An organization is only as strong as its people. To that end, empowering your employees to do more is essential to leveling up an organization’s performance at every scale.
Employee empowerment is more than simply delegating more authority or increasing decision-making capabilities in your staff. Employee empowerment digs deeper; it’s about motivating employees to work at their best. When your workforce is motivated to be their best, they produce the best results for performance metrics.
Don’t just take our word for it: The transformative power of employee empowerment programs is well documented.
Let’s dive into employee empowerment, its benefits, and best practices to implement it in your organization.
What is employee empowerment?
As the name suggests, employee empowerment means giving more power to your employees.
In its most general sense, employee empowerment is when employers give their workforce more control over their work. That kind of empowerment takes many forms, such as more autonomy over their day-to-day schedule, less oversight over their workload, and the ability to make more decisions independent of management.
While lack of oversight sounds precarious, the prevailing literature indicates that when qualified employees operate autonomously, they are more likely to take charge and be more productive.
Employee empowerment benefits businesses and staff alike. Companies that empower their employees create a more autonomous leadership style, wherein employees have a stronger voice and more opportunities to grow. With the right training and tools, the workforce flourishes under conditions with fewer limits on how they get work done.
Employee empowerment vs. delegation
People often confuse employee empowerment and delegation, but they are categorically different. Delegation is still management directing their staff on what to do on their behalf.
Remember, it’s not micromanaging: Like employee empowerment, delegation requires mutual trust and respect when assigning additional responsibilities to direct reports. However, employee empowerment gives staff more choices. They aren’t fulfilling a task on behalf of management; they chart their course of action and get things done on their terms.
Employee empowerment and delegation are effective managerial tools that positively impact an organization’s work culture and employee retention. Each excels in different contexts and yields different results for job performance. Determining when, where and the types of employee empowerment you want to employ makes all the difference in their efficacy.
Types of employee empowerment
Employee empowerment is being widely implemented in several industries. How organizations implement it varies; organizations might use several types of employee empowerment to empower employees and help them develop their full potential.
To better understand what employee empowerment might look like for your organization and which type suits your needs, consider these prevalent employee empowerment examples.
Decision-making empowerment
Decision-making empowerment gives staff members the freedom to make decisions with greater independence from management; it’s a general term that refers to how they accomplish tasks.
Financial empowerment
Waiting for budget approval hamstrings employees from getting work done. Financially empowering employees gives them more control over their budget when they make decisions.
Time management empowerment
Giving employees control over their time lets them get things done on their terms. Empowering employees’ time management gives them power over their scheduled hours, when tasks are accomplished, and beyond.
Shared information empowerment
Employees kept in the dark can’t make information-driven decisions. Through shared information empowerment, they access the information they need to make better choices.
Benefits of employee empowerment
Employee empowerment measures are inherent motivators; by giving your employee more control over their work, you implicitly confirm that you trust their ability to get things done—that’s quite the vote of confidence!
Empowering employees increases job satisfaction, engagement, and motivation, but employees aren’t the only ones who benefit from employee empowerment. When implemented correctly, employee empowerment programs create many benefits for organizations, like improved productivity, innovation, and overall organizational performance.
Let’s take a closer look at employee empowerment’s benefits for an organization:
Improved accountability
Increasing employee autonomy increases their accountability and sense of ownership over their hard work. When employees take pride in their work, they’re more likely to give it their all, increasing employee engagement.
Quicker turnaround
Waiting for approval to make its way up and down the chain of command stifles productivity. Empowered workers bypass this communicative traffic, get work done faster, and increase overall turnaround when they have more autonomy.
Better customer service
Many employees are limited by how they affect their customer service without managerial approval. Employee empowerment gives staff the autonomy to make better choices when interacting with customers hands-on, which results in better customer experience and improved customer satisfaction.
Increased productivity
When organizations want to be more productive, they consider employee empowerment programs as employee empowerment has been shown to increase productivity. Employees that can do more will; by getting out of their way, there are fewer limits on what they accomplish.
Higher rates of job satisfaction
Job satisfaction prevents employee churn. Empowered employees are happy employees; unhappy employees are more likely to quit or be less productive. When workers have more control over their work life, organizations report higher rates of job satisfaction.
Greater trust in leadership
Trust is a two-way street. When management trusts employees to do more on their own, employees trust them right back. Organizations benefit from higher retention rates and employee satisfaction through improved, collaborative relationships.
Improved creativity
When team members are put in a strict box, they aren’t likely to think outside of it. Employee empowerment removes their limitations in many ways. As a result, the creativity of your workforce flourishes when they have the freedom to make decisions.
Better collaboration
More autonomy doesn’t come at the cost of collaboration. On the contrary, empowering employees incentivizes them to be more collaborative by giving them more control over their work.
Improved brand image
Employees are attracted to employee empowerment programs. Organizations that broadcast their value of employee experience have a leg up over their peers; top talent is more likely to choose an employer that values their autonomy over one that does not.
How does employee empowerment work in an organization?
The positive changes brought by employee empowerment are difficult to imagine for organizations accustomed to a rigid chain of command.
Many organizations felt the same way, but when the pandemic forced their hand, transitioning to a structure accommodating employee empowerment proved to be far less of a hurdle than once thought. Many organizations have made lasting changes to their organizational structure based on the positive results of employee empowerment.
Employee empowerment structures, like those provided by hybrid work opportunities, have become mainstays in many industries and are increasingly popular when their benefits become clear. The fact is employees and employers alike benefit from employee empowerment structures when they are implemented correctly.
Employee empowerment works only when employers and employees implement these formats with due diligence. Organizations should establish clear goals and expectations, provide regular feedback and recognition, encourage open communication and collaboration, and promote a culture of learning and growth to implement these practices effectively.
7 tips on how to successfully empower employees
Success depends on how well organizations set clear goals, their expectations going forward, and establishing clear lines of communication before implementing more autonomy. Furthermore, empowered employees improve within a culture that promotes learning and growth.
By setting a standard for empowerment, employees only become more motivated to continue their empowerment journey on their own.
For organizations wondering how to empower employees effectively, here are tips to keep in mind:
1. Make it a part of company culture
Company culture has a profound impact on employee performance. Instilling values aligned with the goals of employee empowerment creates an environment that amplifies their capability.
Emphasizing a culture that promotes taking charge, collaboration, and independence ensures that employees will make the most of it when they gain more autonomy.
2. Clarify roles
The distributed leadership formats associated with employee empowerment complicate the parameters of one’s role. Empowering employees doesn’t mean leaving their roles in an ambiguous state.
Make the scope of their roles clear so that when they’re out on their own, they know what they need to do.
3. Listen to employees’ feedback
Empowering employees is a recognition of their capabilities and a tacit endorsement of their voice within the organization’s structure. Employers need to listen to employee voices to assess the efficacy of employee empowerment formats.
Listen to feedback on how empowerment programs have worked for them and include their feedback on future decisions.
4. Make empowerment part of the company’s vision and culture
Motivating employees means giving them something to look forward to. Employees that value empowerment programs have something to look forward to when employers make them an essential part of the organization’s vision.
Give employees something to look forward to with assurances about your commitment to empowerment.
5. Maintain consistent trust-building by fostering listening and feedback
As organizational structures become more autonomous, the bonds between management and employees depend on trust. Through dedicated listening, management strengthens the bonds with their workforce.
Employing dedicated listening from a management standpoint is a powerful means to empower employees and your connection to them.
6. Strong bottom line
Employee empowerment is an endorsement of an employee’s abilities, but it’s not a vacation. They are still subordinates that you need to provide with expected performance metrics regarding an organization’s goals.
Failure to set a strong bottom line is not only a dereliction of responsibility on the management’s part but also a failure to properly empower employees by leaving them with no firm direction.
7. Provide them with the support they need
Employee empowerment means giving an employee more freedom to work on their terms. Still, they need your support to be productive. Management empowers employees by providing them the support they need to work properly in an autonomous environment.
Create a support system and help employees become properly empowered: Provide them with the tools, resources, and whatever else they need to work at their best.
Employee empowerment: The bottom line
For some organizations, employee empowerment is a radical change from the status quo; it’s nerve-wracking. From a management standpoint, it’s a leap of faith wherein new levels of control are put in the hands of their employees.
When implemented well, employee empowerment transforms an organization at every level: its structure, culture, and output all emerge better for it.
There’s every indication that people-centric formats are the future of work. The effectiveness of an employee empowerment program indicates an organization’s willingness to uplift its people.
By setting clear goals, providing regular feedback and recognition, and fostering a work environment that promotes learning, job satisfaction, and employee well-being, employers don’t just empower their employees; they empower themselves.
Learn more about how to empower your employees with Payscale today!
