Autonomy In The Workplace

In the recent times, job autonomy has emerged as an important requirement for the well being of the employee in the workplace. This is because several studies have shown that increase in job autonomy leads to improved job performance (Frayne,
1989; Prussia et al., 1998) .By increasing the level of freedom that an employee possesses in carrying out his day to day tasks in the manner in which he desires infuses in him a sense of confidence and makes him feel empowered. ( Latham &
Frayne, 1989; Prussia et al., 1998). Loss of job autonomy can lead to major issues like constant job stress and strain that might result in affecting their personal well-being and work behavior ( Zangaro & Soeken, 2007) . Karasek (1979) have pointed out that even in

(De Dreu
& West, 2001; Gilson & Shalley, 2004, Hackman & Oldham, 1980). Mastekassa
(2011) have pointed out that the need for autonomy is felt more in professional samples than in non-professional ones. Perrow (1983) too have suggested that autonomy is necessary for the effective functioning of the organization since the loss of autonomy would lower their morale, increase the chances of error. Spector (1986) findings suggested that participative approaches play a major role in having a positive sense of rapport building in employees i.e. they help them in improving their sense of personal control. The results showed that the employees who had higher levels of control at work were more committed, loyal, motivated and satisfied towards their work. It was found that these employees had lesser tendency to quit their job, remain less absent from their work and suffered from lesser role ambiguity. They have also pointed to the downside of increased control which is the increased responsibility

As the term suggests upward autonomy refers to the freedom that an employee enjoys with respect to his superior to whom he is supposed to report – in this case his manager. Horizontal autonomy on the other hand refers to the freedom that an employee enjoys with respect to his peers or to their assistants. Katz (1965) has discussed about the direct and indirect delegation of autonomy. Direct delegation of autonomy refers to a specific area or rules that clearly define autonomy where the person concerned can exercise his discretion. This aspect of autonomy takes into consideration the aspect of formal organization. Indirect delegation of autonomy occurs when there are no clear- cut rules existing then autonomy exists by default. Indirect delegation of autonomy leads to the development of informal patterns in the organization. Harrell (1979) considers autonomy as a need and refer to it as n(Aut).
The following table provides the various definitions of autonomy (job, professional) based on different perspectives that are available in the literature.
Definitions from various researchers and practitioners have been given in the table
Harrell (1979) pointed out that need for Autonomy can be considered as an