# How and when empowering leadership influences job performance: A dual-mediator model

## TL;DR

This study explores how empowering leadership improves teachers' job performance through structural empowerment and team cohesion in Hong Kong schools.

## Contribution

The study introduces a dual-mediator model showing how empowering leadership affects job performance via structural empowerment and team cohesion.

## Key findings

- Empowering leadership directly and indirectly enhances job performance through structural empowerment and team cohesion.
- Structural empowerment and team cohesion are significant mediators in the relationship between leadership and performance.
- The findings suggest increasing job autonomy to improve workplace performance in educational settings.

## Abstract

Based on the Social Exchange Theory and Self-Determination Theory, this study examines the impact of empowering leadership on employee job performance through the underlying mechanisms of structural empowerment and team cohesion. Survey data was collected using self-administrated questionnaires from 483 secondary school teachers in Hong Kong. Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling technique was used to examine the proposed hypotheses of the study. Survey data from a cross-sectional sample of 483 secondary school teachers in Hong Kong was used to test the parallel mediation model. The results of structural equation modeling indicate that empowering leadership, structural empowerment, and team cohesion serve as direct motivating factors of job performance. Additionally, empowering leadership was found to indirectly enhance job performance via the mediation of structural empowerment and team cohesion. This research addresses a knowledge gap in understanding the mechanisms through which empowering leadership effectively improves work outcomes, particularly in the school setting. Leaders of educational institutions may consider increasing teachers’ job autonomy as a strategy to enhance workplace performance.