The advantages of employee empowerment

There are several definite advantages of embedding a strategy and culture of employee

empowerment. These include:

·       Faster problem solving

First, because empowered employees are so close to issues and problems that require
resolution, response times should decrease. Faced with a problem, people who are close to it
have a natural affinity for it and a definitive reason to find solutions rapidly – it aids their work,
making their time easier and more productive.

Executives are often detached from the shop floor, and lack the depth of knowledge required in
the solution-finding process.

·       Increased morale and productivity

People who are given the autonomy to make their own decisions feel trusted and that their
contributions are a direct factor in their company’s success. This is a direct determinant of
employee morale. For example, 91% of Google’s employees say that they carry meaningful
responsibilities within the organization: for six years running Google has been ranked by
Fortune as the best company to work for.

Empowered employees working without continual oversight from a manager or supervisor

tend to feel more respected. Artificial obstacles to progress of tasks are removed when
employees no longer need their supervisor’s approval to move from one stage to the next. This
helps productivity, and profitability per employee improves accordingly.

Additionally, people own the responsibility given to them, and the manager/employee
relationship benefits accordingly.

·       Greater involvement leads to greater commitment

With the greater involvement engendered by their increased responsibility, employees become
more involved in organizational strategy. They begin to look at colleagues and customers
differently, and their commitment to the company and its future grows. Satisfied employees
lead to satisfied customers. Such commitment also leads to decreased staff turnover and
reduced costs of hiring and training.

·       Lower levels of management stress

When employees are empowered with responsibility, managers become freed to concentrate
on strategy and the bigger picture. Instead of becoming enmeshed with day-to-day decision-
making, managers can concentrate on strategic objectives, project planning, professional
development, and customer-centric activities.

Empowering employees invigorates leadership by removing the stress of day-to-day

management responsibilities.

·       Improved staff retention

Empowerment leads to greater satisfaction in the workplace. The 2013 empirical study
‘Employee Empowerment and Job Satisfaction in the U.S. Federal Bureaucracy: A Self-
Determination Theory Perspective’ found that empowerment practices (such as information
sharing, access to job-related knowledge and skills, and discretion to change working practice)
have a positive and sizeable effect on job satisfaction.

 In a study of 19,700 exit interviews, the Saratoga Institute found that job dissatisfaction factors
were among the top seven factors for people searching for a new job.

Clearly, people who are more satisfied at work are less likely to want to change jobs – and
improving staff retention has an immediate and sizeable impact on the bottom line. The Society
for Human Resource Management has calculated that replacing a member of staff costs an
average of between six to nine month’s salary in recruitment and training costs. For an
employee on a $50,000 salary, this is between $25,000 and $37,500.

According to the Work Institute, more than 41 million employees voluntarily left their jobs in
2018. With the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculating average salary as $48,672, poor staff
retention is costing the U.S. economy an incredible $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion per year.

The disadvantages of employee empowerment

·       Lack of experience increases risk
While the handing down of responsibility promises to improve speed, agility and productivity, a
concern is that decisions are now being made by less experienced and less expert personnel.
This can increase the number of mistakes made and put reputation at risk.

The risk of work practices falling into chaos must be tackled by proper training, and by ensuring
that supervisors maintain organizational standards. These standards must incorporate an
organization’s values and beliefs: care must be taken that employees do not work in
accordance with individual values that may be divergent to the corporate mission and vision.

·       Potential for decreased efficiency

When people are given the autonomy to make their own decisions, those decisions cease to be
uniform. This lack of coordination can lead to problems down the line.
It is also the case that autonomous employees may decide to work slower on days when they
feel distracted or lack the energy to forge ahead. Where some workers are performing more
productively than others, without being rewarded for doing so, internal friction can increase. If
not dealt with, this can cause confrontation or a spiral to the bottom as all workers decide to
work at the pace of the slowest and least productive team member.

·       Blurred relationships

Empowerment inevitably leads to a flatter, more streamlined management structure. The risk
here is that professional relationships become blurred, and boundaries of authority become
broken. This might require greater control over employees, not less.

Accountability issues may arise, leading to a blame culture that, if left unchecked, will lead to
further discontent and an environment of mistrust. In such a situation, it is likely that
employees will decide to take less responsibility for fear of repercussions should things go
wrong.

·       Poor decision-making

If a team lacks the individuals with skills commensurate to the project, tasks and work required,
decision-making will be poorer. This will be to the detriment of the organization, as poor
solutions lead to decreasing productivity and internal conflict.

How can you improve employee empowerment?

Empowering employees is a cultural issue. Organizations that promote an environment of trust,
clear communication, delegation and accountability tend to be good at employee
empowerment. Here are five key practices that will help your managers and leaders empower
their employees.

1.     Share your organization’s vision

Clear communication of vision is central to embedding a sense of ownership in your workforce.
People who understand the vision and how their work contributes to achieving that vision are
more likely to feel a part of something rather than just another number on the staff rota.

2.     Share more responsibility

Delegating responsibility for work that is designed to improve the capabilities of your
employees helps them develop professionally. This will strengthen your team’s ability to work
autonomously, and lead to lesser need for direct management.

3.     Stop micromanaging

People become stifled in their work when they are micromanaged. Instead of managing tasks,
delegate the responsibility for them, setting expectations clearly and providing guidance on
responsibility. Decisions will be made autonomously, but in line with organizational needs.

4.     Be open to input

Especially when engaging people in transformational change, being open to ideas and involving
people in decision-making helps to empower employees and bring out innovative thinking.

5.     Be constructive and recognize good performance

Ensure that you recognize people for their effort and good performance, providing positive and
constructive feedback to aid continuous improvement. It’s important to be specific when giving
feedback, and to highlight how positive behaviors have had a positive impact on colleagues.
Positive feedback and recognition encourages people to be more creative problem solvers.

The bottom line

Weighing up the pros and cons of employee empowerment, the potential benefits to
individuals, teams and the organization are clear and tangible. The potential drawbacks can be
controlled by good management techniques, including:

 Positive leadership
 Coaching, training, recognition, and rewards schemes
 An open and transparent communicative environment

Within a culture of employee empowerment, organizations will develop higher-performing

teams that think for themselves, developing innovative solutions as they work toward shared
goals – and not a robotic workforce consisting of people who do what their managers tell them
and now more.

Emotional intelligence among leaders is also associated with the ability to embed a more
empowered workforce, helping people to take the initiative and evaluate their own
performance.

In short, if an empowerment strategy is well managed, your people will become partners in
your success. They will become a transformative force that will jumpstart change and ensure
the goals of your strategic vision are accomplished.