Linking Social Support with Job Satisfaction: The Role of Global Empowerment in the Workplace

According to the concept of healthy organizations, three main interrelated components are considered: (1) structural resources for the execution of the task (e.g., autonomy) and social resources in the Working Group (e.g., social support); (2) healthy active professionals experiencing high levels of psychosocial well-being (job satisfaction); and (3) healthy organizational outcomes such as high performance and quality of service. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between social resources (social support), structural resources (global empowerment) and job satisfaction. This study comprised a sample of 370 Portuguese healthcare professionals working in five stars private hospitals. A cross-sectional study was used. Data were collected based on personally administered surveys. An adjusted model of structural equations showed that job satisfaction was significantly predicted by social support and global empowerment. Additionally, employees' perception of empowerment can influence the relationship between social support and job satisfaction. Interventions based on support networks are decisive for increasing job satisfaction, but if the health institution offers structural conditions that foster global empowerment, this relationship is further strengthened. The cross-sectional design cannot highlight the causal relationships that longitudinal studies are more apt to do.