Psychological Empowerment of Middle Level Managers and its Bearing on Human Resource Stability in Three and Five Star Hotels in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of middle level manager's psychological empowerment on human resource stability in three and five star hotels in Nairobi County, Kenya. The main objective was to investigate the impacts of the four dimensions of psychological empowerment (Meaning, Competence, Self-determination and Impact) as experienced by middle level managers on human resource stability in three and five star hotels. The study employed a descriptive survey research design, and used quantitative methods in data collection. Convenience sampling was used to select 82 middle level operations managers, out of which 67 respondents (81.7%) responded. Questionnaires with closed ended statements based on 5-point Likert scale were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used to analyze data using SPSS version 22 software. The findings of the study are that psychological empowerment has a significant and positive effect on human resource stability, and each dimension of psychological empowerment significantly influenced human resource stability todiverse extents. Among the dimensions, Meaning and Impact had the most significant and positive influence on human resource stability. Both competence and self-determination had insignificant but positive influence. Results also indicated. Further, human resource stability in all the surveyed hotels was low. While majority of the respondents agreed that they had meaning in their jobs and organizations, majority disagreed that they had sufficient impact in their organizations, leading to the conclusion that lack of impact among middle level managers had caused the low level of human resource stability. It is recommended that top managements of three and five star hotels actively engage their middle level managers, communicate the vision, mission, and performance information and reward performance to enhance the feeling of impact among this vital cadre in management to improve human resource stability.