Employee Empowerment and HR Practices: A Phenomenological Study

This report presents a qualitative study on employee empowerment and its relationship with HR practices, utilizing a phenomenological research methodology. The study investigates the key stages of phenomenological research, including data collection and analysis, to understand the lived experiences of employees. The research explores the concept of employee empowerment, highlighting its significance in fostering organizational responsiveness, productivity, and employee commitment. The report details the use of MAXQDA software for data analysis, examining factors like managing innovative work, HR practices related to employee loyalty, employee satisfaction, and employee empowerment. Statistical analysis, including correlation and ANOVA, reveals insights into the connections between these variables. The conclusion summarizes the findings, emphasizing the practical implications of employee empowerment and HR practices. The study draws upon established research methods and relevant literature to provide a comprehensive analysis of the topic, contributing to a better understanding of effective leadership and human resource management within organizations.

Running head: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS
Qualitative Research Methods
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author’s note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Phenomenological research.............................................................................................................2
Key Stages.......................................................................................................................................3
Employee empowerment relates with HR practices........................................................................4
Data Analysis...................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
Reference.........................................................................................................................................7

2QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS
Introduction
The topic for the present study is about Employee Empowerment and HR practices by
using phenomenological research methodology. The purpose of the research study is to highlight
the perceived empowerment techniques and even used qualitative research design with a
phenomenological study method. The employees experience various empowerment techniques
for positive cultural changes within business enterprise (Van Manen 2016). The topic had been
selected by the researcher because of personal experience where no empowerment was given for
the position. Precisely, human beings do not appreciate that they will be controlled by any other
person constantly. Without employee empowerment, employees become frustrated as well as
losses confidence and motivation at the same time. The current research study explains about
Phenomenological research methods that had been covered by Moustakas Clark in his book
“Phenomenological research methods”. Furthermore, the study even highlights the stages of
Phenomenological research methodology and then demonstrating proper understanding of
Phenomenological research by selecting topic on employee empowerment and relating it with
HR practices.
Phenomenological research
Phenomenological research can be termed as an interpretive research methodology that
has direct application with the Human Resource Development as it guide to explicate the essence
of human experience as a whole (Moustakas 1994). By the theory, it is understood that one
should reflect on own textual description and structures of own experience.
There are several stages of phenomenological research that need to be elaborated and
understood by the researcher and link it with the research topic on employee empowerment and
HR practices.
Research method
The main goal of the qualitative phenomenological research is to understand the lived
experience of a given phenomenon or experience. Phenomenological research is a qualitative
analysis used for narrative data as well as methods for analysing its data as it is quite different
compared to other traditional or quantitative research methods. Furthermore, the research
methods majorly focus on meaning of experience as well as behaviour and narrative at the same
time (Mayoh and Onwuegbuzie 2015).
Research ethics for phenomenological research
The present research study on employee empowerment relating with HR practices make
use of qualitative data. The data used should be collected from reliable sources otherwise the
whole purpose of the study will not be able to generate positive research outcomes. After

3QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS
selecting the topic, it should be communicated to the respective professor or supervisor, as
without the consent, it is not possible for the student to start with the research study. Here, the
phenomenological research views participants as co-researchers where it mainly review the
analysis and bring out the meaning of experience with the participant and this act as important
step in analysing the meaning as a whole (Padgett 2016).
Data Collection
By using phenomenological research, the researcher needs to describe their lived
phenomenal experiences as it help in gathering data in a phenomenological study. The researcher
properly explains about the experiences in detail or even aesthetic expressions.
Data Analysis
Here, the first principle of phenomenological research data is used for getting access to
emergent strategy that need to follow the nature of the data as it emerges or changes in the course
of analysis.
Presentation of results
The results analysed by the researcher should be properly presented with examples of
narrations and illustrating it by using themes.
The steps identified starts with recording all the statements of relevance to the experience
noted or studied by the researcher. The next step is to getting rid of duplicates as well as vague
comments. The next step is to list all what actually remains that means invariant horizons. Next,
it needs to group these statements into different categories of themes. The next step is to organize
the themes with the categories (Roberts 2013). The next step organizes the themes with correct
statement for creating a story of the experience of an individual. The next step is to construct a
structural description from own interpretation as well as textual structural description.
Key Stages
Stage 1: Holistic understanding of the raw data
The first stage is to collect raw data and attempts to explicate the meaning structures as
developed through experience of the individual being questioned. In addition, the model
summarizes one methodological approach that helps in explicating experiences.
State 2: Forming a constituent Profile
The second stage is to form a constituent profile where the raw data are taken from each
participant.

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Stage 3: Thematic Index
The third stage is to form a thematic index that is used on the basis to construct a
thematic index that identifies major themes.
Stage 4: Searching the thematic index
In this step, it searches for the thematic index that compares referents as well as central
themes and constituent profiles for forming a set of interpretive themes. The main focus done on
explication of data as it reports the meaning of experience.
Stage 5: Arriving at an extended description
In this step, interpretive themes are prepared for explicating the meaning attributed to the
situation or phenomenon by investigating purpose.
Stage 6: Synthesis of extended descriptions
In this step, the interpretive themes need to be summarized for providing in-depth picture
of participants experience while investigating activities.
Employee empowerment relates with HR practices
As rightly put forward by Vaioleti (2016), Employee empowerment means providing
employee with the right of certain degree of autonomy as well as responsibility where they can
involve in decision-making process on matters relating any specific organizational tasks. In
addition, employee empowerment results positively in gaining organizational responsiveness to
ant of the issues or problems identified. Furthermore, employee empowerment is the reason
where the business can earn productivity and profits. Empowering employees by the
management will lead to a greater degree of employee commitment for attainment of
organizational goals where the employee has some degree of ownership in undertaking decisions
towards goal achievement. The study properly explains about role of empowerment by relating
to any of the business enterprise. Addition to that, empowering employees will help them for the
growth of that individual. Therefore, employees actually experiences organizational leaders that
majorly has less empowering characteristics in recent management area or expertise. The
researcher here needs to have proper insights of information on how they demonstrate employee
empowerment. Even the study give proper emphasis upon providing employees empowerment
that will help the employees to recognize employees empowerment as well as identifying
management empowerment techniques that depends upon the styles of management used in the
most appropriate way (Smith 2015). Every business enterprise has some broad spectrum of
empowerment and it is a known fact that none of the organization is perfect in any ways.

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Data Analysis
MAXQDA software is used for analysing qualitative research related to Employee
Empowerment and HR practices. Research articles were collected which related HR practices
and Employee Empowerment.
From the analysis it was found that the average reference of Employee Empowerment
(24.75) is higher than HR practices (22.00). In addition, the standard deviation of Employee
Empowerment (3.49) is lower than HR practices (15.95).
Variable N Mea
n
Std.dev. (samp.) Missing Missing (%)
Employee
Empowerment
4 24.75 3.49 0 0.00
HR Practices 4 22.00 15.95 0 0.00
Further the articles were four different factors were related to Employee Empowerment
and HR practices. The different factors are Managing Innovative Work, HR Practice on
Employee Loyalty, Employee Satisfaction and Employee Empowerment.
Employee
Empowerment
HR Practices SUM
Managing Innovative Work 27 48 75
HR Practice on Employee Loyalty 23 20 43
Employee Satisfaction 20 5 25
Employee Empowerment 29 15 44
SUM 99 88 187
Correlation 0.507
Moreover, the correlation between Employee Empowerment and HR practices is
moderate (r = 0.507).
Employee Empowerment HR Practices
Employee Empowerment 0.507 (p=1.0000) N=4
HR Practices 0.507 (p=1.0000) N=4
Further, one-way ANOVA was done to analyse the relation between Employee
Empowerment and HR practices. From the analysis of the one-way ANOVA it is found that
there are statistically significant differences between Employee Empowerment and HR practices.
Sum of squares df Mean square F p value Eta squared
Between groups 48.75 3 16.25 0.0
0
0.00 1.00
Within groups 0.00 0 0.00

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Total 48.75 3
Homogenity of
variance
Levene 0.00
p value 0.00
Conclusion
In the present assignment we considered the basic steps used in phenomenological
research methods. Further, we tested the relation between employee empowerment and HR
practices using MAXQDA software. The relation between employee empowerment and HR
practices was based on experiences of the researchers.

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Reference
Mayoh, J. and Onwuegbuzie, A.J., 2015. Toward a conceptualization of mixed methods
phenomenological research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 9(1), pp.91-107.
Moustakas, C., 1994. Phenomenological research methods. Sage.
Padgett, D.K., 2016. Qualitative methods in social work research(Vol. 36). Sage Publications.
Roberts, T., 2013. Understanding the research methodology of interpretative phenomenological
analysis. British Journal of Midwifery, 21(3).
Smith, J.A. ed., 2015. Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. Sage.
Vaioleti, T.M., 2016. Talanoa research methodology: A developing position on Pacific
research. Waikato Journal of Education, 12(1).
Van Manen, M., 2016. Phenomenology of practice: Meaning-giving methods in
phenomenological research and writing. Routledge.