Employee empowerment

"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity." --General George Smith Patton, Jr.

"An empowered organization is one in which individuals have the knowledge, skill, desire, and opportunity to personally succeed in a way that leads to collective organizational success." --Stephen Covey

WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT? process of enabling or authorizing an

individual to think, behave, take action, and control work and decision making in autonomous ways.

EMPOWERMENT comes from an individual. The organization has the responsibility to

create a work environment which helps foster the ability and desire of employees to act in empowered ways.

Harvesting the creative and emotional power of the employees.

THREE LEVELS OF EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT

10 steps to empower :

1. Demonstrate That You Value People

2. Share Leadership Vision

3. Share Goals and Direction

4. Trust People

5. Provide Information for Decision Making

6. Delegate Authority and Impact Opportunities, Not Just More Work

7. Provide Frequent Feedback

8. Solve Problems:

Don't Pinpoint

Problem People

9. Listen to Learn and Ask Questions to Provide Guidance

10. Help Employees Feel

Rewarded and Recognized for Empowered Behavior merits

At Wipro

Enterprise Resource Planning

Our solutions offer self-service functionalities to empower employees to perform various activities themselves and ensures efficient employee transactions, thus improving overall HR operations.

At Infosys : Driving Work-Life Effectiveness

Through Employee Empowerment

In 2003, Infosys launched a global council of six internal, senior women of varying nationalities who were tasked with conceptualizing and implementing an initiative that would create a gender-sensitive environment to attract, hire, and retain top talent, including women

At Toyota Toyota Motor Company empowers some of

its employees to identify and help remedy problems occurring during product assembly. An automobile coming off Toyota's assembly line with a paint defect is seen as an opportunity to delve into the root cause of the defect, as opposed to merely fixing the defect and passing it on to distributors for resale.

 increased employee education and training.

employees participate in creating their own goals; increased employee contribution.

increased respect among employees secondary to teamwork.

increased power equals lower absenteeism and better productivity

employees have more satisfying work. an increased depth of competence among

employees secondary to cross-training.  less conflict with administration and

managers. fewer middle management positions means

decreased cost to the company.  Employees are more likely to agree with

changes if they participate in decision making.

employees can abuse the increased power given to them.

it is too much responsibility for some employees.

 employees who focus on their own success rather than group's may leave.

managers must be better trained to facilitate through sharing of information, cooperation, and referrals to appropriate resources

all employees must "buy in" to the concept for it to be effective; there is an increased cost to the organization for training and education.

there is increased time in groups or committees which takes away from regular jobs.

there may be increased conflict or power struggle betweeen employees due to group work.

some employees may not be knowledgeable enough to make good business decisions.

decisions made on the basis of personality versus logical reasoning.

Biggest Challenges

 Some managers feel safer in charge.

Excuses and "not my faults" can drive managers crazy.

Boundaries of decision making are the biggest challenge.

ON AN ENDING NOTE …

If a workplace environment is more like “it’s everyman for himself,” you’ll experience employee chaos. Business leaders, managers and HR experts are now learning that employee empowerment doesn’t mean the captain loses control of the ship, but rather, the ship moves in a less rocky fashion because of the empowerment.