Empowerment is any process that provides greater autonomy to employees through the

sharing of relevant information and the provision of control over factors affecting job
performance
Five broad approaches to empowerment have been suggested:
1. Helping employees achieve job mastery( giving proper training, coaching, and
guided experience that will result in initial successes)
2. Allowing more control ( giving them discretion over job performance and then
holding them accountable for outcomes)
3. Providing successful role models ( allowing them to observe peers who already
perform successfully on the job.)
4. Using social reinforcement and persuasion ( giving praise ,encouragement, and
verbal feedback designed to raise self- confidence)
5. Giving emotional support ( providing reduction of stress and anxiety through better
role definition , task assistance, and honest caring)

Randolph’s Empowerment Model

Share Information
Share company performance information
Help people understand the business
Build trust through sharing sensitive information
Create self monitoring possibilities

Create Autonomy through Structure

Create a clear vision and clarify little pictures
Create a new decision making rules that support empowerment
Clarify goals and roles collaboratively
Establish new empowering performance management processes
Use heavy doses of training
Let teams become the hierarchy
Provide direction and training for new skills.
Provide encouragement and support for change.
Gradually have managers let go of control.
Work through the leadership vacuum stage.
Acknowledge the fear factor
1. Case study method:
Usually case study deals with any problem confronted by a business which can be solved by
an employee. The trainee is given an opportunity to analyse the case and come out with all
possible solutions. This method can enhance analytic and critical thinking of an employee.

2. Incident method:
Incidents are prepared on the basis of actual situations which happened in different
organizations and each employee in the training group is asked to make decisions as if it is a
real-life situation. Later on, the entire group discusses the incident and takes decisions related
to the incident on the basis of individual and group decisions.

3. Role play:
In this case also a problem situation is simulated asking the employee to assume the role of a
particular person in the situation. The participant interacts with other participants assuming
different roles. The whole play will be recorded and trainee gets an opportunity to examine
their own performance.

4. In-basket method:
The employees are given information about an imaginary company, its activities and
products, HR employed and all data related to the firm. The trainee (employee under training)
has to make notes, delegate tasks and prepare schedules within a specified time. This can
develop situational judgments and quick decision making skills of employees.

5. Business games:
According to this method the trainees are divided into groups and each group has to discuss
about various activities and functions of an imaginary organization. They will discuss and
decide about various subjects like production, promotion, pricing etc. This gives result in co-
operative decision making process.

6. Grid training:
It is a continuous and phased programme lasting for six years. It includes phases of planning
development, implementation and evaluation. The grid takes into consideration parameters
like concern for people and concern for people.

7. Lectures:
This will be a suitable method when the numbers of trainees are quite large. Lectures can be
very much helpful in explaining the concepts and principles very clearly, and face to face
interaction is very much possible.

8. Simulation:
Under this method an imaginary situation is created and trainees are asked to act on it. For
e.g., assuming the role of a marketing manager solving the marketing problems or creating a
new strategy etc.
9. Management education:
At present universities and management institutes gives great emphasis on management
education. For e.g., Mumbai University has started bachelors and postgraduate degree in
Management. Many management Institutes provide not only degrees but also hands on
experience having collaboration with business concerns.
10. Conferences:
A meeting of several people to discuss any subject is called conference. Each participant
contributes by analyzing and discussing various issues related to the topic. Everyone can
express their own view point

Performance Appraisal is the systematic evaluation of the performance of employees and to

understand the abilities of a person for further growth and development.

Broadly all methods of appraisals are

1. Rating Scales: Rating scales consists of several numerical scales representing job related
performance criterions such as dependability, initiative, output, attendance, attitude etc. Each
scales ranges from excellent to poor. The total numerical scores are computed and final
conclusions are derived. Advantages – Adaptability, easy to use, low cost, every type of job
can be evaluated, large number of employees covered, no formal training required.
Disadvantages – Rater’s biases

2. Checklist: Under this method, checklist of statements of traits of employee in the form
of Yes or No based questions is prepared. Here the rater only does the reporting or checking
and HR department does the actual evaluation. Advantages – economy, ease of
administration, limited training required, standardization. Disadvantages – Raters biases, use
of improper weighs by HR, does not allow rater to give relative ratings

3. Forced Choice Method: The series of statements arranged in the blocks of two or more
are given and the rater indicates which statement is true or false. The rater is forced to make a
choice. HR department does actual assessment. Advantages – Absence of personal biases
because of forced choice. Disadvantages – Statements may be wrongly framed.

4. Forced Distribution Method: here employees are clustered around a high point on a
rating scale. Rater is compelled to distribute the employees on all points on the scale. It is
assumed that the performance is conformed to normal distribution. Advantages – Eliminates
Disadvantages – Assumption of normal distribution, unrealistic, errors of central tendency.

5. Critical Incidents Method: The approach is focused on certain critical behaviors of

employee that makes all the difference in the performance. Supervisors as and when they
occur record such incidents. Advantages – Evaluations are based on actual job behaviors,
ratings are supported by descriptions, feedback is easy, reduces regency biases, chances of
subordinate improvement are high. Disadvantages – Negative incidents can be prioritized,
forgetting incidents, overly close supervision; feedback may be too much and may appear to
be punishment.

6. Field Review Method: This is an appraisal done by someone outside employees’ own
department usually from corporate or HR department. Advantages – Useful for managerial
level promotions, when comparable information is needed, Disadvantages – Outsider is
generally not familiar with employees work environment, Observation of actual behaviors not
possible
7. Performance Tests & Observations: This is based on the test of knowledge or skills. The
tests may be written or an actual presentation of skills. Tests must be reliable and validated to
be useful. Advantage – Tests may be apt to measure potential more than actual performance.
Disadvantages – Tests may suffer if costs of test development or administration are high.

8. Confidential Records: Mostly used by government departments, however its application

in industry is not ruled out. Here the report is given in the form of Annual Confidentiality
Report (ACR) and may record ratings with respect to following items; attendance, self
expression, team work, leadership, initiative, technical ability, reasoning ability, originality
and resourcefulness etc. The system is highly secretive and confidential. Feedback to the
assessee is given only in case of an adverse entry. Disadvantage is that it is highly subjective
and ratings can be manipulated because the evaluations are linked to HR actions like
promotions etc.

9 Essay Method: In this method the rater writes down the employee description in detail
within a number of broad categories like, overall impression of performance, promoteability
of employee, existing capabilities and qualifications of performing jobs, strengths and
weaknesses and training needs of the employee. Advantage – It is extremely useful in filing
information gaps about the employees that often occur in a better-structured checklist.
Disadvantages – It its highly dependent upon the writing skills of rater and most of them are
not good writers. They may get confused success depends on the memory power of raters.

10 360-Degree Feedback: It is a technique which is systematic collection of performance

data on an individual group, derived from a number of stakeholders like immediate
supervisors, team members, customers, peers and self. In fact anyone who has useful
information on how an employee does a job may be one of the appraisers. This technique is
highly useful in terms of broader perspective, greater self-development and multi-source
feedback is useful. 360-degree appraisals are useful to measure inter-personal skills, customer
satisfaction and team building skills. However on the negative side, receiving feedback from
multiple sources can be intimidating, threatening etc. Multiple raters may be less adept at
providing balanced and objective feedback.

11. Psychological Appraisals: These appraisals are more directed to assess employees
potential for future performance rather than the past one. It is done in the form of in-depth
interviews, psychological tests, and discussion with supervisors and review of other
evaluations. It is more focused on employees emotional, intellectual, and motivational and
other personal characteristics affecting his performance. This approach is slow and costly and
may be useful for bright young members who may have considerable potential. However
quality of these appraisals largely depend upon the skills of psychologists who perform the
evaluation.