The power of moving fast: responsible leadership, psychological empowerment and workforce agility in energy sector firms

Abstract

The energy sector is undergoing significant transformation induced by environmental changes and increasing pressure from stakeholder groups. In order to quickly seize opportunities in the unpredictable contemporary business environment, leaders increasingly face the challenge of ensuring an appropriate level of organisational agility, achieved through workforce agility. In striving to achieve workforce agility, responsible leaders should consider the intrinsic motivation oriented towards work, how it affects a team's performance, and the level of its involvement. Based on studies that combine leadership, empowerment, and agility, we analyse whether and how responsible leadership and psychological empowerment support workforce agility in the energy sector firms. Using structural equation modelling, we analyse data gathered from a group of 187 managers and experts. The results support a hypothesised relationship between leadership focused on responsible management, psychological empowerment, and workforce agility. The survey reveals that a combination of responsible leadership and psychological empowerment affects workforce agility.

Keywords

• Responsible leadership
• Organisational agility
• Workforce agility
• Psychological empowerment
• Energy sector firms