EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT- WHAT IT MEANS
Employees are the valuable asset of any organization .Every organization strives hard to maintain its standards and take them to the global level. For an organization to accomplish its mission there should be proper co-ordination and understanding from the low level to the top level employees. The superior should respect the ideas and suggestions of his sub-ordinates and implement them if would make any changes in the organization.
Employee Empowerment deals with giving an employee additional responsibilities where a non-managerial staff can make autonomous decisions without consulting a boss/manager. The degree of power depends upon the level of freedom an organization gives to his employee.
Employee Empowerment is all about employee involvement. It could also be defined as controlled transfer of authority to make decisions and take actions. Successful implementation of empowerment requires change in corporate culture.
THE GOALS
The primary goal of employee empowerment is to give workers a greater voice in decisions about work-related matters. When an employee gets freedom to take his own decisions for the betterment of the organisation, he takes that as his own responsibility and does it efficiently.
SIGNS
An empowered worker always stands out of the crowd. There are some ways to identify him:
Initiatives- An empowered worker takes initiatives by his own. He doesn’t require somebody to assign him tasks or come behind to supervise.
Identify Opportunities-He looks for all available resources and finds an easy way to accomplish the tasks. Searching and identifying the available opportunities and using them in the right place bring them success.
Out Of Box Thinking (OOBT)-Empowered workers always foresee things. They look for all possible alternatives to solve a problem and incase anything goes wrong they try to sort it out immediately. Their way of handling a problem and strategies they follow will be totally different from others.
Strong Perseverance-They do not give up at any cause and have a strong mindset. Whenever they start a task, they start with the motive of completing it effectively and efficiently.
Building Relationship-Empowered workers do smart work. They believe that having a strong bond with the sub-ordinates/colleagues helps them in carrying out the tasks more easily and in a simple way. They consider working as a team brings victory rather than working alone.
THE POWER DISTANCE
Power distance is usually followed in many Corporates and in many government offices where the superior (CEO or concerned Head officer) can’t be met by general public. People (employees) need to get permission also need to undergo a few formalities before meeting them.
An empowered worker is free from power distance. He has rights to meet his superior at any time if he needs any assistance.
GUIDELINES FOR EMPLOYEE EMPLOWERMENT
For an employee to work independently he needs a right manager. It is upto the management to choose a right manger so he gives enough freedom to his workers (employees).
Giving rewards and recognizing the employees who perform well is the first sign of empowerment. When additional responsibilities are given and employees are motivated, they get an opportunity to deliver the best.
Focusing on organizational values, building a strong relationship and transforming mistakes into opportunities helps in cultivating empowerment.
