Do you know what all successful businesses have in common? Motivated, responsible, and engaged employees can run the business in your absence. You can only achieve this through employee empowerment. When your employees feel the organization values them, trusts their decision, and rewards them handsomely for their effort, you can see the result in their commitment to the job. Your business is their business now.
As we discuss the importance of employee empowerment to your work culture, you will understand what we mean.
What is employee empowerment?
An empowered person knows they have the authority and confidence to achieve something. Employee empowerment is a type of management policy where the company gives employees an amount of autonomy to make decisions when needed.
The managers put a level of trust in the employees and take their feedback on company policies. They treat employees with respect and let them take additional responsibilities if they so desire.
The most crucial part is providing employees with tools, training, and confidence-boosting sessions so they can feel secure in their roles and decisions. Employees have clear guidelines, examples, and trust established so they don’t mess up. Empowering them trains them for future responsibilities and higher-level positions in their career.
Some refer to employee empowerment as the opposite of micromanagement, where every employee decision is heavily criticized or approved after going through all the upper-level channels.
Harvard Business Review refers to employee empowerment as making employees more creative. However, if not done the right way, it can end up burdening them.
Benefits of employee empowerment
Increase in Productivity
After switching to the employee empowerment model, companies like Nestlé Canada Inc have witnessed happy, engaged employees. Employees know their hard work will be rewarded and acknowledged. The projects are their own, and they are accountable for the results. As a result, they produce quality work faster.
Reduced Costs
Empowered employees are unlikely to leave the company. They know they have a future with the company. This is why they work with the promotion in mind rather than looking for a new job with better pay. As a result, the company has a low turnover rate and there is no need to train new employees.
The increase in productivity also leads to better customer retention and low operation costs.
Communications
When employees face a problem, they are likely to come to their supervisor for solutions. Despite having the autonomy to make decisions, they know they can rely on their supervisor to guide them when they face complicated situations.
Their trust in their abilities also lets them share tips and tricks with their peers instead of treating them as competition. Employees are collaborative and active as a team rather than pure individuals.
Increase in Creativity
It’s wrong to say employee empowerment increases creativity. Instead, creative individuals have the chance to explore their creative side due to the management’s trust in their decisions and abilities.
Final Thoughts
If you have made the mistake of micromanaging your employees, it’s time to change your tactics. If you don’t know where to begin, you can ask your employees for anonymous feedback on what they want to change. In the meantime, we can connect you to more empowered employees on BCJobs.
About the Author
BCjobs.ca is Western Canada’s largest job board, and host of “Innovators” a weekly podcast interviewing top recruiters in BC and across Canada. Check out our recent interview with Dejan Pralica, CEO and Co-Founder of Solesavy (Podcast link), and Paul Rubenstein, Chief People Officer at Visier (Podcast link).
