerment and innovative work behavior, as well as work engagement and job satisfaction as two positive outcomes of it that affect the optimal performance of employees.

Design/Methodology/Approach: 

This research is applied in terms of purpose and its method is survey-analytical. The staff of Mashhad Municipality are the statistical population of the research. Structural equation model and AMOS and SPSS software were used to analyze the collected data.

 The research findings indicate the mediating role of joy in the relationship between empowerment with job satisfaction and work engagement. Moreover, the effect of joy of employees, which is in its turn the result of their empowerment, on employees' innovative behavior with the mediating role of job satisfaction and work engagement has also been confirmed.

Limitations & Consequences: 

The study population is limited to municipal employees and the generalizability of the results of this study is possible to similar organizations.

Practical Consequences:

 Due ‌‌to positive outcome of empowerment and its impact on efficiency, the municipal managers by delegating authority and autonomy, can provide employees joy and satisfaction on one hand, and by using the sense of trust created, provide innovative ideas to get the job done on the other hand.

Innovation or value of the Article:

 Previous studies have focused on the direct relationship between employee empowerment and innovative behavior, and they have not addressed how is the relation. In the present study, the role of positive emotions and especially joy, which is the result of empowering people, has been discussed in this relation.