Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
2015-16
This research project report is my bona fide work and has not been
Purnima Singh
MBA 4th Semester
Dept. of Business Administration
Technical Education & Research Institute
P.G.College, Ghazipur
Preface
Acknowledgement
As a student I learn many things but unless I put all with the practical knowledge as to
how things really work and what are the problems generally arise, I can not expect to be
The project work bears the imprint of several persons. I have a deep sense of gratitude
and honour toward them. First of all I would like to pay my gratitude and thanks to Dr.
Neetu Singh, incharge training and placement of TERI, P.G.College, Ghazipur, for her
the project.
Secondly, I would like to thanks Miss. Fati Shafaat, the faculty member of Technical
Education & Research Institute Ghazipur, who supported me during the completion of
research project report and gave all valuable suggestion which made my report effective
I would also like to pay my thanks to Dr. Rahul Anand Singh, H.O.D. of TERI
and also pay my thanks to the my colleagues Rekha, Shriti for helping in data collection.
Best efforts are made to cover all the aspects related to the project to provide a
.
Purnima Singh
MBA 4th Semester
Technical Education & Research Institute
P.G.College, Ghazipur.
Chapter 1
Introduction
Introduction Empowerment
It seems that empowerment has become a dirty word, and work on empowerment has
been supplanted by engagement (which, in practical terms, has the same result).
Perhaps that is natural for anything that has been a fad, or perhaps most people do not
realize that empowerment is aimed at the bottom line as well as the employees. Both
explanations seem to work, since the same principle is still promoted, using different
Pushing power down to the lowest possible level - that is, empowerment - is quite handy,
though. Senior executives can enjoy higher productivity and the flexibility that comes of
being able to make fast changes. Managers do not have to do it all themselves, and are
not bombarded with trivial authorizations. Employees find that their jobs are a better
match for their abilities, and are more likely to stay where they are, despite a hot job
market.
When people are given the power to make decisions and take action on their own,
managers are not constantly being called in for their authority, which saves them
improvements take place more quickly. In addition, people are more likely to
observe problems and fix them, because they have more personal involvement.
which make it less likely they will move to another organization. That saves
money in several different ways - for example, by cutting back on recruiting and
with less desirable jobs have to pay higher salaries to attract (and keep) the same
caliber of employee.
When people are involved in their jobs and invested with the power to do what
they know best, large-scale change is also more likely, because all the local, small
changes needed to support the large change are easier to implement. People can
There is lots of evidence that, when people are given clear direction, authority, and
responsibility, it usually works out well. The job enrichment literature is full of examples
of cases where, for example, having employees check and fix their own work reduces
costs and increases speed. The principles have been applied to everyone from janitors to
engineers. We refer you to the out-of-print New Perspectives in Job Enrichment for
details.
venture NUMMI (which builds Toyota Corollas), is providing employees who make
suggestions with the power to see them through. In one simple stroke, NUMMI solved
two problems - how to motivate factory workers, and how to make continuous
improvement work over the long term. After all, the problem in most change efforts is not
Whatyoucando
While people tend to think employees can only be empowered by senior managers, many
of the limits on our personal power at work are caused by our own perceptions. Back
when empowerment was still a popular fad, many managers no doubt said they had tried
I have helped to empower many people without making a single change to their working
environment. Sometimes, it's as simple as asking what they want to do, then "why don't
you do it?" One of my most rewarding consulting experiences involved a training session
with half the members of a small organization, representing all levels from administrative
staff to upper (but not senior) management. The training (in customer service) was side-
tracked by tough questions along the lines of "I can't do anything to change it, so why are
you telling me this?" Over time, and with my facilitation, people began to realize that
they could make fundamental changes. Where the help of other people was needed, they
learned that the other people had wanted to make the same changes. Though the training
only lasted eight hours, the effects on the behavior of the participants was impressive.
authority up to their responsibilities is both rewarding and a good way to quickly increase
Hummingbird offers computerized programs for keeping employees healthy and on the
job. Diet, exercise, risk management and lifestyle advice are available to employees so
they can take charge of their own health and well being needs. Hummingbird programs
(and others like it) give all the necessary information to employees so that they can make
Eighty-one per cent of American businesses with fifty or more employees are currently
using some form of employee empowerment tools for health care. Healthier employees
have fewer sick days and lose less time at work. Companies, large and small can only
operate if their employees are on the job. Medical insurance is expensive and can be
abused by dishonest people from all sides of a business. Employee Empowerment Tools,
on the other hand, are less expensive and very practical when it comes to maintaining a
healthy workforce. Putting employees in charge of their own well being seems to be
Overview
Providing employees with the software to improve and protect their own health can be
the best investment an employer can make! The empowerment programs have
information on diet, exercise, medications, even how to quit smoking. Using the
programs is proving beneficial for both the health of the employees who have been
empowered and the companies they work for. Employee Empowerment Tools are
creating a healthier work force, less reliant on medical technology after an illness begins
than being able to prevent it before the fact. MyHealthCoach, Hummingbird, and
QuenchUSA are Employee Empowerment programs that can keep people healthier and
make our businesses run better. Modern technology is providing us with new means of
both treatment and prevention that will have great benefits for everyone
that the right to know can have on peoples lives, by facilitating the fulfillment of other
an informed way in decisions that affect them, while also holding governments and others
accountable. It enables individuals to learn about their rights and so exercise them and act
against their infringement. Free flows of information can also help uncover the misuse of
funds that should be allocated for public benefit and positively impact on the quality of
delivery. There are indeed success stories to illustrate how this has worked for many
people. It is also clear that vital information does not reach the disadvantaged in many
cases. For more widespread empowerment results through the right to know, there is a
pressing need to foster information demand by the public, and particularly by the poor
and vulnerable, women, youth and other groups that may suffer disproportionately from
News media can help build awareness of the right to know and its benefits, and
domestic abuse, among others. Further, media can allow people to voice dissatisfaction,
channel demands for accountability and responsiveness, and provide ways to participate
in public debate. The role of community media enhanced by ICTs is particularly relevant
in reaching the marginalized, especially those in areas not usually served by private
commercial media.
The significant role that the news media can have in advancing the right to know and
equipped with sufficient capacity to critically receive it, assess it and use it. Thus,
skills to analytically interpret and engage with media content, and permits their learning
decisions about their jobs. Employee empowerment helps employees own their work and
take responsibility for their results. Employee empowerment helps employees serve
customers at the level of the organization where the customer interface exists.
Employee Empowerment, Empower Employees, Empowered Employees
take action, and control work and decision-making in autonomous ways. It is the state of
Looking for real management advice about people? You want to create an environment in
which people are empowered, productive, and happy. Don't hobble them by limiting their
tools or information. Trust them to do the right thing. These are the most important
implemented with care. Managers and employees say they want empowerment.
empowerment not implemented effectively? Here are my top ten reasons why
empowerment fails.
Looking for an inspirational quote or a business quotation about empowerment for your
quotes about empowerment and delegation will help you create success in business,
decisions and actions that affect their jobs. Team building occurs when the manager
knows when to tell, sell, consult, join, or delegate to staff. For employee involvement and
Confused about the legitimate role of employee teams and committees in a non-union
work setting? If so, you are not alone. Employers have been cautious for years. A new
NLRB decision may shed some light. Truly empowered teams rock! Read more!
good management practice and partly about facing reality - the reality that modern
employees won't accept jobs where they have no say in their day to day operational
decisions. Still, old habits die hard and some managers will struggle for awhile to change
their roles from prime decision maker to facilitator. Several factors contribute to effective
managers feel threatened by a loss of authority, for example. There is also the question of
what to empower and when. In addition, self-awareness is essential to be sure that you
are not actually disempowering employees. Read on to learn how to empower employees
How many times have you asked someone to do something like draw up a plan for such
and such project? Your employee completes the plan, but then you say, That is not
what I wanted or That is not how you do it. And so the employee thinks: you didnt
If you find yourself having back and forth misunderstandings with your
employees, then you might have a communication problem. And this could be creating
bad feelings, low morale and inefficiencies. To remedy this, perhaps its time you
daily tasks. It provides a set of policies, plans, reports, forms, and work routines that
employees and management on what is really important to get the job done. This focus is
the first step in empowering your employees. Empowerment requires a shared vision, the
A manual should be used to communicate both corporate policies and the appropriate
know the vision, then they feel confident to make decisions. Keep in mind, though,
Policy - A definite course or method of action to guide and determine present and future
doing things. A procedure is a series of steps followed in a definite regular order that
operations within departments and bridging the gap between interrelated departments. If
a department has specific information that it requires to process a task, then this
information is easily captured in a form that accompanies the task. In business forms are
A policies and procedures manual is a functional guide for training new and existing
inconsistent approaches from personnel changes. And it will assist you in developing a
can ensure compliance with regulatory agencies affecting your business, including the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Food and Drug Administration
(i.e. ISO).
6. Strengthen Organization and Quality
"quality" manual for the whole company. This will help ensure optimal operations and
It will "empower employees to make decisions independently without the need or time
delays of involving various levels of management. A well thought out manual will
enable just about everyone in the organization the ability and flexibility to make the right
problem and have the authority to resolve the problem right on the spot. In addition, a
production team should be able to diagnose a quality problem and formulate and resolve
The goal of the policies and procedures manual is to identify the ways and means of
the least cost in the minimal amount of time. Not only will it be used to empower the
organization, but it will have the added benefit of increasing job satisfaction and
employee morale
The next step is to add employee motivation, employee empowerment and employee
Every business and work process eventually requires that people make decisions to do the
right thing. For employees to act appropriately there must be employee motivation that
empowerment. As human beings we are all created with a free will and the capability to
make decisions. When employees are not making the correct decisions, no matter how
well the process or system, problems will soon develop. Active employee development
and employee empowerment will help create the environment where employee
motivation can develop so more of these decisions beneficial to your organization. Every
consistent training plan that starts with executive coaching and includes management
There are an almost infinite number of small details that no one except the person
actually doing the work can ever know. Without employee empowerment it is difficult
to take advantage of this knowledge. All of this knowledge is valuable and waiting to be
tapped for your organization's benefit. Many organizations make a halfhearted attempt at
employee empowerment with the Suggestion Box that is never opened. The last one I
had opened contained several gum wrappers and one suggestion; it was over six months
old. While this may fool some into thinking they have an avenue for participation and
Frequently assumptions are made about employee attitude and willingness to participate
based not on the actual employee motivation but employee reaction to the way they are
empowerment, no freedom to make even basic decisions. These same employees are
community leaders, serve on church boards, are elected officials, do volunteer work, have
their own businesses, and in a variety of other ways demonstrate a capability far above
what is used in their work. What could happen to your business if through employee
dedication, effort and thought to work that they freely give away outside of work?
are willing to engage their employee and create an environment where employee
effective way to get involvement is to focus on the cycle time of important work
processes. Even with uninspired and hesitant team members it is common to have 35+%
reductions in cycle time. The importance of cycle time reduction goes much deeper than
just being able perform in a process in less time without adding effort. In an organization
dedicated to learning how to improve itself, every cycle is an opportunity to learn and
improve. An organization with a 33% advantage in cycle time not only has the advantage
of lower costs (time is always money) and the ability to do more with the same or fewer
resources but also they get three opportunities to learn for every two opportunities for
their competitors. In soccer terms that is getting three shots on goal for every two from
your opponent. Benefits continue to feed on themselves and the advantages grow bigger
and bigger.
Teaching people how to use relatively simple problem solving tools and techniques is the
easy part of employee development. Usually after just a little training and experience
with one or two work related problems the basic tools are mastered well enough for most
to start using them on their own. Even high motivated employees need the necessary
tools to do a good job. When placed in teams they are prepared to make use of the many
specifics that only they know to improve products and work processes. If your
organization is going to approach six sigma performance levels (less than 3.4 ppm error
rate) you will have to get your employees actively involved using problem solving tools.
Even the best training/development programs can not assure that all employees will get
involved. One of the prime jobs of supervision and management is to create the climate
and the systems for employee motivation. Organizations need empowered employees
involved from the neck up and not just from the neck down. This is not to say that all will
chose to do so. The obligation is provide the opportunity and the means. It is then the
duty of the employee to take advantage of the employee development opportunity. Most
employees when they believe in and trust their management/supervision will leap at the
needed. This process should stimulate thinking and encourage employees to make
positive change in their behavior, attitude and habits of thought about work. Frequently
however the biggest changes in these areas have to occur at the management and
authority, poor listening, and reservation of the right to make all decisions diminish the
likelihood that employee will contribute even a fraction of their capability. True
management skill involves the ability to direct, coach, delegate and mentor individuals
and teams depending upon the situation and the employee's need. Developing
management and supervision with the skill and confidence to behave in this way is not a
trivial task. For this reason we strongly recommend that the employee development start
at the top of the organization with a consistent philosophy and approach backed up with
observable behaviors.
With Six Sigma Plus this area of personal development receives significant attention.
Even when no new technical skills or tools are taught improvements are often impressive.
This is especially true when a coordinated effort starts at the Executive Level in the
organization and moves through the Managers, Supervisors and Employees working on
employees who are using a small fraction of the skills developed in past training. Efforts
at developing employees and allowing those who want to become more involved (which
are most of them) usually will have much higher returns. An additional benefit is they are
then more valued employees whose change in attitude is reflected in their work.
Every activity or job has some level of technical skill that must be mastered in order to
perform at an acceptable level. Without these it is much like trying to turn a screw into a
board without a screwdriver. Demonstrated knowledge and skills are essential. In some
cases employees come to the job with all of those skills. More commonly your employees
will have a certain base level of competence but still will require additional training and
development before they can make a positive contribution. Sometimes it can take years
for the contribution to pay back the time value of the investment made in an employee.
An obvious improvement would be to reduce the amount of time (cycle time) that it takes
The attitude that employee have on the work place can be as important than the actual
technical skill level. Most of the time when we speak of an employee having an attitude it
goes without saying that we are talking about a poor attitude. When speaking of a
positive attitude it is always preceded with the good descriptor. Our experience confirms
that poor attitude is one of the more common concerns in the work environment. Actually
it is not the attitude that is the problem, rather the behaviors that results from that attitude
is of concern. When someone is described as having a bad attitude and you press for how
anyone else can know if someone has a bad attitude the responses are fairly typical.
The list is remarkable similar no matter what the job, company, industry, or part of the
world.
Our behaviors are how other people decide what kind of attitude they think we have.
Almost everyone will make the connection between behavior and attitude.
Our study indicates that attitudes tend to drive behavior and are a result of our internal
values and beliefs, many of which were imprinted at a very early age. We have to live
with the early messages for the rest of our lives. That means that if we as individuals are
going to change our attitudes we must find a way to over come that early conditioning.
Fortunately we can make a conscious choice to add to the values and beliefs system we
have imprinted. Each of us can make the conscious decisions to enlarge our individual
inventory of experiences. In the correct environment individuals can examine values and
beliefs and chose if they want to make a change. The change is not always easy, but the
The sequence is that our habits of thought (self-talk) drives our attitudes and our attitudes
drive our behavior. All three will have a certain amount of harmony or agreement. To
make a conscious decision to change we need to change the way we think--change our
habits of thought.
Changing someone else's attitude is an impossible task. What can be done is to over the
motivation comes from within. Some things can be done in the short term, but long term
In order to help people learn one must understand that most people learn based on three
basic inputs.
First is a significant emotional event. Almost all of us can remember where we were and
what we were doing for some common major events. As a test, if you are old enough,
Where were you when you first heard that JFK was shot? What were you doing when you
heard about or saw the TV pictures of the Challenger explosion? These are significant
events that do not require effort on your part to remember. They are events that impact us
and we remember them for the rest of our lives with no effort or conscious decision to so.
Each of as individuals has a number of unique significant events that are part of us no
matter what we do. These types of experiences are almost impossible to predict or create
A second method is the "Aha, I have it!". Discovery of a principle or concepts on you
own. You see this depicted in the cartoons as the light bulb turning on in someone's head.
Most of the time this is highly unpredictable and also very difficult to use as a method for
planned learning.
The third method is to take advantage of spaced repetition. A little test can demonstrate
that for you. All questions to be answered in less than 2 seconds. (3times 2=? ) ( 4 times
4=? ) Now try (16 times 18.27=?) While there may be some that can answer all three in 2
seconds or less most of us are going to get the first two but not the third. I contend it is
because at some point we learned our multiplication tables though a process of drill and
spaced repetition, now they are automatic and we don't have to think to get the answer.
Using this principle of spaced repetition is one predictable way to have planned learning.
Single exposures have a retention of about 2% after 16 days. If on the other hand you can
get six exposures over six consecutive days the retention rate soars to 62% after 15 years.
This is why most corporate communications and seminars have little lasting impact. Six
Sigma Plus training or any other kind of training/development that is not spread out over
time and does not have repeated exposure between sessions has little chance of success.
Employee empowerment is one of those terms that everyone thinks they understand,
but few really do. Ask a dozen different people and you'll get a dozen different answers
organizational theorists and you'll get as many answers to the same question. This paper
seeks to answer that question in a way that it can be understood by a greater number of
people. Some writers indicate that empowerment consists of sharing power and
authority. Others say that empowerment occurs when the organization's processes are
set-up to allow for it. If you keep in mind the secondary dictionary definition of "to give
faculties or abilities to: enable" with all that this word implies, then you will be on the
This paper also seeks to answer the question above in such a way that people who
asking. That detailed answer will be provided in the in the literature review section under
the heading "benefits of employee empowerment". However, it has been shown that
program which must be overcome if we are to receive these benefits?" The short answer
the typical organization. Leaders must learn to be visionaries who can provide an idea to
which employees will want to dedicate themselves. Supervisors must change their ways
of supervising and learn to be coaches and mentors. All members of the organization
must dedicate themselves to sharing information and to training. Each of these issues
While there are few theorists who have delved very deeply into what makes up
empowerment, what they have mined is rich. There are more researchers who have
attempted to provide a framework for what they have observed; their ideas which have
organizations face. The popular press often writes about "failed" empowerment efforts.
What has become evident to me is that there are some speed bumps on the road to
empowerment; often these so called failures are only rough patches which will be
overcome. However, it is also evident that the implementation often takes years,
especially if the organization has a bureaucratic culture. It also seems that empowerment
of empowerment, some information about what must take place, an assessment of how
empowering your workplace is, and a model for implementation based upon what is
this paper.
Definition of Empowerment
The common dictionary definition of empowerment, "to give official authority to:
delegate legal power to: commission, authorize" is the one most understood by most
authority was a managerial prerogative." However, this is not the definition of what is
usually called employee empowerment. One author notes empowerment is, "easy to
positively because it 'takes on a different form in different people and contexts'" .When
most people refer to employee empowerment they mean a great deal more than
delegation. It is for this reason that many authors provide their own definitions.
Some of these are vague, and meant to be so. Block (1987) describes empowerment
as "a state of mind as well as a result of position, policies, and practices." One has to read
"To feel empowered means several things. We feel our survival is in our own hands. . .
.We have an underlying purpose. . . .We commit ourselves to achieving that purpose,
now." Other authors (Blanchard, Carlos & Randolph, 1996; Blanchard & Bowles, 1998)
use their entire book to define empowerment. Still others provide an excellent
(Freedman, 1998).
Other author provided definitions are simplistic on the surface, but have far greater
implications than a first reading would suggest. For example, Caudron (1995) articulates
empowerment as, "when employees 'own' their jobs; when they are able to measure and
influence their individual success as well as the success of their departments and their
companies.") The casual reader may think that owning one's job is what the postal
worker's union seeks to provide their members. Most would agree, however, that job
security is not empowerment. Many employees must measure their jobs by submitting
reports. Seeking one's own individual success is what the American dream is all about.
And knowing that one makes a contribution to the success of the department and the
company is a given in all but the largest organizations. It is only when these ideas are
autonomous decision-making capabilities and acting as partners in the business, all with
an eye to the bottom-line" is more accessible to many readers. While many employees
understand their contribution to the work at hand, how many know their contribution to
It is this essential ingredient, information with which to make decisions, from which
empowerment is created. Bowen and Lawler (1992) indicate, "We define empowerment
as sharing with front-line employees four organizational ingredients: [the first being]
information about the organization's performance. . . .[another is] knowledge that enables
ingredients Bowen and Lawler note are, "rewards based on the organization's
performance [and] power to make decisions that influence organizational direction and
performance." In a later article these authors conclude that, "research suggests that
note that, "if any of the four elements is zero, nothing happens to redistribute that
impact. Together these four cognitions reflect an active, rather than a passive, orientation
toward a work role." Spreitzer notes, "the four dimensions are argued to combine
the lack of any single dimension will deflate, though not completely eliminate, the overall
degree of felt empowerment." This additive construct is distinct from Bowen & Lawler 's
(1995) construct noted above which is multiplicative, indicating that the absence of any
one of their four elements (power, information, knowledge, and rewards) will completely
eliminate empowerment.
observed end results or their research into concepts which are known and are or may be
state was defined as a cognitive state of perceived control, perceived competence and
goal internalization. . . .The empirical results supported the view that empowerment is a
construct conceptually distinct from other constructs such as delegation, self-efficacy and
intrinsic task motivation.". In this case the constructs of delegation, self-efficacy and
intrinsic task motivation are known quantities, each with its own previously tested
validity. Conger and Kanungo (1988) note in their literature review that, "scholars have
assumed that empowerment. . . .[Is] the process by which a leader or manager shares his
or her power with subordinates. Power, in this context, is interpreted as the possession of
formal authority or control over organizational resources. . . .This manner of treating the
employee participation is simply equated with empowerment.". However, they also note,
" We believe that this approach has serious flaws." Instead, the authors offer this
and through their removal by both formal organizational practices and informal
techniques of providing efficacy information." .Implied here are new roles for managers
and supervisors, that is, removing conditions that foster powerlessness and providing
feedback about performance, in other words mentoring.
Other researchers have attempted to classify what has been written and practiced
previously, and found it lacking. Quinn and Spreitzer (1997) provide two such
empowerment was about delegating decision making within a set of clear boundaries. . . .
Delegate responsibility; and Hold people accountable for results." In the, "organic
was about risk taking, growth, and change. . . .understanding the needs of the employees;
model empowered behavior for the employees; build teams to encourage cooperative
behavior; encourage intelligent risk taking; and trust people to perform." However, they
found these two approaches lacking; some combination of the two was needed. In the
end, they indicate, "empowerment must be defined in terms of fundamental beliefs and
definition of empowerment in the literature can be found in Thomas and Velthouse's 1990
To empower means to give power to. Power, however, has several meaningsauthority,
means energy. Thus to empower also can mean to energize. This latter meaning best
captures the present motivational usage of the term. Our perception is that the word
commitment to the task itself. . . .We use the word empowerment to refer to the
"to be successful, each organization must create and define it [empowerment] for itself.
Empowerment must address the needs and culture of each unique entity." It is in this
spirit that I offer my own definition of empowerment. I have drawn on several of the
authors noted above and below for concepts. I will provide credit in the appropriate
sections below.
developed; informationin the form of a shared vision, clear goals, boundaries for
decision making, and the results of efforts and their impact on the wholeis shared;
competency to obtain them when needed to be effective in their jobs, are provided; and
is provided.
thought of as delegation. No organization of more than one person can survive without
some employee empowerment. When the owner of a Mail Boxes, Etc. hires someone to
work the weekends, that person is empowered. When a manager hires an accounting
graduate to maintain the departmental ledger, that person is empowered. When the
director of advertising chooses which slogan should go on the web banner, that person is
empowered. In each of these instances the empowered person has been provided with the
training and experience they need to be effective in their position. Each has the
information to know how their decisions will impact the larger whole. Each has access to
the resources he or she needs to be effective. And the assumption is that each will be
Empowerment is a process of becoming, not a task or end result in and of itself, Just
part of the culture of the organization. Empowering others becomes a transparent act,
nobody within the organization notices when an act of empowerment is exercised. It may
be noticeable in the extreme to outsiders, but, if the implementation effort has been
Clearly, empowerment is neither quick nor easy, except in the case of a newly formed
organization where the leaders understand it and have committed themselves and the
organization to it. Given that this is the case it becomes necessary to demonstrate the
benefits and provide an implementation strategy which builds upon a clear understanding
Benefits of Empowerment
That employee empowerment benefits the organizations which implement it
effectively is widely noted in the literature. The popular press accepts the belief of
benefit almost without question. Thomas Petzinger, in his column "The Front Lines" in
the Wall Street Journal, is a big advocate for empowerment. He writes, "As a society we
know the best way to organize people is freeing them to organize themselves. Why
should it be any different in business?" Also in the Wall Street Journal, Aeppel asks the
rhetorical question, " What better way to tap into workers' brains as well as their brawn
Freeman (1998) writing in Inc. about applying Marine Corps values in the growing
corporate workplace advocates a form of empowerment where training is key and, within
However, a bunch of business writers jumping on a bandwagon was not sufficient for
number of writers cited Kanter (1979) as the source of information about the efficacy of
"Organizational power can grow, in part, by being shared. . . .By empowering others, a
leader does not decrease his power; instead he may increase it--especially if the whole
organization performs better." (Kanter then uses the logic that, "The productive capacity
of nations, like organizations, grows if the skill base is upgraded. People with the tools,
information and support to make more informed decisions and act more quickly can often
accomplish more."
Many authors cite, "anecdotal and case evidenceto show that empowerment does
produce more satisfied customers and employees." However Bowen and Lawler go
beyond this and provide additional evidence, "considerable research on practices such as
gain sharing, communication programs, work teams, job enrichment, skill-based pay, and
so on has shown the results of these practices are consistent and positive." (They go on to
determine the degree to which firms are adopting practices that redistribute power,
information, knowledge, and rewards, and the effects. . . . The datasuggest that
Respondents report that empowerment improves worker satisfaction and quality of work
life. Quality, service, and productivity are reportedly improved as a result of employee
companies also report that profitability and competitiveness have improved; this is
supported by the finding of a relationship between empowerment and the firms' financial
performance.
For those of us seeking softer evidence, Bowen and Lawler (1992) indicate
recovery; Employees feel better about their jobs and themselves; employees will interact
with customers with more warmth and enthusiasm. . . . When employees felt that
management was looking after their needs, they took better care of the customer; great
word-of-mouth advertising and customer retention" Randolph (1995) indicates, "A more
subtle, yet very powerful benefit" of employee empowerment was increased "trust in the
organization". When employees trust that the company is not out to suck their blood and
is providing a competitive produce or service they will respond positively, "people who
have information about current performance levels will set challenging goals--and when
they achieve those goals they will reset the goals at a higher level." .
A number of authors also indicate that the increasing competitiveness of the global
marketplace calls for better service and the benefit of drawing upon the entire pool of
company looking to expand into less developed countries using custodial staff who
immigrated from those countries for marketing ideas and possible distribution contacts.
One never knows if someone has an uncle or aunt in his or her home country who owns a
chain of grocery stores, unless one asks. An empowered organization would think to ask,
Objections Overcome
Management's fear of letting employees make decisions which can impact the
empowerment programs, and yet is still a major objection. Even Kanter (1979) who, as
indicates,
One might wonder why more organizations do not adopt such empowering strategies.
There are standard answers: that giving up control is threatening to people who have
fought for every shred of it; that people do not want to share power with those they look
down on; that managers fear losing their own place and special privileges in the system
and so forth. But I would also put skepticism about employee abilities high on the list.
(p. 74)
This objection can be overcome if the managers in question can be assured that the
employees are ready for the level of authority being placed with them.
The apprenticeship model emphasizes the growth and training of the employee into
their actions and are able to see the big picture should they be allowed and encouraged to
make decisions. The role of the supervisor is as mentor and coach. The worker must be
given the opportunity to make decisions about less significant things and then the
For example, when residential life staff members at the University of Hartford plan a
bar-b-que meal for the residents of a building they are given a budget and encouraged to
shop for sufficient food to feed the number of people expected. If the worker has little
experience, a list of items to purchase is discussed prior to the shopping trip, however the
quantity and brand selection are left to the worker so that the budget can be maximized in
the store. A common mistake less experienced workers make is purchasing brand-name
soda in cans. This is a very expensive way to ensure that drinks are available. As a result
less food is able to be purchased within the budget provided. The worker learns that
brand-name canned soda is quickly drunk by the people who arrive first and then no
drinks are available to later attendees. It is better to buy inexpensive soda in bulk bottles,
or some sort of drink mix, than to provide brand-name soda because it meets the need and
does not inspire greed. This lesson is best learned through direct experience and review
of the results with the supervisor. Being told this reality is not nearly as effective.
Just as we would not expect a person with an associate's degree to articulate ground-
breaking new theories in their field; so too we should not expect untrained employees to
make decisions which affect the bottom line. The manager who has been involved in the
training of the worker will have greater confidence that the worker will make a decision
which is in the best interests of the company. The benefit of empowerment is that it
allows each employee to bring his or her experience and creativity to bear on the
decision.
Middle managers often object to employee empowerment because they perceive that
the effort will take power away from them. The view is, as Blanchard & Bowles (1998)
indicate, "Managers mustgive up the levers of control they've worked a lifetime to get
hold of". I call this the "hazing theory of management". One of the reasons initiation
activities and hazing are still a part of many fraternal organizations is that the current
members want the opportunity to do onto others as was done onto them. If, as a pledging
member, they had to run errands for the brothers then they want the opportunity to have
pledges run errands for them once they become brothers. Running errands are the "dues"
pledges must pay in order to join the brotherhood. Working for the organization for years
and being subjected to the decisions of others are the "dues" middle managers have paid
This type of thinking is called zero sum change. That is, in order for you (the worker)
to gain something I (the manager) must lose an equivalent amount of that thing, in other
successful, managers with this objection must change their attitude. Ward (1996) asks the
questions these managers might ask, "How can I give up control when I am accountable
for the results? How can I give greater decision-making authority to employees, yet
ensure the results are of good quality and are consistent with corporate objectives? How
can I manage the empowerment process so employees feel the project is their own?" .
The answer to these questions, and the way this needed change is accomplished
through training. Managers must see that they still have a role despite authority being
shared with empowered employees. This new role is as mentor, coach, and facilitator.
Training should be provided for each aspect of this role. Acting as mentor comes easily
to some people, however others have difficulty seeing themselves as able to offer
anything beyond direction. Proper training can show the reluctant mentor how to
improve his or her skills. Coaching is another skill some people have difficulty with.
Again, training is called for in this instance. Because empowered employees often are
formed into self-managing teams they often need someone to facilitate their discussions
until this skill is developed among the members of the groupthis initially becomes the
role of the manager. Later on, as cross-functional teams are formed, the manager's
facilitation skills are called for again. Many managers will require training to enhance
Managers who take on these new roles of mentor, coach, and facilitator begin to
recognize that they are still needed. A new win-win attitude replaces the old win-lose
will become a strong proponent of empowermenthe or she will recognize the value
inherent in taking advantage of everyone's experience and creativity. If one accepts the
premise that empowered employees are more satisfied with their jobs, and the premise
that satisfied employees result in satisfied customers, then logic dictates that managers
will seek empowerment opportunities in an effort to grow the business and increase
revenues.
Bowen & Lawler (1992) note other objections which are raised by management as a
result of these proposed changes, "a greater dollar investment in selection and
of 'fair play'. . . . giveaways and bad decisions." (Still other management objections are
objections are valid in some respects; proper training will overcome some of them, but
not all. However I believe the benefits of employee empowerment outweigh the
detriments.
Union leaders often express some of the same reservations regarding employee
empowerment as do middle managers. Most union contracts call for seniority as the
benefit, then the union will argue that those with the most seniority should receive it
before those with less. If a team is made up of employees of varying seniority, and all are
empowered to make decisions after simultaneous training then the union may object to
less senior members receiving a benefit at the same time as more senior members.
Unions perceive that their power comes from collective bargaining with management
reducing the role of the union. It has been my experience that unions object when their
Both of these objections may be valid. Both call for a shift in the focus of the union
and an emphasis on new roles. Instead of using seniority as a guiding principle, unions
principle of ability. That is, those with the greatest skills, rather than those with the
longest tenure, should receive benefits first. Most managers, I think, would agree that
what is best for the organization to continue its competitive position is a greater focus on
ability over seniority. Unions are in the business of ensuring jobs for their members. If
union jobs are lost because an organization goes out of business as a result of inflexibility
on the seniority versus ability issue, then the union has not been successful. If, however,
the union changes its focus to ability, and the organization grows, more jobs will be
created.
Beyond the issue of seniority versus flexibility, unions can change the focus of their
already serve this function; witness the carpentry trade. The carpenter's union provides
training opportunities for apprentice carpenters, and the union bestows journeyperson and
master status onto workers who have completed established parameters. These
set number of master level, journeyperson level, and apprentice level carpenters; the
union is then able to provide appropriately trained individuals to fill the positions
available. This could be the case for other unions as well. For example, a manufacturer
might have need for workers skilled in a specific process. The union runs a training
program which teaches workers the skills needed for this process and certifies their level
of training. Workers are then assigned to work on this process based upon their level of
Employees, too, sometimes object to empowerment efforts. Aeppel (1997) noted that
one of the complaints by Eaton employees is the responsibility the group has for each
individual, "with everyone watching everyone else, it can feel like having a hundred
bosses" (p.1) Another common employee objection is that they don't want any more
responsibility than they already have. My experience is that an employee with this
complaint is already not sufficiently motivated, and some management response is called
for. Perhaps she or he is not aware of the benefits which accrue to the organization
because of her or his work. Perhaps the employee lacks the understanding that
purposeful work is often less demanding than what she or he may already be doing.
Perhaps there are difficulties in other aspects of that employee's life which could benefit
from timely intervention by a caring supervisor. In any case, it is likely that this
Conger and Kanungo (1988) raise the possibility of, "major organizational changes
seriously challenge[ing] employees' sense of control and competence as they deal with
the uncertainty of change and accept new responsibilities, skills, and guidelines for action
and behavior." .Bridges (1991) indicates, "Stability through change demands clarity about
what you are trying to do. . . .[there must be] a clear sense in people's minds of how their
provide the vision which assists employees to have this peace of mind.
At the Eaton plant noted above, an additional objection is, "The plant's emphasis on
fitting into the group can seem almost cultish. . . .Some people do well with all the
physical aspects of the work, but fall short by other measures--such as their
communications skills.". In response to this objection I bow to the more articulate Linda
Honold (1997) who states, "The critiques of employee empowerment emanate from what
appears to be half-hearted attempts by employers that allow for a very limited degree of
A Culture of Empowerment
An organization's culture is a complex thing, not easily described. Yet it is upon this
employee empowerment will have certain values at their core from which the process of
empowerment can flow. Among these values are respect and appreciation for individuals
and the value they bring to the organization. Values alone do not make up an
organization's culture, and respect for individuals is only one of the outward signs of an
empowered culture.
learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integrationthat has
worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members
as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.
However coherent this definition seems, the concept is much more complex. Schein uses
the bulk of his book Organizational Culture and Leadership to provide a more complete
understanding of what culture really is. Such in depth study of this single concept is
beyond the scope of this paper and I would refer the reader to Schein's book for a deeper
understanding.
Nonetheless, the culture of the organization must support the thrust of empowerment
if there is any chance for success. I am resolved to discuss the "'artifacts' and 'values' that
are the manifestations or surface levels of the culture" since that is within the scope of
this thesis. Other authors try to get at this essence that is organizational culture which
focus on the surface manifestations, though several try to imply the greater depth.
For example, Quinn and Spreitzer (1997) indicate, "empowerment must be defined in
impact.". Other manifestations these authors note in an earlier article include, "actual
barriers to change present and the social support available to the manager from his/her
boss and peers." , these barriers are aspects of culture. Another example is provided by
Gandz (1990), "A set of shared values is needed. . . .beliefs about the way things should
be done, the standards of behavior that are appropriate, the ethics of organizational
actions. . . .Such values compel and propel behavior"significant cultural artifacts which
Ford and Fottler (1995) provide a model of how empowered an individual is on two
scales, job content and job context. The aspects of job context are manifestations of
culture; they indicate, "Job context is much broader. It is the reason the organization
needs that job done and includes both how it fits into the overall organizational mission,
goals, and objectives and the organizational setting within which that job is done.
Organizational structure, rewards systems, mission, goals, objectives and so forth make
up the rich tapestry of job context.". Organizational structure and reward systems are
often put into place with the unknowing and unquestioned basic assumptions which are
part of the culture of the organization. Shein's position supports this view thusly, "If
culture has developed in this sense, it will affect most of the aspects of an organization
its strategy, its structure, its processes, its reward and control systems, and its daily
routines."
and reward systems, however if the culture is not also examined by the change agents,
replacement structures and systems are likely to reflect the old assumptions. One such
assumption is whether individuals or groups (teams) should be rewarded for their efforts.
Many organizations in the United States hold that country's value of individualism. If, on
the one hand, teams are being promoted as a tool of empowerment, and on the other
hand, individuals are being rewarded for the work of the team, then employees will
unconsciously (or consciously) pick-up on the cultural norm and will be reluctant to
dedicate themselves to the teaming concept where their work may not be recognized and
rewarded. In other words, empowered organizations put their money where their mouth
is.
Mallak and Kurstedt (1996), perhaps more articulately, express this sentiment when
they write, "Managers who understand how empowerment integrates with organizational
culture are motivated to lead employeesand help them internalize the values and
traditions [of empowerment]. These managers help create a work environment where
employees take action for intrinsic reasons more so than for extrinsic reasons." . Mallak
and Kurstedt provide a four stage model for cultural integration, because they understand
empowerment.
manifestations. Some examples include: there are no position titles, all employees are
called Associates; every associate has one or more sponsors who provide training, act as
coach or mentor, and advocate with the compensation committee for the employee's pay
increases; all associates are encouraged to apply their creativity, even to the extent of
finding their own job within the organization after being hired. While these tactics far
surpass what another organization interested in empowering its employees is likely to do,
they do reflect what has been successful for Gore. The cultural values which brought
about this unique organizational culture are the result of the personal values of Gore's
founder. Schein notes, "Founders usually have a major impact on how the group defines
and solves its external adaptation and internal integration problems." , these are essential
and Bowles (1998), "It's the understanding, not the work. It's how the work helps others,
not units dealt with.", "Creating a vision of greatness [is] the first step toward
program. It's about accomplishing business objectives. It's a means to an end, not an end
(p.12).
must be changed, However, as Schein points out, "we may be suggesting something very
drastic when we say, 'Let's change the culture'" .nd you may be asking yourself, "How
would we go about changing the culture, should we decide we need to do so?". A very
good question indeed. Fortunately, Schein provides some insight into this. He notes,
"Leaders create culture, but cultures, in turn, create their next generation of leaders.". If
the leader is acting in a growing organization, he or she needs, "both vision and the
ability to articulate it and enforce it." If, however, the organizational culture is mature, "If
it is to change its culture, it must be led by someone who can, in effect, break the tyranny
the burden of leadership to make that happen." Schein makes a distinction between
leaders and managers. I make that distinction as well in the section on the manager's role
below. Schein also provides a useful table of organizational, "Growth Stages, Functions
Management Role
In an empowered organization the managers and supervisors take on a different role
than they usually would in most organizations. The literature is unanimous on this point.
It may be obvious that one aspect of this role change is the sharing of power and
authority. Yet, many managers and supervisors already do this, either actively or
Empowerment implies a great deal more. There is an active role for managers and
supervisors rather than the passive one of abdication. There are stages an employee must
go through before he or she should have authority delegated to him or her. There should
also be a recognition that while the employee may be ready to have one aspect of the job
delegated to her or him, she or he may not be ready for delegation in other functional
aspects of the job (Blanchard, Zigarmi & Zigarmi,1985). Managers and supervisors must
reframe their perception of their roles because, "The primary task of supervision is to
help people." Block (1987) also tells us, "As managers we become more powerful as we
So what are these new, active roles for managers? First we must understand that,
"Managers and supervisors need to be empowered, too" (. One use of manager's new
empowerment. Conger and Kanungo (1988) describe this as, "providing autonomy from
bureaucratic constraint". Harari (1997) asks us to, "imagine that your job is to create an
environment where your people take on the responsibility to work productively in self-
managed, self-starting teams that identify and solve complex problems on their own."
Ginnodo (1997) tells us this, "involves articulating a vision, values, strategies and goals;
communicating and 'walking the talk' of total quality. . . .and removing barriers that
need to be willing and capable of changing their roles from supervisors and work
This new role of coach is also nearly universal in the literature. Coaching is defined
as, "teaching and practice focused on taking action, with celebration when things go well
and supportive redirection when things go wrong, while all the time creating excitement
and challenge for those being coached" .ard (1996) indicates of coaching, "The objective
is to keep giving employees responsibilities which move them along the capability
continuum, eventually reaching 'fully capable of the task'. Naturally, the manager must
be careful to keep adjusting his or her leadership style as the employee becomes more
capable." "Managers also have to learn how to nurture and reward good ideas." Conger
and Kanungo (1988) discuss the importance of the employee's sense of their own abilities
aimed not only at removing some of the external conditions responsible for
powerlessness, but also (and more important) at providing subordinates with self-efficacy
information". Among the coaching strategies noted are, "(a) expressing confidence in
bureaucratic constraint, and (d) setting inspirational and/or meaningful goals.omas and
Velthouse (1990) indicate events such as, "inputs from supervisors, staff peers, and
on which to base task assessments.". Task assessments are those perceptions by the
employee of his or her ability to perform, or interest in, the task. That is, management
can change the environment to make completion of the tasks rewarding intrinsically (for
work as a mentor to help the employee perceive his or her contribution as valuable.
Mallak and Kurstedt (1996) echo this mentoring approach for employees, "and help
them internalize the values and traditions [of the organization]. These managers help
create a work environment where employees take action for intrinsic reasons more so
than for extrinsic reasons.". Another aspect of mentoring is role modeling. Block (1987)
indicates, "One way we nurture those below us is by becoming a role model for how we
want them to function.". Other authors use a sports analogy to get this same point across.
"By setting the key goals and values, you define the playing field and the rules of the
game. You decide who plays what position. Then you have to get off the field and let the
players move the ball." If a manager does not perceive her or his role is to help those .he
successful. A change in role perception is called for in this instance when implementing
employee empowerment. The supervisor must see potential in the employee and work to
bring that potential out. The process is best described as mentoring or coaching and it
entails:
organization as a whole
depending upon the employee's skill level, providing appropriate supervisory support
a directing style for those tasks for which the employee has a low skill level
coaching for those tasks with which the employee has some skills but is lacking
experience or motivation
a supporting style for those tasks where the employee knows what to do but is still
a delegating style for those tasks where the employee is motivated and fully capable.
mentoring the employee such that they absorb both the organizational culture and the
value of empowerment
ensuring that appropriate resources are available for the employee, or ensuring that the
And sharing information about the employee's and the organization's effectiveness.
Information Sharing
gatekeeper to power. The literature is unanimous on this point as well, every author
indicated a need for increased information sharing. Each author provided a different way
information with everyone. . . .People without information cannot act responsibly." "[if
absence of information employees do not know the ramifications of their actions and
Caudron (1995) in reporting about, "How to get the best from employees[in Eastern
business, invested in new skills training, set goals for employees and gave them ongoing
feedback on how they were meeting those goals." .he author reports that the results in this
case study are, "nothing short of amazing. . . .Job satisfaction is high, most employees
appear to trust management, and when you ask Berry [director of human resources] if he
thinks workers have become empowered, he answers with an emphatic 'Yes.'" . Despite
the workers having never been exposed to this type of involving management, and
perhaps never having trusted management before, the effort was a successdue to the
think part of their role is to shield their subordinates from bad news coming from above.
When we shield our people we are acting as their parents and treating them like children.
If we are trying to create the mind-set that everyone is responsible for the success of this
business, then our people need complete information." .n important part of employee
shared information.
Blanchard, Carlos and Randolph's (1996), "second key is to create autonomy through
boundaries." This statement sounds counterintuitive, however the authors explain that
when employees understand the boundaries they are then free to take any action within
those boundaries; they can bring their own creativity to bear on the task at hand and
perhaps improve its effectiveness. Other authors cite the need for boundaries, "The third
lever is discipline and control. . . .While they [employees] have autonomy, they are
tells people what they're authorized to do" . Bowen and Lawler (1995) also address the
issue of, "setting reasonable boundaries for employee heroism" when responding to a
service failure or the customer's needs. Shipper and Manz (1992) in their case study of
W. L. Gore and Associates note one of the four principles all employees are expected to
abide by is, "Consult with other Associates prior to any action that may adversely affect
the reputation or financial stability of the company. . . . associates can (and are
encouraged to) make decisions on their own as long as the downside risk does not
threaten the organization's survival.". Creating boundaries avoids one of the objections
noted in the section above, that is, that employees will become overconfident and exceed
their authority.
organization's plans, successes, and failures." (may seem commonplace, however its
people who have information about current performance levels will set challenging goals
and when they achieve those goals they will reset the goals at a higher level."
Hypothesis 2e: Access to information about the performance of a work unit is positively
psychological empowerment. . .
of meaning and purpose and (2) it enhances an individual's ability to make and influence
decisions that are appropriately aligned with the organization's goals and mission." .
As noted in the management role section above, one of the skills of this new role is
"empowerment programs fail because HR initiates the process the wrong way. . . .
feedback, training, and perhaps most importantly, positive reinforcement. [italics mine]".
Conger and Kanungo (1988) use nearly the same words to express the same sentiment,
"The employment of these strategies is aimed not only at removing some of the external
conditions responsible for powerlessness, but also (and more important) at providing
subordinates with self-efficacy information (p. 474). Without this positive reinforcement
employees do not easily come to realize how skilled they really are and how important
their work is to the success of the organization, "Empowered people have a sense of
To make employee empowerment work, not only do we need to give them information
about their own work, we must, "Give employees information about the business and
demonstrate how their work fits in. . . .'Everyone wants to feel they do something of
value. When you demonstrate the value individuals bring to the business, people want to
Managers must help employees understand that their work is, "directly aligned with
strategic goals and individual accountability [is maintained] all the way along the line to
senior management, customers and stockholders." and that they are considered, "partners
in the business, all with an eye to the bottom-line implications." (p. 1). Empowered
has not been experienced by employees, it is the vision of what is possible that
brings their commitment to it. Vision is perhaps the most visible component of
organizational culture; it is through the vision of what is possible that leaders can
inspire employees to apply their skills, knowledge, and creativity towards its
achievement. Whatever the mind of man can conceive, and believe, it can
achieve.
(p. 668). Witness President John F. Kennedy's vision of a man on the moon by
the end of the decade of the 1960s. Because JFK was able to envision the
literature. Block (1987) identifies, "Creating a vision of greatness [as] the first
step toward empowerment." (p. 99). Vision provides employees with that sense
of "what do we do next" which can inspire creativity; Bowen and Lawler (1995)
describe this as, "Awareness of the context." (p. 75). It also allows for employees
to not make decisions which are in the direction opposite that of which the leaders
fulfillment." (p. 75). Quinn and Spreitzer (1997) identify, "The first lever" of
Blanchard and Bowles (1998) use the term "values" in place of vision. They
indicate, "Values guide all plans, decisions and actions." (p. 171). The authors
make a distinction between goals and values: "Goals are for the future. Values
are now. Goals are set. Values are lived. Goals change. Values are rocks you can
count on. Goals get people going. Values sustain the effort." (Blanchard &
Some other authors indicate that the vision is articulated through the basic
values of the organization. At W. L. Gore these basic values are, "1. Try to be
fair. 2. Use your freedom to grow. 3. Make your own commitments, and keep
them. 4. Consult with other Associates prior to any action that may adversely
affect the reputation or financial stability of the company." (Shipper & Manz,
1992, p. 51). Within these values is the vision of a growing, profitable concern
The question of what vision to instill is answered by Gandz (1990), "There are
many appealing visions such as the provision of excellent customer service, that
are the precursors of profit, productivity and market share growth; but they must
Developing Competency
Competency goes beyond developing job-task specific knowledge. Bowen and Lawler
(1995) cite the importance of "training in which employees are familiarized with how
their jobs fit into upstream and downstream activities." (p.80). "Employees must be
properly trained. It does not make sense to empower employees to do things such as
make decisions or approve or initiate action if they are not properly trained." (Gandz,
1990, p. 76) Byham (1997) indicates that among the "Characteristics of an empowered
Gandz (1990) indicates, "Technical training, decision making skills, group process skills,
all are required if empowerment is to be accepted and produce results." (p. 76).
Authors indicate the importance of training throughout the literature. Caudron (1995)
indicates, "Once employees understand what needs to be done to improve the company,
they must have all the skills and resources necessary to be able to accomplish those
improvements." (p. 32). Kanter (1979) notes, "spreading power means educating people
to this new definition of it." (p. 73) Ginnodo (1997) indicates, "Empowerment training is
more than remedial; it prepares people for collaboration and higher level performance,
and sends a message to employees: we're spending money on you because this is
important to the organization's future." (p. 13). Ettorre (1997) defines empowerment, "as
business, all with an eye to the bottom-line implications." (p. 1). One must then ask,
Training does not come cheaply. Not only must empowered organizations invest in
training materials and facilitators, they must value training sufficiently to release
employees from regular work duties to attend. Gandz (1990) reports, "it is a common
experience for organizations that seek to empower employees to find that their training
However, it is not only the responsibility of the training department and supervisors to
provide training. "There must be procedures and occasions for empowered individuals
and teams to learn from each other." (Bowen & Lawler, 1995, p. 81) In an empowered
environment more experienced, "employees tend to take a more active role in intervening
behaviors." (Mallak & Kurstedt, 1996, p. 8). "In short, these newly empowered
participants empowered their associates through their actions. They shared success
stories and helped one another diagnose situations to develop appropriate coping
"Stories make information easier to remember and more believable." (Morgan &
Dennehy, 1997, p. 495) Freedman (1998) reports that for the U.S. Marines, "Sea stories
are the very best way to" (p. 60) pass on learning and recognition of problem patterns.
The marines have institutionalized organizational storytelling, these sea stories, as a valid
way to train employees. A good story which emphasizes the value of errors is the one
about the 3M engineer who was trying to formulate a new adhesive. Unfortunately the
glue was not sufficiently sticky and pieces of paper glued with it could be pulled apart.
The engineer could have decided his effort was a failure, however 3M has a corporate
value of risk-taking and encourages workers to find other applications for their products.
The engineer described the failed glue's properties one day in a group meeting and was
asked by another worker if the adhesive could be applied to bookmarks. It seems that the
second worker was a member of a church choir and his bookmarks would often fall out of
his choir book making it difficult to find the next song they were to sing. His thought
was that if the bookmarks had a removable glue applied they would stay in place and yet
still be movable to the next week's song selections. The engineer agreed to provide the
choir with some pieces of paper with the adhesive applied. The engineer also kept some
of these removable notes to use on memos and such. Soon he was supplying all the
workers in his area with pads of these removable notes. One day someone said, "we
should market these!" and so was born the post-it note. The engineer learned that what
seems like a mistake one day can be of tremendous benefit the next. Now the Post-It?
memorable examples of high task assessments and, thus, are more likely to shift a
person's global assessments. This approach is analogous to the one taken in such
programs as Upward Bound." (Thomas & Velthouse, 1990, p. 679) This may be an
example of challenge and support training.
Challenge and support (Sanford, 1962) is a concept used in the field of student affairs
to describe how to help students learn and grow. The concept proceeds from the
perspective that people do not learn or grow when they are comfortable. Nor do they
learn when they are too uncomfortable.. The lack of interpersonal skills training in the
Eaton company is a situation where too much challenge and insufficient support were
provided, "new workers are required to give speeches before new employees and
managers and to attend training seminars about saying 'we,' never 'I' or 'you,' when being
critical, to avoid sounding accusatory." (Aeppel, 1997, p.10). If this is the extent of their
communications skills training, then it leaves a great deal to be desired. The plant
manager indicates, "It can be taught...but the worker has to want to learn it." (Aeppel,
1997, p.10). And, as this company has learned, must be taught if empowerment is to be
well received.
insufficient for the present circumstances people experience feelings of discomfort. This
dissonance people are ready to learn a new way of coping or to develop a new
point of cognitive dissonance. We can then use the teachable moment to provide new
information that the person can use to change their perspective on the-way-things-are.
However, if too much challenge is provided, people will revert to old ways of coping and
avoid the learning experience all together. Because the environment often provides so
many challenges that the learning individual can become overwhelmed, we must provide
Challenging and supporting then become new roles for the teaching supervisor. We do
not want to allow people we are trying to empower to grow too comfortable in their roles
such that there is no reason for them to expand their knowledge and grow in their
empowerment. Nor do we want to provide so much challenge that the employee tosses in
the towel and decides to work elsewhere. Rather we want to provide sufficient challenge
to allow for growth and sufficient support to avoid overwhelming our associates.
Just as individuals must be developed through the apprenticeship stages noted below,
teams, too, must be supported and trained as they go through stages. Blanchard, Carlos
and Randolph (1996) indicate, "You have to start by giving them what they need at the
different kinds of leadership at each stage. . . .the orientation stage. . . is a time when a
team needs strong, clear leadership. . . .dissatisfaction stage. The reality of working as a
team always seems to be more difficult than team members expect. . . .need continued
strong, clear leadership. But they also need support. . . .resolution [stage]. . .when
members begin to learn to work together we start to rotate the role of team coordinator
among team members. . . .production stage. . . .A self directed team acts to direct and
support individual efforts itself." (Blanchard, Carlos, & Randolph, 1996, p. 100-101).
Importance of Resources
resources placed under empowered employees' control. "Resources include items such as
funding, access to support staff, or experts who have knowledge on which the employee
can draw." (Ward, 1996, p. 22) Typically restriction of access to resources is in place to
avoid employee abuse. However, if information about the costs and effect on the bottom
line procurement of resources has is shared with employees they are not likely to abuse
them. Caudron (1995) notes, "Once both employees and managers have received proper
training, the next step is to give employees control of the resources needed to make
your tracks because you either don't know how to proceed or lack the tools necessary to
Bowen and Lawler (1995) describe what happens if insufficient resources are
the human resources trap. "The HR trap occurs when managers expect their front-line
people to provide better and better service without simultaneously trying to improve the
core service offering itself, enhance the tangibles, make available state-of-the-art
technology and market research, and so on. It can result in unreasonable responsibility
for damage control placed on the front-line workers in a poorly designed, inadequately
Based on the research cited in the Assessment Instruments section above, and keeping
support), there seems to be a need for an assessment instrument which leaders can use to
assess the empowerment level of their organization within the constructs of the
apprenticeship model. I would argue that assessing is only half of the effort needed to
changes and competency development. The assessment questions below are the starting
point. The training responses in the next section are cross-referenced by question
number, then lettered to provide the appropriate response based upon the answer to the
question. For example, after answering question 237, the organizational leader can look
for the appropriate response under 237A, 237B, or 237C depending upon the what fits
best given the organizational circumstance present. If this instrument was based on a
computer, hyperlinks could be created from the possible answers directly to the
appropriate response.
Any survey of this type has its drawbacks. I address these first so that an
understanding can be achieved that these questions and the associated training responses
instrument do not know the organization sufficiently well to be able to answer the
questions; or that they will want to make the organization look good and skew the results.
As in any assessment instrument, the terms used within are subject to interpretation by
the users, this could cause confusion and thereby not address the needs of the
organization. A significant event in the life of the organization could completely change
how the questions are answered or whether the training responses are appropriate.
training might make the entire exercise worthless. Nonetheless, I believe the instrument
Assessment Questions
1. Can a consensus be reached by any group of organizational members as to the
definition of empowerment?
YES NO DON'T KNOW
4. In the course of a week, how may times does a low-level, front-line employee need to
seek approval for an action she or he believes is the correct one?
5. Can any given employee accurately answer the question, "How is the organization
doing"?
YES NO DON'T KNOW
YES NO
10. When was the last time a project or work effort was delayed due to lack of resources?
11. If your supervisor was away and a customer or another department asked you to
complete a project for which you knew there was capacity to complete, would you be
able to agree to complete the project and access the needed resources?
12. If the above request slightly exceeded the known capacity to complete, what would be
your supervisor's boss's response if you decided to accept the project anyway?
14. What would you do if another member of your department disagreed with you about
the decision to accept the project?
1B. NO: Discussions about what empowerment is and how it will impact the
organization need to begin. Without at least some shared understanding of the concept of
empowerment there will be confusion in the organizational ranks and your empowerment
effort will be sidetracked if not derailed.
1C. DON'T KNOW: Go and find out. If consensus can be reached see 1A, if not see
1B. But first, read the thesis so at least you'll have some understanding of the concept.
next question
2A. NONE: Great! Keep up the effort to eliminate perquisites which are not available
to everyone.
2B. FEW: Work to eliminate them or make them available for everyone. Discuss with
those who benefit from the perquisites how they felt when they were in a position where
they were unavailable. Ask them if they think those who do not receive these added
benefits feel the same way they did. Encourage honest reflection.
2C. MANY: Work to eliminate them or make them available for everyone. If a culture
of empowerment is to be achieved then those who receive perquisites must demonstrate
their belief in it by equalizing the organizational environment.
2D. DON'T KNOW: Try to find out and then address as noted above. Hint: if no one
will discuss perquisites with you then there are probably many of them.
3A. MANY: Congratulations! The value of mentors is manifold. Be sure that you are
acting as a mentor to others as well.
3B. FEW: Work to increase the number of people you can look to for advice, training,
and cultural clues; also be sure to be offering mentoring to others with less experience
than you.
3C. NONE: The empowerment effort in your organization is probably off-track or non-
existent . As a first step, find yourself a mentor who can show you the ropes and enhance
your skills. Continue to find people who can provide mentoring advice, and offer
mentoring advice to those with less experience.
4A. NONE: Good. The organization has probably established clear boundaries for
decision-making for these employees. This is also an indication that trust has been placed
in their ability to make good decisions, generally this type of trust comes from effective
competency development, clear vision, and good information about the impact of
decisions on the bottom line. It also indicates that appropriate resources have been made
available to these individuals.
4B. FEW: Work to increase these individuals' skills and understanding of their impact
on the work of the organization. Establish clear boundaries for their decisions and share
the organization's vision with them. Ensure that the resources they need are at their
disposal.
4C. MANY: Does your organization consider itself an empowering one? If so, then this
is an important place to begin demonstrating commitment thereto. These front-line
workers interact with your customers so empowering them will enhance your customer
service. Implement whatever changes are needed in higher levels of your organization,
then follow the suggestions in 4B.
5A. YES: Your organization is probably sharing information about the bottom line and
how that individual impacts it. This is very empowering.
5B. NO: Work to increase information sharing. Empowered individuals understand how
their work impacts the bottom line. If employees don't know what that bottom line is
then they cannot possibly know their impact upon it. Of course, employees will need to
be trained to understand whatever information is shared with them, so developing this
competency is an important step as well.
5C. DON'T KNOW: This is probably an indication that they don't. Refer to the
suggestions in 5B.
6B. DON'T KNOW: Work to develop a vision for the organization, or at least for your
unit. Help employees to see where the organization hopes to go so they can help to get it
there.
7A. SEVERAL: Great! This is an indication that you have been developed to this
point. Be sure that you are training journeypersons and apprentices in what you know.
Also, keep challenging yourself to achieve master level in other aspects of your job or in
tasks beyond your current responsibilities.
7B. FEW: Continue to work to achieve this level. See suggestions in 7A as well.
7C. NONE, BECAUSE I AM NEW: Continue to work to achieve this level. See
suggestions in 7A.
7D. NONE, NO EFFORT MADE: Work to enhance your skills. Seek out mentors and
people with additional skills and information who can help you to grow professionally.
Even if your job responsibilities seem menial, you have an impact on the organization's
bottom line so enhancing your skills will be of benefit to the organization.
8A. YES: Good. Continue to develop the skills of others as you continue to develop
your own.
8B. NO: If your organization is an empowering one, you must ask yourself "Why not?".
If you consider yourself too busy, reconsider. Think of your responsibilities for the future
needs of the organizationwill you ever be less busy if you don't train others to do what
you do? If you don't think you have sufficient stills to teach anyone anything, think
again. Perhaps you are the most inexperienced person in your department, but are there
people in other areas with whom you could share what little experience you do have. Do
you have talents which are not apparent in the organizational setting? If so, share those
with your colleagues so that the balance is maintained.
9B. FEW: Unless you are relatively new to your position, this is still good. See ideas in
9A.
10B. RECENTLY: Unless this was an unusual circumstance, work to develop systems
or competencies which make the needed resources available to empowered employees.
10C. ALL THE TIME: Probably not an empowered organization. Work to make needed
resources available to employees. Develop employee competency such that they can
obtain resources they need. Work to develop trust in employees such that higher-ups will
have confidence that resources will not be squandered.
11A. YES: This is a clear indication that you are empowered. Continue doing whatever
brought you to this point and work to enhance other's ability to reach it.
11B. YES, WITH APPROVAL: This is either an indication that you are new and still
developing competency, or that the organization is not empowered. If you are still
developing ask the approving individual what factors she or he took into consideration
when making the decision. If not an empowered organization, work to develop
employees competency such that they would be able to make the decision for
themselves. If the answer is going to be yes, better that those closest to the customer
have all the information needed to give the answer more quickly.
11C. NO: Either you are still developing competency, or the organization is not
empowered. See suggestions in 11B.
12A. PRAISE: Great! This demonstrates support for risk-taking and is very
empowering. It also provides the opportunity for continued challenge and ever
increasing goals to become the norm.
12B. DON'T KNOW: This may be an indication of lack of support for risk-taking and
could be disempowering. It is also an indication that insufficient communication is
occurring about the organization's vision and between levels of the organization.
12C. ANGER: Very disempowering. Unless there is a clear explanation of why this was
a bad decision and how it negatively impacted the organization, no learning will take
place. Keep in mind the benefits to the customer of allowing employees at the lowest
level possible to make decisions. Also, work to develop an understanding of continued
incremental challenges inherent in the apprenticeship model.
13A. POSITIVELY: This demonstrates an understanding of the bottom line implications
of one's work and the presence of a clear vision. There also seems to be support for risk-
taking. Good!
13C. DON'T KNOW: This is an indication of insufficient information sharing and lack
of clear vision. Employees must have access to the information about how their work
impacts the organization as a whole if there is any hope of a successful empowerment
implementation.
14B. GO OVER HER/HIS HEAD: This is very disempowering. Work to develop the
competencies needed for employees to be able to discuss differences of opinion and learn
from each other's perspective. Also, work to develop an environment which is supportive
of employee risk-taking.
15B. FEW: If you are new to the organization, this is probably OK. If tenured, then this
is a sign of a lack of a supportive environment and could be disempowering. Work to
develop an organizational value of friendliness and cooperation.
15C. NONE: May be a bad sign for organizational empowerment. Even if you are a
brand new employee, there should be somebody with whom you are friendly. Work to
change the organizational culture to make friendliness a value.
15D. DON'T KNOW: Look out! If you don't know who your friends are in the
organization, the they all may be enemies. Empowerment depends, in part, upon a
supportive environment. This doesn't sound like one, or it is an indication that this issue
has not been evaluated. Work to ascertain who your friends are in the organization. Be
friendly and approachable yourself. Offer assistance and mentoring advice, if
appropriate. Work to change the organizational culture to make friendliness a value.
Balance between top down & bottom up approach
In the era of globalization of market economy, hyper-competition, & uncertainty of
found that the dramatically decreased cost of information technology altered the
to play a significant role. The toughest challenge confronting todays manager is the
design of decentralized system & the process of managing the equilibrium between
empowerment & control. According to Malone mastering this challenge can bring out the
difference between organization who have succeeded & those which fail. Thus,
Additional Resources
In search of the triple bottom line.
Jun 13, 2003 (The Advertiser - ABIX via COMTEX) Australian investors are now
demanding a triple bottom line approach from companies. This includes financial
responsibility and transparency, as well as environmental and social responsibility.
People are now demanding that basic old-fashioned virtues play more...
International Marketing at the Bottom of the Pyramid
International marketers have been turning increasingly to markets in developing
countries as markets in developed countries reach saturation point. Generally one
targets the wealthy elite and the expanding middle class in such countries. Rarely
do one targets the masses in these countries who account for 65% of the world's
population....
An Introduction to Bottom-Line Human Resource Management
"This article explains to managers and academics a new approach to human
resource management, what I call "Bottom-Line Human Resource Management."
Bottom-line human resource management starts by positing clear organizational
goals, and in this way differs from strategic human resource management, which
starts with analysis of the organization's human resource...
A Holistic Approach To Realizing Sustained Results
While strategic sourcing point initiatives have provided significant benefits to
date, an integrated supplier relationship management approach is needed to fuel
sustainable, cross-enterprise cost savings. . Many of these companies have already
zeroed in on the sourcing process and purchased software tools or run hosted e-
auction events that have yielded...
EMS : A Strategic Business Approach to Managing the Environment and the Bottom Line
The relationship between business and the environment is closely connected: The
environment is the source of much input as well as a sink for outputs. So as to
minimize harmful impact on the environment, businesses must take a strategic
environmental management approach. What exactly is "the environment"?
Top-Down
approaches
represent the
strategy-oriented
school of business
reengineering. The
main focus is on
determining the
enterprise strategy
and realigning all
processes
consequently to
achieve strategic
goals.
Unfortunately,
many Top-Down
projects fail to
provide desired
results because the
reality of the
enterprise, namely
people and
existing enterprise
culture tend to be
overlooked.
Bottom-up
approaches on the
other hand aim at
implementing
step-by-step
improvements of
business
processes.
The main focus is on using people involved in the process to identify improvement
possibility and to continuously improve their own process. Unfortunately, many Bottom-
Up projects fail to exploit the full potential because strategic goals are not always known
to the people working on improvements.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
The hot air balloon is a strong metaphor for empowerment; you don't have absolute
control, but you can guide, oversee, adjust as needed to ensure a great ride. However, if
fear dominates your thoughts, you will simply miss a great ride.
Empowering employees is supposed to be a valuable strategy: after all, if you didnt need
your fine complement of employees to work to their full capacities, why would you hire
them in the first place. Certainly not so they can watch you work. On this premise alone,
we can agree that empowerment in a good thing. Quite simply, empowerments lustre
is bloodied because of the casual, random manner in which managers introduce this
most excellent opportunity. So on this fine Friday, I am offering five practical
strategies that can be applied to ensure that empowerment works effectively in your
workplace:
Please let me know what your thoughts are and what experience has been with
empowerment
Employee motivation and employee empowerment
are part of employee development.
Every business and work process eventually requires that people make decisions to
do the right thing. For employees to act appropriately there must be employee
motivation that is a natural growth from employee development and employee
empowerment. Usually an active employee development training program is
required to develop employee empowerment. As human beings we are all created
with a free will and the capability to make decisions. When employees are not
making the correct decisions, no matter how good the process or system, problems
will soon develop. Active employee development and employee empowerment
will help create the environment where employee motivation can develop so more of
these decisions beneficial to your organization. Every level of needs to understand
employee development and employee empowerment. A consistent training plan
that starts with executive coaching and includes management training as well as
supervisor training while offering leadership skills development for all employees
will speed realization of empowered employees.
There are an almost infinite number of small details that no one except the person
actually doing the work can ever know. Without employee empowerment it is
difficult to take advantage of this knowledge. All of this knowledge is valuable and
waiting to be tapped for your organization's benefit. Many organizations make a
halfhearted attempt at employee empowerment with the Suggestion Box that is
never opened. The last one I had opened contained several gum wrappers and one
suggestion; it was over six months old. While this may fool some into thinking they
have an avenue for participation and employee empowerment, others are
successfully tapping this resource.
Teaching people how to use relatively simple problem solving tools and techniques is
the easy part of employee development. Usually after just a little training and
experience with one or two work related problems the basic tools are mastered well
enough for most to start using them on their own. Even high motivated employees
need the necessary tools to do a good job. When placed in teams they are prepared to
make use of the many specifics that only they know to improve products and work
processes. If your organization is going to approach six sigma performance levels
(less than 3.4 ppm error rate) you will have to get your employees actively involved
using problem solving tools.
Even the best training/development programs can not assure that all employees will
get involved. One of the prime jobs of supervision and management is to create the
climate and the systems for employee motivation. Organizations need empowered
employees involved from the neck up and not just from the neck down. This is not to
say that all will chose to do so. The obligation is provide the opportunity and the
means. It is then the duty of the employee to take advantage of the employee
development opportunity. Most employees when they believe in and trust their
management/supervision will leap at the opportunity to make higher level
contributions to the organization.
With Six Sigma Plus this area of personal development receives significant attention.
Even when no new technical skills or tools are taught improvements are often
impressive. This is especially true when a coordinated effort starts at the Executive
Level in the organization and moves through the Managers, Supervisors and
Employees working on the same concepts and approach.
Many organizations spend time and money on training efforts to teach new skills to
employees who are using a small fraction of the skills developed in past training.
Efforts at developing employees and allowing those who want to become more
involved (which are most of them) usually will have much higher returns. An
additional benefit is they are then more valued employees whose change in attitude is
reflected in their work.
Every activity or job has some level of technical skill that must be mastered in order
to perform at an acceptable level. Without these it is much like trying to turn a screw
into a board without a screwdriver. Demonstrated knowledge and skills are essential.
In some cases employees come to the job with all of those skills. More commonly
your employees will have a certain base level of competence but still will require
additional training and development before they can make a positive contribution.
Sometimes it can take years for the contribution to pay back the time value of the
investment made in an employee. An obvious improvement would be to reduce the
amount of time (cycle time) that it takes for new employees to reach the point of net
return.
The attitude that employee have on the work place can be as important than the actual
technical skill level. Most of the time when we speak of an employee having an
attitude it goes without saying that we are talking about a poor attitude. When
speaking of a positive attitude it is always preceded with the good descriptor. Our
experience confirms that poor attitude is one of the more common concerns in the
work environment. Actually it is not the attitude that is the problem, rather the
behaviors that results from that attitude is of concern. When someone is described as
having a bad attitude and you press for how anyone else can know if someone has a
bad attitude the responses are fairly typical. Attendance problems, marginal quantity
or quality of work, interpersonal problems with co-workers or supervisors, poor
communications, lack of cooperation in any activity, etc. The list is remarkable
similar no matter what the job, company, industry, or part of the world.
Our behaviors are how other people decide what kind of attitude they think we have.
Almost everyone will make the connection between behavior and attitude.
Our study indicates that attitudes tend to drive behavior and are a result of our
internal values and beliefs, many of which were imprinted at a very early age. We
have to live with the early messages for the rest of our lives. That means that if we as
individuals are going to change our attitudes we must find a way to over come that
early conditioning. Fortunately we can make a conscious choice to add to the values
and beliefs system we have imprinted. Each of us can make the conscious decisions
to enlarge our individual inventory of experiences. In the correct environment
individuals can examine values and beliefs and chose if they want to make a change.
The change is not always easy, but the beginning of change lies in changing the habits
of thought, our self-talk.
The sequence is that our habits of thought (self-talk) drives our attitudes and our
attitudes drive our behavior. All three will have a certain amount of harmony or
agreement. To make a conscious decision to change we need to change the way we
think--change our habits of thought.
Changing someone else's attitude is an impossible task. What can be done is to over
the circumstances where if someone wants to make a change it is possible. Lasting
motivation comes from within. Some things can be done in the short term, but long
term motivation and change is a personal event.
In order to help people learn one must understand that most people learn based on
three basic inputs.
First is a significant emotional event. Almost all of us can remember where we were
and what we were doing for some common major events. As a test, if you are old
enough, Where were you when you first heard that JFK was shot? What were you
doing when you heard about or saw the TV pictures of the Challenger explosion?
These are significant events that do not require effort on your part to remember. They
are events that impact us and we remember them for the rest of our lives with no
effort or conscious decision to so. Each of as individuals has a number of unique
significant events that are part of us no matter what we do. These types of
experiences are almost impossible to predict or create and thus are difficult to use a
method of planned learning.
A second method is the "Aha, I have it!". Discovery of a principle or concepts on you
own. You see this depicted in the cartoons as the light bulb turning on in someone's
head. Most of the time this is highly unpredictable and also very difficult to use as a
method for planned learning.
The third method is to take advantage of spaced repetition. A little test can
demonstrate that for you. All questions to be answered in less than 2 seconds. (3times
2=? ) ( 4 times 4=? ) Now try (16 times 18.27=?) While there may be some that can
answer all three in 2 seconds or less most of us are going to get the first two but not
the third. I contend it is because at some point we learned our multiplication tables
though a process of drill and spaced repetition, now they are automatic and we don't
have to think to get the answer.
Using this principle of spaced repetition is one predictable way to have planned
learning. Single exposures have a retention of about 2% after 16 days. If on the other
hand you can get six exposures over six consecutive days the retention rate soars to
62% after 15 years. This is why most corporate communications and seminars have
little lasting impact. Six Sigma Plus training or any other kind of
training/development that is not spread out over time and does not have repeated
exposure between sessions has little chance of success.
SACHI
Set
Advantages can be :
It enhances motivation.
It increases employee commitment
It increases team spirit
It frees the time of senior management and they can focus on more strategic desions
Not all staff is trained to operate in dynamic environment and hence take decisions
you cannot standardise the processes
conflict can increase - interpersonal relations may suffer coz there can be a clash
between employees
#################################
Secrets of empowerment
As the boss or manager of your company, do you frequently feel like things are spinning
out of control? If the answer is yes, youre not alone. All too often, employers find
themselves struggling to keep pace with the day in, day out responsibilities of the job. Yet
its usually their ownership of these responsibilities and the fear of letting go of them
that bogs down the workplace and stifles overall success.
If letting go has been a challenge for you, then consider the following five secrets to
empowering your people and becoming a better leader. Each has the ability to unlock the
power and potential of your team, enabling your company to achieve the success it
deserves.
Ideally, you want to empower others, and thats accomplished through training, coaching,
accountability, and supporting employees by providing the resources and opportunities to
learn from mistakes. Its also achieved by trusting your employees and making sure their
values align with your companys values.
Most importantly, you must demonstrate empowering behavior. All too often, company
owners or managers say, Hey, I want to be empowering! But when an employee asks
for help, they give them the answers, rather than require that person to seek the solutions
for himself or herself. Even worse, they do the employees job for them, wearing whats
called the Big Red S for Supermanager.
If youre doing everything yourself, its likely that youre wearing this Big Red S. Shed
this responsibility by getting the right people around you so you can delegate to your
team, hold each member accountable, and empower your staff. After all, accountability is
empowerment.
leadership, mission, vision, values, and strategies and goals. Ultimately, youll need to
define, establish, implement, track and evaluate each of these core fundamentals.
If this sounds like a massive undertaking, relax! The good news is you will not be the one
doing all the work for a change. Instead, youll be training and managing your team to
carry out these business fundamentals.
4) Focus on the companys vital factors. You know its important to monitor your
bodys health with regular checkups that measure and evaluate your vital signs. For
example, if you discover that your weight or blood pressure is too high, you change your
diet and exercise. This often has a domino effect, improving other vital signs as well.
When it comes to a companys health, an effective leader should also focus on vital signs,
or what is called the organizations vital factors. These are the crucial components that
must be measured and accomplished for an efficient system. As the boss or manager, its
your job to define both the companys and your employees vital factors, determine how
to impact these vital factors, and then teach your team to do so as well. This is most often
done by measuring and creating ways to improve, as well as using a planning checklist
that outlines how to fix each part of your companys system. As you repair the system,
youll start a chain reaction of change the domino effect that enables overall business
success.
This is the final secret to unlocking your teams power and potential. And, any leader can
do this by motivating and inspiring employees, but a truly effective leader goes one step
further and implements accountability. As mentioned, accountability is empowerment,
and empowerment breeds passion. This boils down to measuring employee performance
and taking appropriate, timely action.
Many employers fail to implement accountability out of fear or because they view
taking action as a negative. They believe this means pulling the employee aside to
discuss how he or she is not improving, despite training and numerous opportunities to
excel. But accountability can also be and should be a positive experience. For
example, when someone is doing a specific task right, you can give positive performance
feedback, yet still hold this person accountable.
Whether youre delivering negative or positive feedback, dont wait until performance
reviews to hold someone accountable. At that point, your feedback is usually old news.
Instead, impassion your employees with daily feedback whether its on the phone, in
the hallway or during project status discussions, etc. Vital factor meetings, where youre
discussing the companys health, can also foster an environment thats great for
performance checkups. Always be on the lookout for ways to proactively impassion your
team.
Accountability is the most underused tool on the part of mangers, yet its probably the
most important. By learning to let go of the reins a little bit and pass on responsibilities to
your staff members, you will unlock the power and potential of your organization
Wilma Rudolf was dejected after doctor told her that she will not be able to put her legs
on ground and she would no more be able to walk and run like normal person. Her dream
to be fastest lady on earth seemed to be fading away and then a magic turned everything
upside-down.
Sachin Tendulkar was once told to quit cricket,but today we hardly know about this story
simply because Tendulkar is itself the name of success .
We all know about Thomas Alva Edison as a great scientist but we hardly know about his
story of failures.
Every successful person had a bad patch in his or her life .What was it that made Thomas
A. Edison a great scientist even after several failures ,what made Tendulkar a great living
legend, what was the magic that changed the life of Wilma Rudolf ;it was nothing but
MOTIVATION.
We all want to achieve something in our life and for our dreams to come true, we need to
have fire in our belly ,the true hunger for success. The story doesnt end here;
circumstances are rarely favourable for working on desires and then we need motivation
to drive us to right path.Motivation may be explicit or may be sometimes implicit.
Motivation may be internal or may be external.
Although most poor people are isolated from the new information revolution, shared cellular phones,
telecenters, and other innovative solutions are beginning to provide low-cost ways for them to access
ICT. Financial sustainability is indeed one of the main challenges for ICT projects and initiatives.
Rigorous monitoring, evaluation, and beneficiary impact assessments are needed to appraise whether
the benefits of ICT projects outweigh the costs.
The issues of content and community participation are key to realizing the empowerment potential of
ICT. To become truly relevant for poor people, ICT applications must be visual and graphic-oriented and
should make content available in local languages. Before launching any ICT initiative, the information
needs of a community should be thoroughly assessed, with the active involvement of the community,
and software should be developed taking into account local conditions. Community participation will
ensure continuity, while a top-down approach will probably lead to a waste of resources in the initial
start-up of projects, endangering future sustainability. Participation itself, however, should not be
introduced in a top-down, blueprint manner, and should also incorporate the local political and cultural
context.
This note highlights how ICT can empower poor women and men in four broad areas:
Informed citizens can take advantage of opportunities, access services, negotiate better deals
for themselves vis vis government and the private sector, exercise their rights, and hold
state and nonstate actors accountable. Disclosure of information about performance of
institutions promotes transparency in government, public services, and the private sector.
Rules on information disclosure must be institutionalized with the help of laws concerning
rights to information and a free press. Dissemination of this and other information in a timely
manner, presented in forms that are appropriate and easily understood, provides the basis for
the emergence of informed civic participation.
Many countries throughout the world are undertaking some forms of decentralization by shifting fiscal,
political, and administrative responsibilities to lower levels of government. Decentralization is driven by
unique circumstances in each setting. In some countries it is linked to recent democratization, while in others
it is spurred by the failure of central government to deliver basic public services. The four elements of
empowerment put forward in this paper-access to information, inclusion and participation, local
organizational capacity, and accountability-are often integral components of successful decentralization.
In some countries, particularly those in the Europe and Central Asia Region, central governments have
decentralized responsibilities to local governments for another reason: to reduce national fiscal deficits. By
pushing expenditure functions down to local governments while retaining centralized tax bases,
governments maintain macroeconomic balance; yet service delivery often declines due to underfunding. In
these cases, the decentralization agenda is unlikely to achieve benefits unless it is modified to empower
local governments through greater resources and a sound intergovernmental framework, and empower
people so they can hold their local governments accountable.
The idea behind decentralization is that moving decision making closer to people will lead to public sector
decisions that better reflect local needs and priorities. This in turn will lead to greater efficiency in public
expenditures, improved governance, and greater equity. These results, however, are by no means automatic
or easy to achieve. Efforts to decentralize usually stop at the local government level and often go no farther
than the provincial or state level. Decentralization is unlikely to achieve its theoretical impact unless it
extends down to the population, permits informed input in public decisions, and motivates local government
to respond to this input. Further, as noted below, although empowerment can help achieve benefits of
decentralization and vice versa, these processes are only part of an effective poverty alleviation strategy.
There remains a strong role for central governments in ensuring adequate funding and incentives that target
the poor, along with a legal framework that enables them to live securely.
Read more:
http://www.brighthub.com/health/technology/articles/19075.aspx#ixzz0kgpKDjm2
Training is widely recognized by organizational development experts as an important component in successful planned
change efforts. Training and education are important in preparing an organization for a change, in accomplishing the
Ads by Google
JMP Statistical Discovery software from SAS. Get a Free 30 day trial.
www.jmp.com
of the organization. The importance of training in the successful implementation of TQM programs is also widely
acknowledged because it provides an opportunity to reform employees about the goals of TQM, and it provides workers
In a recent Industrial Management article concerning the successful implementation of TQM programs, Whalen and
Rahim emphasized the importance of training, planning, management commitment, worker empowerment and motivation,
as well as measurement, evaluation, and feedback. The authors point out that "lack of understanding and proper training
outcomes. Educators and psychologists agree that learning can also have emotional and motivational outcomes, as
measured through attitudes toward the learning itself or toward the change represented by the training. Thus, training can
also provide an opportunity to empower and motivate employees, reducing employee resistance and increasing the
In an another recent Industrial Management article concerning TQM program success, and its relative scarcity, Tippett
and Waits point out, "TQM emphasizes improving and motivating a company's most valued asset, its workforce." The
authors develop a model that links employee empowerment with improved motivation. As a result, this directly impacts
project management and the ultimate success of the TQM efforts. Yet they acknowledge, "The presence of important
longer-term considerations such as motivation...and empowerment are often not closely monitored."
Worker empowerment is also important for keeping employees satisfied and productive, according to Harry Gaines,
another author in the same issue of Industrial Management. He suggests that a key component of achieving an
organizational transformation is to allow employees to get comfortable with change. He further points out that this comfort
level may be the most important result of having employees take charge of their own personal growth and satisfaction.
Moreover, this results in "numerous benefits to the organization. Employees feel they have more control over their careers
and their lives...like being on a more equal footing...with managers, able to share more responsibility, and reap the
Methodology
Sponsored Links
Full Service ConstructionBuild spaces that attract lucrative tenants and increase profitability! build.dumann.com
Manage Teams EffectivelyDevelop Team Building, Leadership & Managerial Skills. Contact Us! www.MMMTS.com
Human Resources in ItalyHuman Resources management in Italy full outsourcing services provider bbfpartners.com
Keys to Team Building Success: How to Make Team Building Activities Successful
Want to make your next team building activity or team building exercise live up to its true potential? Integrate the team
building with real-time work goals. Establish a systematic workplace integration and follow-up process - before you go on
the team building adventure. You need to make the good feelings and the outcomes from the team building activity last
beyond the final team building exercise.
Team Motivation
There are six factors that influence the motivation of team members. Having a clearly defined purpose is one of them.
Feeling challenged is another. You'll discover the real facts about motivation in this article.
Challenges-
Decentralization of authority.
information.