Empowerment: Page 1

Page 1

The purpose of this document is to:
1. Provide understanding about the concept of Empowerment
2. Present a model you can use to develop Empowerment in your company.

The Benefit
This document will enable you to:
1. Understand Empowerment
2. Encourage Empowerment
3. Benefit from Empowerment
”By surrendering control to the employees you gain control over the business.”

The Situation
Empowerment is one of the most difficult and essential elements to developing a high-involvement, high-performance workforce. It is difficult because it requires allocating responsibility by releasing some portion of control to your employees. It is essential because it is a proven method for engaging your workforce in the business. By surrendering control to the employees you gain control over the business.

The Definition
A good definition of empowerment is the authority and the ability to take independant action, within well defined parameters, which will actively influence the outcome.
A group cannot be empowered. Empowerment takes place on an individual level. It is relative. Empowerment depends on the situation and the “ability” of the individual. A wise manager does not empower an employee until the employee has shown that he/she understands the effects of his/her actions on the success of the company and has demonstrated the ability to perform appropriately.

Get the Systems in Place
The process of empowering the workforce requires systems that provide information and which encourage understanding, learning and practice.

Time for Introspection
You will get the most value out of this booklet if you take a few moments to internalize the information by answering the following questions.
Empowerment requires information, understanding, learning and practice.
Q1: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being the lowest, how well do the majority of your employees understand the company’s strategy? The business plan? Their role in helping achieve success? Q2: What information would improve your employees “line-of-sight” to the company’s goals? Be specific in your list.

Look for page 2 in the near future.