ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Organizational Psychology
This article is part of the Research TopicResignation and Strategic Retention: Shaping the Future WorkforceView all 16 articles
Empowerment or Burden? The Impact of Empowering Leadership on Generation Z Knowledge Workers Retention Willingness
Provisionally accepted
Genlin Zhang1,2*
Yichuan Wang1*- 1Xi'an University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, China
- 2Xi'an Jiaotong University School of Management, Xi'an, China
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Instruction: In the context of sustainable human resource management, this study investigates the dual-pathway mechanism through which empowering leadership influences the retention willingness of Generation Z knowledge workers in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), based on the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory. We propose that perceived organizational support and emotional exhaustion serve as parallel mediators, while proving and avoidance goal orientations act as critical moderators. Methods: A multi-industry survey was conducted, collecting valid data from 387 Generation Z knowledge workers across various sectors in China. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze the direct, mediating, and moderating effects. Results: The findings revealed that empowering leadership exerts an ambivalent effect on retention willingness. It simultaneously increases retention willingness by enhancing perceived organizational support and decreases it by exacerbating emotional exhaustion, with both mediating paths being statistically significant. Furthermore, employees' goal orientation moderates this mechanism: proving goal orientation strengthens the positive effect of empowering leadership on perceived organizational support, whereas avoidance goal orientation intensifies its positive effect on emotional exhaustion. Discussion: This study unveils the "double-edged sword" effect of empowering leadership, providing a more comprehensive and dialectical perspective on its impact on employee retention. The findings offer valuable insights for SMEs to implement sustainable human resource practices by tailoring empowering leadership based on employee characteristics to enhance retention and foster organizational sustainability.
Keywords: Empowering leadership, Generation Z knowledge workers, retention willingness, perceived organizational support, Emotional exhaustion
Received: 16 Sep 2025; Accepted: 11 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Genlin Zhang, 23202097011@stu.xust.edu.cn
Yichuan Wang, 15097820187@163.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.