The Impact of Psychological Empowerment on Workforce Agility in Organization X

This study aims to determine the effect of psychological empowerment on labour agility in the State Civil Apparatus at Agency X. This questionnaire is based on the Labour Agility Scale and Psychological Empowerment Scale measures. The results of the regression test showed that psychological empowerment has a significant influence on workplace agility, with a large effect size of 56.2%. In addition, the descriptions of both variables, psychological empowerment and workforce agility, are categorised as moderate. The findings of this study are in line with previous research on the impact of psychological empowerment on employees of public and private sector companies in the manufacturing and services sectors in India.

Introduction

During the pandemic, there has been a rise in internet usage. According to data from Internet World Stats, Indonesia had 212.35 million Internet users in March 2021, making it the third-highest in Asia (Kusnandar, 2021). Although the pandemic situation has gradually improved and is heading towards an endemic, changes in the use of the internet and technology are still ongoing. These changes have led to new habits facilitating individual activities such as learning, working, and shopping. This has resulted in digital transformation, a continuous process that helps humans communicate and find new information (Ratnasari, 2020). The term ‘transformation’ refers to the process of change, which can have both positive and negative impacts on individuals depending on how technology is used. Digital technology has changed various fields, including information technology, leadership styles, and organizational management (Kristiyono, 2015; Suwarno & Bramantyo, 2019). In these conditions, agility is required in strategy, organizational design, the agile capacity of human resources, and leadership (Worley & Lawler, 2010).

In this disruptive era, human resources that have good competitiveness are needed. The Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) reports that in 2020, Indonesia ranked 65th out of 132 countries and is still the lowest among other ASEAN countries. From these results, it can be seen that the Indonesian government has not been optimal in providing good human resources, which have high competitiveness (INSEAD, 2020). Based on data released by the State Personnel Agency (BKN), the state civil apparatus (ASN) is one of the largest resources, reaching 3.9 million citizens working as ASN. This makes ASN is the human resource that most experiences and feels the VUCA era where changes take place very quickly, ASN is also required to serve the digital community quickly, effectively, and efficiently.

According to an article on MediaIndonesia (2017), Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform, Asman Abnur said that the competence of Indonesia’s civil servants (PNS) is relatively low, as evidenced by several factors, including the total number of PNS in Indonesia, which is four. In 2017, almost 58% of civil servant appointments were given to honorary workers without undergoing a test. Additionally, many government positions, such as head of department and head of field, are occupied by individuals lacking expertise in the respective fields. Out of 475 million civil servants, 64% possess only administrative abilities. It is important to ensure that appointments are made based on merit and expertise rather than honorary status. Furthermore, the decline in the quality of the civil service may be attributed to the politicization of the bureaucracy. This is because civil servants are sometimes used to fulfil the wishes of certain groups, resulting in losses for the state. Public officials, whether affiliated with a political party or independent, should not view civil servants as a means to maintain their power, as civil servants work for the state (Perdana, 2012). This is what causes the public to lose trust in the performance of civil servants and tarnishes their image. Therefore, ASNS need to work quickly and precisely in this disruptive era, where changes occur rapidly and cannot be predicted. Agility is necessary to adapt to these changes.

Workforce agility refers to individuals’ ability to respond quickly to change (Arsita, 2021). Agile workforce management enables organizations to achieve their goals through innovation, enhances strategic capabilities, and can reduce structural labor costs on both a fixed and variable basis, according to Beatty’s (2005) Workforce Agility Survey. Workforce agility is crucial for employees because it fosters an adaptive attitude and responsiveness to changes within the organization (Hosseiniet al., 2013). Furthermore, agility enables employees to identify opportunities to optimize organizational resources when faced with challenges (Alavi & Wahab, 2013). An individual’s relationship with existing changes is also impacted by their level of workforce agility. According to Crocitto and Youssef (2003), this relationship involves an individual’s ability to adapt, make decisions, and innovate to provide quality services and enhance competitiveness.

Work environment and organizational support can help motivate employees to become proactive, adaptive, and resilient. This, in turn, can have a positive impact on employee performance. Research suggests that individuals who feel positively empowered by their organization are more likely to engage in proactive, adaptive, and resilient behaviors, and may even be more likely to generate innovative ideas (Muduli & Pandya, 2018). Psychological Empowerment measures the extent to which individuals feel empowered by the organization. People who feel empowered by their organization are more likely to contribute to agility in the workplace. This is because they will have a quick and positive perception of challenges (Muduli, 2016).

Psychological empowerment increases individuals’ internal drive to actively participate in change. High levels of psychological empowerment can help individuals optimize their performance to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization (Muduli, 2016). Additionally, psychological empowerment can facilitate the development of positive working relationships with other employees to support organizational change. Psychological empowerment has been found to create a two-way relationship between an organization’s resources (Hamzehloka & Naderi, 2018). Empowered people are more likely to be innovative and adapt to change.

It is understood that ASN is the largest contributor to the workforce in Indonesia, so ASN needs to adapt quickly to ongoing changes. However, the quality and performance of ASN are considered low, so many people do not trust the performance of ASN, even though the quality and performance of employees greatly affect the organization. In addition, Agency X, which is a government agency engaged in the field of communication and information, is required to move quickly in making innovations by utilizing technology. Meanwhile, all government agencies are bound by bureaucracy regulated by law, which causes limited movement. Researchers suspect that the low quality and performance of ASNs are not only influenced by ASN behavior that is not proactive, adaptive, and resilient but also by the bureaucracy that binds the government. In addition to the limited movement of employees in innovating, the absence of psychological empowerment carried out by leaders can reduce the performance of an employee. This study aimed to investigate the impact of psychological empowerment on the agility of employees in the state civil service of Agency X.

Methodology

This quantitative research data collection was carried out in two phases: a Pilot Study and a Field Study. The Pilot Study was conducted from 21 June 2022 to 29 June 2022 with 39 respondents. The survey was conducted from 5/7/2012 to 19/7/2012 with 127 respondents. Only 122 records could be processed because 5 respondents’ data did not meet the criteria, as their answers tended towards the right. The data was collected through online questionnaires distributed via WhatsApp using Google Forms.

This study used a questionnaire to collect data regarding the variables of labor agility and psychological empowerment. The questionnaire was based on the measures of the Workforce Agility Scale and the Psychological Empowerment Scale. In addition, respondents also provided personal demographic information as listed in Table I.

Table I. Demographic Data

Demographic data		Frequency	Percentage
Gender	Men	76	62.3%
	Women	46	32.7%
Birth year	Gen X (43–57 years old)	59	48.4%
	Gen Y (28–42 years old)	48	39.3%
	Gen Z (20–27 years old)	15	12.3%
Level of education	Diploma III	8	6.6%
	Diploma IV/Bachelor	79	64.8%
	Master’s	35	28.7%
Personnel status	PNS	90	73.8%
	P3K	32	26.2%
Duration of employment	<5 years	29	23.8%
	5–10 years	14	11.5%
	>10 years	79	64.8%
Work patterns	WFH (Work From Home)	4	3.3%
	WFO (Work From Office)	55	45.1%
	Hybrid	63	51.6%
Total		122	100%

Result

The study analyzed the data using the simple linear regression method with SPSS 23. The hypotheses are as follows:

H₁: There is an effect of psychological empowerment on the agility of the workforce in ASN in organization X.

H₀: There is no effect of Psychological Empowerment on Workforce Agility in ASN at Organization X.

The linear regression test produced a coefficient of determination (R²), which measures the contribution of the independent variable to the dependent variable. The following table presents the results of the coefficient of determination test using simple linear regression analysis. The text must be free of grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors. The F-test determines the significance level of the analysis results, indicating whether the effect of psychological empowerment on labor agility is significant or not. Additionally, the text must adhere to conventional academic structure and formatting, including consistent citation style and footnotes. The significance level of the analysis results, which determines whether the effect of psychological empowerment on labor agility is significant or not, can be determined using the F test. It is crucial to use clear and objective language, avoiding biased or emotional language. The ‘sig.’ value can be used to interpret the results of the F test. If the sig value is less than 0.05, it can be concluded that the variable has a significant effect. However, if the sig value is greater than 0.05, it can be concluded that the variable has no significant effect.

Table II shows that the coefficient of determination R is 0.750 and R² is 0.562. This indicates that psychological empowerment has a 56.2% effect on workforce agility, with the remaining 43.8% influenced by other variables not considered in this study. The results of the regression test indicate that psychological empowerment has a significant influence on workforce agility, with a large effect size of 56.2%. The calculated F value is 23.692 with a significance level of 0.000 < 0.05, leading to the rejection of the null hypothesis (H₀).

Table II. Test Results Coefficient of Determination (R²) of Psychological Empowerment on Workforce Agility

R	R2	F	Sig.
0.750	0.562	154.283	0.000

To determine the value of the regression coefficient of the variable in question and whether the psychological empowerment or independent variable used is significant, a T-test with a significance value is performed. If the significance value is less than 0.05, it can be concluded that the variable has a significant effect. Conversely, if the significance value is greater than 0.05, it can be concluded that the influence of the variable is not significant. Additionally, the results of the T-test can be used to determine the direction of influence of the variables.

Table III shows that the psychological empowerment coefficient value is 1.696 with sig. 0.000, indicating a positive relationship between psychological empowerment and workforce agility (B = 1.696, p = 0.000). This suggests that individuals with a higher level of perceived psychological empowerment have a higher level of workforce agility, while individuals with a lower level of perceived psychological empowerment have a lower level of workforce agility.

Table III. Regression Coefficient Result

	B	T	Sig.
Psychological empowerment	1.696	12.421	0.000

The regression test results produced a regression equation model that calculates the influence of psychological empowerment (X), the independent variable, on workforce agility (Y), the dependent variable. Y=a+bX+e

(1)Y=67.598+1.696Xwhere;

a: constant value

b: regression coefficient value

e: error value.

From the above equation, it can be interpreted that the constant value obtained is 67.598. This means that if psychological empowerment remains or does not experience additions and subtractions, workforce agility has a constant value of 67.598. In other words, workforce agility in ASN at Agency X is 67.598. The psychological empowerment regression coefficient value is 1.696. This means that for every 1-level increase in psychological empowerment (X), workforce agility (Y) will increase by 1.696.

Discussion

This study aimed to investigate whether psychological empowerment has an impact on workforce agility in the State Civil Apparatus at Agency X. The findings demonstrate a significant positive correlation between psychological empowerment and workforce agility. This study demonstrates that there is a positive correlation between the level of psychological empowerment experienced by employees at Agency X and their workforce agility. To ensure objectivity, the language used is clear, concise, and value-neutral, and the text adheres to conventional academic structure and formatting. No new content has been added beyond the original text. Specifically, the research found that 56.2% of the variance in workforce agility can be attributed to psychological empowerment, while the remaining 43.8% is influenced by other variables such as organizational learning, practices, structure, affective commitment, job performance, and corporate social media. It is important to note that these variables were not examined in this study. The text is grammatically correct and free of spelling and punctuation errors.

Moreover, the description of the two variables, psychological empowerment and workforce agility, is moderately categorized. The study shows that the employees of Agency X exhibit good workforce agility, with the norm value falling within the medium category. The study shows that the employees of Agency X exhibit good workforce agility, with the norm value falling within the medium category. The study shows that the employees of Agency X exhibit good workforce agility, with the norm value falling within the medium category. This indicates that more than half of the employees demonstrate medium-level workforce agility, while some exhibit low-level workforce agility. Therefore, there is still a need to improve workforce agility, such as by optimally and evenly increasing psychological empowerment in the workplace. This is supported by previous research conducted by Muduli (2016), which found that individuals with high psychological empowerment can optimize their performance to achieve organizational goals and objectives. In addition, the development of quality working relationships that support organizational change can be facilitated by psychological empowerment. Empowered individuals are more likely to generate innovative ideas, maintain positive relationships with colleagues, and be prepared for the challenges of change.

The results of the norm value research indicate that the employees of Institution X have a moderate level of psychological empowerment. This suggests that the employees already feel empowered by the company, which helps them improve their performance and become more agile in facing the challenges of change. This study supports Putri and Mangundjaya’s (2020) findings that individuals with psychological empowerment are more likely to commit to organizational change and accept and adopt it, making them more agile. The study also highlights the importance of psychological empowerment in supporting individuals’ learning and adaptation processes when dealing with a changing environment.

The study’s hypothesis testing results indicate that psychological empowerment affects workforce agility in the State Civil Apparatus at Agency X. These findings align with Muduli and Pandya’s (2018) research on the impact of psychological empowerment on workforce agility in employees of public and private sector companies in India’s manufacturing and service sectors. Their study also found a correlation between psychological empowerment and workforce agility.

Muduli (2016) argues that individuals with high psychological empowerment can optimize their performance to achieve organizational goals and objectives. Furthermore, psychological empowerment helps individuals to establish quality work relationships that support organizational change. This suggests that psychological empowerment fosters a reciprocal relationship between resources in an organization (Hamzehloka & Naderi, 2018). Thus, employees who feel empowered by the company are more likely to innovate and be agile in response to changes.

Researchers identified that when employees feel psychologically empowered by the company, their workforce agility will increase. So that both individually and in groups, employees of Institution X will improve their performance by providing the latest innovations, creating good relationships with other employees, and optimizing their performance to achieve organizational goals and objectives. This means that by increasing psychological empowerment in the workplace, employees can work more agile, adapt quickly to changes, and provide many innovations to the company. Furthermore, the quality of the company will improve, in line with the improved performance of employees as well.

Conclusion

Based on the data analysis results, this study concludes that psychological empowerment has a significant impact on workforce agility in the State Civil Apparatus at Agency X, with a 56.2% effect. The study suggests that for Agency X, a government technology agency, to empower its employees, it needs to provide full support. Additionally, increasing employees’ psychological empowerment can enhance their workforce agility, leading to improved performance and stability for the company. To enhance the psychological empowerment of employees, Agency X can reward those who have contributed the latest innovations to every successfully implemented project.