An opportunity to influence the productivity of employees through various incentive mechanisms characterizes managers as highly efficient leaders who adhere to appropriate strategies to control and optimize subordinates’ work. However, the choice of a specific approach to the style of coordination is not an easy task since different factors influence – a particular field, ultimate goals, the preparedness of the staff, and other criteria. Accordingly, to achieve high labor productivity and increase workers’ initiative in solving tasks, it is crucial to identify how and which leadership styles contribute to successful employee empowerment in the UAE.
According to Murari (2015), numerous personnel management methods exist, which can have different effects on workers’ ability to realize their professional potential as efficiently as possible. Thus, this research proposal aims to determine the impact of individual leadership principles in the context of the benefits for employee empowerment and the creation of a productive work environment. As a background for intervention, the UAE labor market will be considered. Based on the available information, a transformational leadership style is the most optimal management strategy promoting employee empowerment and motivating specialists to increase their professionalism in the continuous workflow.
Justification for the Research
The variety of leadership styles and the possibilities of their application create difficulties for the implementation of suitable HR strategies and employee empowerment. As Murari (2015) states, following a specific practice involves several conventions and implies not only interacting with subordinates from a certain behavioral perspective but also the individual aspects of professional leadership training, including “personality traits, influence, relationships, cognitive versus emotional intelligence,” and other aspects (p. 13). Accordingly, it is essential to consider specific management styles and determine why transformational leadership is the best alternative to other strategies in the context of employee empowerment in the UAE labor market.
As a relevant methodology, an empirical study will be carried out since this type of research makes it possible to obtain objective and unbiased data on a specific problem from a stakeholder perspective. Rao and Kareem Abdul (2015) consider this strategy a successful mechanism in the context of team productivity and an opportunity for employees to adapt to dynamic working environment conditions under the influence of current changes introduced by leaders.
Regarding the significance and impact of this topic on the development of the labor market in the UAE, the authors note that psychological empowerment may be achieved due to the implementation of a transformational management strategy (Rao & Kareem Abdul, 2015). The benefits of studying this topic are high since the abilities to stimulate subordinates’ initiatives and help them demonstrate professional skills contribute to growing work results. According to Choi, Goh, Adam, and Tan (2016), employee empowerment increases people’s satisfaction with occupied positions, which, in turn, influences the interaction of managers with subordinates positively. Therefore, the analysis of this topic is of high importance in the context of establishing a high-performance workflow.
Preliminary Literature Review
The analysis of available academic sources makes it possible to assess how diverse leadership styles are and their implications for employee empowerment. According to Rao and Kareem Abdul (2015), for the UAE labor market, the transformational type of leadership is an objectively suitable strategy that helps strengthen teamwork by employees’ ability to adapting to any changes quickly. In some studies, other styles and their influence are considered.
For instance, Al Sahi Al Zaabi, Ahmad, and Hossan (2016) analyze the role of authentic leadership in the context of employee productivity and note that there is a positive correlation between these two characteristics. However, the authors use psychological empowerment as an independent variable, which narrows the spectrum of their assessment and does not allow proving the relationship between the concepts in question (Al Sahi Al Zaabi et al., 2016). Therefore, such a study is biased and limits the objectivity of its outcomes.
Other leadership styles are also evaluated in terms of their impact on employee empowerment. Jabeen, Behery, and Abu Elanain (2015) remark that the transactional type of management affects the organizational commitment of individual workers positively and makes it possible to establish psychological interaction. Nevertheless, when considering teamwork as a key aspect of achieving ultimate goals, Rao and Kareem Abdul (2015) argue that transactional leadership is an unsuccessful management strategy since varying incentives to involve subordinates impedes the establishment of a single mechanism of work and may not be sufficient motivation for all employees.
To obtain more accurate information, a larger sample is needed for analysis. However, this limitation is one of the key ones in the study by Naqshbandi, Tabche, and Choudhary (2019), who note the significant role of empowering leadership but, at the same time, do not provide sufficient justification for a large-scale intervention. Therefore, one can note that the transformational style of leadership is a universal strategy that allows achieving positive results of employee empowerment in different working environments.
Since transformational leadership is a flexible strategy, its application in organizations of various profiles is possible. This advantage becomes apparent after reviewing the study by Al Shamsi, Dixon, Hossan, and Papanastassiou (2015), who note that in the process of organizational changes, managers need to create a convenient and, at the same time, effective environment to stimulate the interests of subordinates in achieving the highest production indicators.
Unlike the aforementioned transformational strategy, other approaches, for instance, servant or autocratic leadership types, cannot offer the conditions for involving all employees, without exception, in the workflow by providing appropriate opportunities to take valuable initiatives (Murari, 2015). For the UAE labor market, staff motivation is an urgent task due to the country’s dynamic development, and by adapting to current trends and the needs of subordinates, managers can achieve their goals successfully.
Based on the review of the sources presented, one can remark that to maintain a high level of employee empowerment among employees in the UAE, following a dynamic and highly adaptive strategy of transformational leadership is the most valuable and correct solution. The study by Rao and Kareem Abdul (2015) is the background for evaluating the positive implications of this managerial approach and allows determining how exactly this principle of interaction with subordinates helps motivate staff in the UAE. An empirical analysis is an objective and convenient methodology that helps obtain reliable data on the effectiveness of this leadership style.
In addition, as Rao and Kareem Abdul (2015) state, in the organizations of the UAE, more and more attention is paid to the importance of teamwork as a key practice guaranteeing the achievement of the tasks set. Therefore, such a management style is considered the most optimal employee empowerment mechanism in the context of the topic under consideration.
Theoretical Framework
As a theoretical framework used in this study, a special structure with individual variables can be proposed. Al Mehrzi and Singh (2016), who have developed this scheme, offer to consider the employee empowerment parameter as a dependent variable that has a certain indicator based on several criteria, and the most important of the is a particular leadership style. In addition, the authors propose taking into account such criteria as organizational culture, teamwork, and the indicator of support in the collective (Al Mehrzi & Singh, 2016). All these variables serve as objective factors that determine how high a leader’s ability to motivate subordinates is.
This theoretical framework covers the key aspects of the interaction of employees and managers and helps achieve several valuable implications. According to Al Mehrzi and Singh (2016), if team leaders adhere to such a model, this contributes to empowering subordinates and conveying to them the importance of their fruitful work. No extra variables are included in this framework, and its basic components are enough to conduct a preliminary assessment. The current study is planned to use the factors of leadership style and teamwork as the most important aspects of collaborative practice in the dynamic and flexible conditions of the UAE labor market.
Contribution of the Research
In case of the successful implementation of the goal and finding evidence that a transformational leadership style is the best form of personnel management in the dynamic UAE market, the study will have valuable practical and academic implications. Firstly, as Al Dari, Jabeen, and Papastathopoulos (2018) state, the ability to trust employees to realize their professional potential opens up successful prospects for knowledge sharing, which, in turn, cannot be achieved through a reward system. Secondly, the practical significance of such a study lies in an opportunity to promote its results in the UAE labor market and introduce a transformational leadership strategy in those organizations where there are difficulties with employee empowerment.
From an academic standpoint, the contribution of the research implies proving a positive correlation among the proposed variables. In addition, the work conducted may allow expanding knowledge about the properties and effects of transformational leadership on the employee empowerment criterion in the context of a dynamic work environment. These advantages are significant to carry out a detailed analysis of the features of this managerial type and compare it with other existing styles.
As a potential limitation, a wide sample can be noted, although, in the context of assessing the overall impact of transformational leadership on employee empowerment, this factor is not critical. Also, the applied empirical research methodology may be ineffective in terms of digital results. However, when analyzing the indicators of the importance of a particular managerial type, it is essential to reflect not how widespread it is but how effective it is in practice.
Research Methodology
In the context of the proposed goals, the empirical research method is the basis for obtaining objective data regarding the impact of individual leadership styles on employee empowerment and, in particular, a transformational type. Bose (2018) conducts a similar study and applies the same methodology to describe how the motivation of employees helps improve their productivity in the UAE banking sector. Such a strategy makes it possible to obtain the necessary information directly from interested parties and interpret it correctly.
As a method of collecting data, surveys will be applied as simple and affordable tools. The sample will include dozens of employees from different fields, and such a variety is an intentional decision since the analysis of the impact of specific leadership styles will be more effective if specific results from different areas are evaluated. Participants will be asked to answer questions concerning the current leadership styles used in their organizations and assess how effective they are in the context of encouraging employees’ initiatives. Also, individual scenarios will be offered, and respondents will choose which of the specific strategies are the most appropriate for them.
Thus, this empirical study corresponds to a qualitative type because all the responses of involved participants are the key factors that form the understanding of the problem under consideration and its significance in the UAE labor market.
Research Plan and Timetable
To conduct an accurate study, a specific research plan will comply. Several stages will be completed, which will be the framework of work. The introduction section will present the underlying problem, the research question, as well as the thesis that is posed as the key one. The significance of the problem will be considered as a mandatory part of work. Further, a detailed literature review will be carried out to obtain a comprehensive picture of the problem and find the necessary justifications in support of the hypotheses put forward. The methodology section will include study design rationale, data collection specifics, and assessment tools. Further, all the information obtained should be analyzed in a separate section, and the results are to be interpreted by the set goals. Implications and limitations should be listed as the important components of work. The conclusion will duplicate the original thesis and summarize the outcomes. After a list of references, an appendix will be given, which will contain questionnaires used to interact with study participants. The entire timetable with the volume of work is presented in Table 1.
Table 1. Research Timetable.
References
Al Dari, T., Jabeen, F., & Papastathopoulos, A. (2018). Examining the role of leadership inspiration, rewards and its relationship with contribution to knowledge sharing: Evidence from the UAE. Journal of Workplace Learning, 30(6), 488-512.
Al Mehrzi, N., & Singh, S. K. (2016). Competing through employee engagement: A proposed framework. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 65(6), 831-843.
Al Sahi Al Zaabi, M. S., Ahmad, K. Z., & Hossan, C. (2016). Authentic leadership, work engagement and organizational citizenship behaviors in petroleum company. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 65(6), 811-830.
Al Shamsi, S. A. O., Dixon, C., Hossan, C. G., & Papanastassiou, M. (2015). Coaching constructs and leadership development at an oil and gas company in the United Arab Emirates. Journal of Competitiveness Studies, 23(1/2), 13-33.
Bose, I. (2018). Employee empowerment and employee performance: An empirical study on selected banks in UAE. Journal of Applied Management and Investments, 7(2), 71-82.
Choi, S. L., Goh, C. F., Adam, M. B. H., & Tan, O. K. (2016). Transformational leadership, empowerment, and job satisfaction: The mediating role of employee empowerment. Human Resources for Health, 14(1), 73.
Jabeen, F., Behery, M., & Abu Elanain, H. (2015). Examining the relationship between the psychological contract and organisational commitment: The mediating effect of transactional leadership in the UAE context. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 23(1), 102-122.
Murari, K. (2015). Impact of leadership styles on employee empowerment. Sutton, UK: Partridge Publishing.
Naqshbandi, M. M., Tabche, I., & Choudhary, N. (2019). Managing open innovation: The roles of empowering leadership and employee involvement climate. Management Decision, 57(3), 703-723.
Rao, A. S., & Kareem Abdul, W. (2015). Impact of transformational leadership on team performance: An empirical study in UAE. Measuring Business Excellence, 19(4), 30-56.