Having empowered employees is the dream of every leader. All managers want people who show initiative by taking on and completing tasks with little guidance. Of course, the expectation is that these people will perform only in ways consistent with company objectives and values. And there lies the leadership challenge. Often the leadership has not done their part to empower the employees or, worse, has gotten in the way through micro-management.
Not all leaders have selfish intentions or poor skills; many simply haven’t had the training, time or focus to create an environment of empowerment. Below are eight tips to help make your company a place where people feel good about stepping up and taking it on.
1. Fostering Open Culture
In most companies, the leaders make all the decisions and communicate it to the employees. In places like this, employees usually feel there's no use taking a stand because there is no medium for them to be heard and this makes them feel they have no impact in the organization. A good leader needs to create a channel where he can get feedback and ideas from the employees. Allow your employees air their views, observation and thoughts. Even if you don't make use of their ideas in the end, still let them know that you appreciate their thoughts and input towards the growth of the organization.
2. Appreciate Self-Improvement
Leaders often accuse their employees of being stagnant yet do nothing to build them up. The leaders often think promoting the employees should be enough the make them grow, but this is usually not true. Most times, the problem comes from the lack of money and knowledge. Employees are not like entrepreneurs who are always improving themselves one way or the other. Employees need to be pushed and helped. Leaders can do this by allocating some money towards management and personal training so that employees can grow and use their new skills efficiently.
3. Encourage Safe Failure
Many employees, by their very nature, are risk-adverse. That’s why they are employees and not entrepreneurs. Always encourage your employees to make mistakes and learn from them. In a situation where the leader always shuts down or the employees before they even act or make a decision, the employees will become totally dependent on their leader. They will not think for themselves and always look to their leader for approval before doing anything. The employees may even totally avoid trying anything new to avoid disapproval from the boss. Give your employees space to think out of the box, to try out new things that will not harm the organization. When they try new ideas and fail, they'll learn from it and try again till they succeed.
4. Provide Plenty of Contexts
Many employees don't really understand the focus and values of the organization because they are not privy to such information. All that information lies in the brains of the leaders, and this makes it hard for employees to have a specific direction or focus. As leaders, you need to find a means of sharing vital information to the employees in an organized way. You need to let employees understand the vision, values, and purpose of the organization so that they can work with you to achieve that vision.
5. Clearly Define Roles
The role of each employee should be clearly defined so that they know exactly what they are supposed to do. The employees will also know their limits and will, therefore, know not to invade other people's space. Define the responsibility of each person so that there can be togetherness and efficiency in the workplace.
6. Require Accountability
Accountability is very important. Always let your employees know when they are not meeting expectations. Those that meet expectations should be rewarded diligently. This serves as a means of motivating others to put in an extra effort. When people are not held accountable, they will relax and make little or no effort to reach their goals.
7. Support Their Independence
Don't babysit your employees. You don't have to monitor their every move, allow them spread their wings and venture out on their own to find ideas that will be helpful to the company. Mistakes will come along the way, but they would be able to learn and achieve a lot when given a chance to do it on their own. By so doing, your employees grow into respectable people and may even become good leaders in future.
8. Appreciate Their Efforts
Most times, it's not often about the money. Yes, you pay them for jobs done, but true job satisfaction doesn't come from the money. When people are empowered, they need to feel satisfied with their job, and this can be achieved through appreciation and commendation. Managers should be able to appreciate the efforts of their employees, celebrate them when they make valuable contributions.
Structural Examples of Employee Empowerment
Employee empowerment comes in various ways and degree and often occurs at different levels of an organization. Some rewarding examples are given below to show how employees can generally be empowered for them to partake in making decisions related to production, human resources, planning, and service. It can vary in degree and scope and can permeate through the various levels of the organization.
Transfer of Quality Control – Results are often accessed based on the quality of the work we do. Therefore, decisions affecting quality control should be the first stage of empowerment. Many organizations need to adopt the Total Quality Management (TQM) practices because it contains many effective employee empowerment methods. One example of a method gotten from this practice was seen in the 1950's. Toyota organized a system where employees used the physical signals they saw during production to estimate production levels that would meet the demands of the end users. This system was called the Kanban system.
Inclusion through Consultations – Another method is to consult the people at the front line of the tasks. Schedule a meeting with those involved in carrying out the project, get their input and let their decisions be inserted as well. This makes it a joint decision and the employees will feel empowered to work harder. However, seeking their input should be done in an effective way. Seeking their input at the last minute when you know changes can no longer be made to the project, will not help to keep the employees empowered for long.
Increased Role in Hiring Decisions – The employees should also be allowed to make decisions regarding who is hired in their department. This helps to build a team that can work well together. The employees should be allowed to screen resumes and cover letters of various candidates to be hired; they should also be involved in the interview process. The choice of the employees should take first place unless the management has a good reason for not accepting their candidate.
Asking for Volunteers – Requesting for people to volunteer for projects is a good way to empower employees. The employees will feel more attached to the project because they volunteered to do it. They will be more committed and focused because they have a higher sense of ownership of the project when they volunteer than when it is assigned to them. For this to be effective, it has to be done voluntarily, not out of pressure or gain.
THE LAST WORD
Employee empowerment, no matter the form or degree, often brings about job satisfaction and increase in motivation. Having empowered employees is the dream of every leader. Therefore, managers should try their best to find ways to keep their employees empowered so that they can be successful, both in the organization and personally.
REFERENCE
www.managementskillsadvisor.com / www.Inc.com / The business of employee empowerment: democracy and ideology in the work place, Thomas A. Potterfield, Green Wood Publishing Group, 1999.
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