The role of reward omission in empowering leadership and employee outcomes: A moderated mediation model

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12260
• Author: Jing Qian,Meng Chen,Bin Wang,Xiyang Zhang
• Date: 01 April 2020
• Published date: 01 April 2020

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The role of reward omission in empowering

leadership and employee outcomes: A moderated

mediation model

Xiyang Zhang

1

| Jing Qian

2

| Bin Wang

3

| Meng Chen

2

1

Department of Psychology, University of

Akron, USA

2

Business School, Beijing Normal University,

China

3

Future of Work Institute, Curtin University,

Australia

Correspondence

Jing Qian, Beijing Normal University, 19

Xinjiekouwai St, Beijing 100875, China.

Email: jingqianbnu@outlook.com

Funding information

National Natural Science Foundation of China,

Grant/Award Number: 71672012

Abstract

In this study, we examined the relationships between

empowering leadership employee outcomes (creativity and

job performance) and the mediating (voice behaviour and

taking charge) and moderating (reward omission) variables

in these relationships. Our theoretical model was tested

using the data collected from 197 full-time employees and

32 supervisors. Analyses of the multisource data indicated

that empowering leadership is linked to subordinates' job

performance and creativity through subordinates' taking

charge and voice behaviour as intermediate variables. How-

ever, the indirect relationship exists only when leaders dis-

play high levels of reward omission. Our research addressed

a specific gap in understanding the boundary conditions for

empowering leadership to be effective. We conclude with

theoretical and practical implications of our findings as well

as future research directions.

KEYWORDS

creativity, empowering leadership, job performance, reward

omission

1|INTRODUCTION

Owing to the continuing flattening of organisations and the growing complexity of work, empowering leadership has

received increasing attention from scholars and practitioners in recent decades (Seibert, Silver, & Randolph, 2004).

Empowering leaders exert their influence by delegating power to employees and expressing confidence in

employees' capabilities (Chen, Kirkman, Kanfer, Allen, & Rosen, 2007). In modern industries, empowering leadership

Received: 28 March 2018 Revised: 7 August 2019 Accepted: 17 August 2019

DOI: 10.1111/1748-8583.12260

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is helping organisations to create an environment in which every employee (e.g., an engineer) can participate in every

level of the business. Together, empowering leadership and the increasingly flat structure of organisations allow

more autonomy and facilitate the flow of communication. In line with this, various desirable outcomes of

empowering leadership, such as job satisfaction, employee performance, creativity, and extra-role behaviours, have

been identified in previous empirical studies (Amundsen & Martinsen, 2015; Auh, Menguc, & Jung, 2014; Lorinkova

& Perry, 2017; Srivastava, Bartol, & Locke, 2006; Zhang & Bartol, 2010).

In order to further understand how and when empowering leadership works, previous research has suggested

that intrinsic motivation is key in this process (i.e., Chen, Sharma, Edinger, Shapiro, & Farh, 2011; Li, Chiaburu, &

Kirkman, 2014; Zhang & Bartol, 2010). For example, previous studies found that empowering leadership increases

subordinates' psychological empowerment and subsequently increases their intrinsic motivation (Zhang & Bartol,

2010). However, they merely measured self-reported motivation, which cannot accurately represent intrinsic motiva-

tion (Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 1999). According to Deci et al. (1999), free-choice behaviour is likely to better capture

individual's intrinsic motivation than self-reported interest does, because people are less likely to disguise themselves

in free-choice behaviours (Deci et al., 1999).

To move beyond their approach, we therefore adopted free-choice behaviours, which is individuals' behaviour

during free-choice time, to indicate individuals' interest and motivation. Specifically, we focused on two particular

free-choice behaviours as potential mediators in the relationship between empowering leadership and employee out-

comes: voice behaviour (constructive change-oriented communication and viewpoint expression intended to

improve the situation; LePine & Van Dyne, 2001) and taking charge (discretionary improvement-oriented behaviours

that affect organisational functions with respect to how work is executed within the context of their jobs; Morrison

& Phelps, 1999). Voice behaviour and taking charge are not required by the organisations, but they could indicate

greater employee interest in and motivation towards performing their job.

Previous research suggested that empowering leadership led to many beneficial outcomes; however, less is

known about when it works. For example, Sharma and Kirkman's (2015) literature review noted that studies of

empowering leadership have largely emphasised its bright side. However, empowering leadership is not necessarily

positive; instead, it depends on a set of boundary conditions (Humborstad, Nerstad, & Dysvik, 2014; Lorinkova &

Perry, 2017; Martin, Liao, & Campbell, 2013). Only a few studies have addressed the boundary conditions of

empowering leadership, and these studies mainly focused on the contextual variables such as organisational support

climate and relationship quality (Li et al., 2014; Lorinkova & Pery). Nevertheless, the influencing factors of the leaders

themselves are rarely addressed. In fact, leaders will show a set of behaviours rather than a single type of leadership

style in managerial practice (Lord, Day, Zaccaro, Avolio, & Eagly, 2017). For example, a supervisor can show social

support and social undermining at the same time (Nahum-Shani, Henderson, Lim, & Vinokur, 2014). Thus, it is theo-

retically important to investigate how empowering leadership influences employees jointly with other leadership

behaviours.

In the current study, we specifically focus on the moderating role of leaders' reward omission (i.e., lack of positive

response towards good performance and behaviour; Hinkin & Schriesheim, 2008) because such type of managerial

control behaviour is closely associated with empowering leadership. According to self-determination theory (SDT),

empowering leadership satisfies employees' basic needs (i.e., autonomy and competence; Chen et al., 2007), making

people feel self-determined and intrinsically motivated (Deci & Ryan, 1985). However, when employees experience

much external regulation and control, their intrinsic motivation may be corrupted by extrinsic motivation (Deci,

Koestner, Ryan, & Cameron, 2001). Rewarding subordinates is a way for leaders to exert control because it lets

employees know what is expected and what is unacceptable (Yukl, 2006). In the present study, rewards include gen-

eral positive responses such as praise, acknowledgement, and feedback (Hinkin & Schriesheim, 2008). Building upon

SDT, we expected that the lower levels of reward omission (i.e., frequently providing positive responses towards

good performance and behaviours) diminish the positive effects of empowering leadership on employee outcomes.

Our research will contribute to the current understanding of empowering leadership in the following ways. First,

we use free-choice behaviour to indicate intrinsic motivation, which moves beyond using self-reported intrinsic

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