Empowerment is a way to increase your company’s success by involving everyone in the work force as a business partner who is highly invested in achieving outstanding results. Empowerment makes more resources available to the company because it taps the knowledge, skills, experience, motivation and commitment of each person, team and group within the company.
Empowered organizations do not come into being simply because the decision has been made. It is a gradual process during which leaders, managers, and employees negotiate the boundaries of this arrangement and learn to work together in new ways. Years of research indicate that empowered organizations achieve specific results by creating the right conditions, following key steps to achieve these conditions, and providing the appropriate structures and tools. The results include:
- Improved business results
- Increased commitment
- Greater employee satisfaction
- Attracting and retaining high performers
Creating the context
Empowerment takes place in a context, most of which is set by the company’s senior leaders. The context consists of the vision, values, goals, strategies, culture, structure and rules of the organization. The context has both formal (explicitly stated, often written) and informal (the way things work around here) aspects. To gain a clear picture of those forces to be considered when making choices about vision, values, etc. leaders often use some degree of input from external resources regarding demographics, the economy, the industry, the marketplace, etc. They may also use input from internal businesses, functions and experts at various levels within and external to the company.
Setting the boundaries
Empowerment does NOT mean that the manager or leader steps back and gives complete control to employee teams. In the empowered organization the leader/manager understands the company’s context, direction and their individual and team roles. The manager identifies the boundaries that determine who has what power in what areas and in what areas power is shared. The direction includes the vision, goals and strategies. The boundaries include the values, culture, structure, rules and roles.
Hierarchical command and control organizations establish rules, procedures, policies and structures that limit employee’s choices and scope of responsibility. For example, a rule about arriving at work at 8:00 and leaving at 5:00, limits the choices. Employees cannot arrive at 8:05 or leave at 4:45. There is no other choice but the one spelled out in the rule.
Empowered organizations set the boundary conditions within which employees can make decisions and open the field of possible choices. For example, a rule that states all employees must be present for the core hours 10:00 – 3:00 and must work 40 hours per week, is a rule that opens the field of possible choices the employee can make, within set limits. The employee is expected to consider the goals and the needs of his/her customers, the goals that have been set, etc. when making choices within the boundary conditions.
The change from a hierarchical to an empowered organization does not occur simply because the decision has been made. It is a gradual process during which leaders, managers, and employees negotiate the boundaries of this arrangement and learn to work together in a new way.
Getting Results – Collaboratively
TOGETHER teams and their leaders/managers determine WHAT WORK needs to be done in order to achieve the organization’s goals, given the team’s roles, the organization structure, values, etc. They also collaboratively determine HOW to do this work.
Why work collaboratively on WHAT WORK and HOW? Leaders and managers look outside the boundaries of the organization to understand industry direction, trends, practices, and other environmental effects. Employees are closer to the realities of how things actually work. These two perspectives are needed to continuously improve on what we do and how we do it.
Using the Tools
Successful organizations take the time to learn and use specific processes and tools for working collaboratively. The types of tools available include workshops and coaching in the following areas:
- Collaborative planning and problem solving
- Leading high performance teams
- Accessing group intelligence
These tools help organizations chart a path toward their end goal, opening new horizons for all involved. When the people understand the conditions under which they are expected to perform and are committed to the vision, direction and goals of the organization and their roles within it, clear decision making structures and processes become a natural
extension of the environment.