Empowerment is a term that we often hear regarding business management style, but what does it actually look like in the workplace and what are the benefits of giving it to employee? One definition of empowerment for the workplace is; [Empowerment is the process of enabling or authorizing an employee to think, behave, take action, and control work and decision-making in autonomous way with the job tasks that have been given to them. It is the state of feeling self-empowered to take control of one’s employment responsibilities]. Empowerment if truly implemented properly will build relationships between business owners, their managers and team members as it spreads the responsibility of ownership for the business among all team players. The concept of empowerment is not entirely new, for years businesses have engaged in what is called “participation management.” Empowerment carries this idea a step beyond that concept by not only allowing team members to participate in decision-making but they also are authorized to make decision on their own without seeking approval from higher management.
Let me give you an example from our office; one of our team members who works mostly in the back office with the physicians and dispenses patients durable medical equipment is the one who has authority to do the purchasing of the medical equipment along with the back office supplies. This is a great match because he is seeing how much is used up on a daily basis. He will do inventory and then shop for the best deals for pricing. The only time he ever comes to the business owner or manager is if he finds a great deal and wants to purchase more of the item to get this lower price, otherwise he is free to purchase what is necessary for running the back office. Now along with this freedom he knows comes the responsibility of smart thinking and being accountable for his purchases. But by being empowered to do this on his own has made him able to do his job more efficiently, can you imagine if he had to come to a manager to ask about every single item for purchase and get approval how much time it would take of his and the managers? Empowerment allows for more work to be done by each person without being held up. People who work in a specific job know a great deal more about what is going on in their work environment than managers who do not.
Empowerment allows for the whole team to contribute to move the business ahead. By eliciting everyone’s input about new projects or making the office fun more efficiently your are likely to pick up ideas that may not have occurred if it were just the owner or manager running the show alone. Empowerment creates synergy which defined is; [two or more units (people) working together to achieve a greater effect than individuals can by themselves] and this is what happens when you have an empowered work team.
“The vision is really about empowering workers, giving them all the information about what is going on so they can do a lot more than they’ve done in the past.” ~ Bill Gates
7-26-12
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