ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Lesson 7

Empowerment and
Participation

Rok Pintar
OBJECTIVES

AFTER STUDYING THIS CHAPTER,

YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND:

1. The nature of empowerment and its prerequisites

2. The participative process
3. Benefits of participation
LEARNING

4. Types of participative programs

5. Limitations of participation
Nature of Empowerment and Participation:

Empowerment: is any process that provides greater

autonomy to employees through
 Sharing of relevant information
 Control over factors affecting job performance
Nature of Empowerment and Participation
(Contd.):

Five Broad Approaches to Empowerment:

1. Job mastery: Proper training, coaching, and guided experience that
will result in initial successes
2. Control: Giving them discretion over job performance and then
holding them accountable for outcomes.
3. Role models: Allowing them to observe peers who already perform
successfully on the job.
4. Social reinforcement and persuasion: Giving praise,
encouragement and verbal feedback designed to raise self
confidence
5. Emotional support: Providing reduction of stress and anxiety
through better role definition, task assistance and honest caring.
Nature of Empowerment and Participation
(Contd.):
Figure 8-1 The process of empowerment
 What is Participation?

Participation: is the mental and emotional involvement of

people in group situations that encourages them to contribute
to group goals and share responsibility for them.
It identifies three important ideas-
• Involvement: Participation means meaningful involvement rather
than mere muscular activity.

• Motivation to Contribute: It motivate people to contribute.

• Acceptance of Responsibility: Participation encourages people to

accept responsibility in their group’s activities.
 Why Is Participation Popular?

Participation leads to
• Improved performance
• Higher job satisfaction
• Spirit
• Desire
• Expectations
• Ethical imperatives
Benefits of Participation:

• Higher output
• Better quality
• Creativity
• Innovation
• Higher motivation
• Reduced turnover and absences
• Better communication
The Participative Process:
Prerequisites for Participation :

1.Adequate time to participate

2.Potential benefits greater than costs
3.Relevance to employee interests
4.Adequate employee abilities
5.Mutual ability to communicate
6.No feeling of threat to either party
7.Restriction to the area of job freedom
Contingency Factors :

Emotional intelligence
Differing employee needs for participation
Responsibilities of employees and manager
Expectations of Employees:

All employees should agree to…

Be responsible for their actions

Operate within organizational policies
Be contributing team members
Respect and try to use the perspectives of others
Be dependable and ethical
Demonstrate responsible self-leadership
Expectations of Managers:

Responsibilities of managers…

Identifying the issues to be addressed

Specifying the level of involvement desired
Providing relevant information
Providing relevant training
Allocating fair rewards
 Programs for Participation:

• Figure 8-8 Selected types of participative programs

Limitations of Participation:

Negative Forces Affecting Participation

•Theory X beliefs and assumptions

•Lack of support from higher levels
•Manager fear of lost power, status, and control
•Lack of adequate training
•Problems encountered in early stages
•Substantial efforts needed to implement
Questions