Empowerment Plan
Empowerment Plan
“Empowerment means ensuring the employees have the skills, knowledge and authority to make decisions that would otherwise be made by management. The goal of empowerment is to have enthusiastic, committed employees who do an outstanding job because they believe in it and enjoy doing it. Empowerment encourages employees to be creative and to take risks, both of which can give a company a competitive edge.” (Quast, 2011)
But how do you do this? Below are several steps to help your company succeed by empowering your employees the right way and help create a positive environment.
Step 1: Communicate Openly Helping employees set goals by telling them what is expected of them helps to keep them focused on their job roles. Active listening will help avoid misunderstandings and makes employees comfortable sharing their concerns and ideas. It also lets them know their contribution to the company is valued. Step 2: Don't Micromanage Truly empowered employees are given free rein on decision making and are not micromanaged by their supervisors. Leaders who constantly second-guess the initiatives of their employees will damage the working relationship and cause employee morale to drop, thus making them feel useless. Step 3: Solicit Feedback Allowing employees to suggest ways in which a certain work procedure can be improved is another path to empowerment. Giving them this level of authority makes them more invested in the success of the project or task. Step 4: Provide Measurement Establish performance ratings. This gives employees a goal and encourages them to perform at brilliant levels to reach whatever measurement has been set for them. Step 5: Focus on Strengths Leaders can help empower their employees by uncovering each employee's strength and allowing that employee to tap into that strength
“Empowerment means ensuring the employees have the skills, knowledge and authority to make decisions that would otherwise be made by management. The goal of empowerment is to have enthusiastic, committed employees who do an outstanding job because they believe in it and enjoy doing it. Empowerment encourages employees to be creative and to take risks, both of which can give a company a competitive edge.” (Quast, 2011)
But how do you do this? Below are several steps to help your company succeed by empowering your employees the right way and help create a positive environment.
Step 1: Communicate Openly Helping employees set goals by telling them what is expected of them helps to keep them focused on their job roles. Active listening will help avoid misunderstandings and makes employees comfortable sharing their concerns and ideas. It also lets them know their contribution to the company is valued. Step 2: Don't Micromanage Truly empowered employees are given free rein on decision making and are not micromanaged by their supervisors. Leaders who constantly second-guess the initiatives of their employees will damage the working relationship and cause employee morale to drop, thus making them feel useless. Step 3: Solicit Feedback Allowing employees to suggest ways in which a certain work procedure can be improved is another path to empowerment. Giving them this level of authority makes them more invested in the success of the project or task. Step 4: Provide Measurement Establish performance ratings. This gives employees a goal and encourages them to perform at brilliant levels to reach whatever measurement has been set for them. Step 5: Focus on Strengths Leaders can help empower their employees by uncovering each employee's strength and allowing that employee to tap into that strength