The Effects of Empowerment Practices on Perceived Barriers to Innovation: Evidence from Public Organizations

While governments have adopted employee empowerment practices around the world, they are also concerned with and wish to reduce barriers to innovation in the public sector. Using the 2012 Australian Public Service Commission (APSC)’s “the State of the Service data,” this article examines the association between four empowerment practices and perceived barriers to innovation. The results reveal that a unit increase in granting power to employees has a very large effect on reducing perceived barriers to innovation, suggesting for policy makers that granting power to employees is a crucial practice which can reduce perceived barriers to innovation. Additionally, while providing information is positively associated with perceived barriers to innovation, offering rewards and providing access to knowledge and skills are negatively associated with perceived barriers to innovation. This article discusses the implications of these results.