Employee Empowerment
Introduction
Employee empowerment is the practice of allowing the employees to have involvement and control over the tasks assigned to them. In addition, this is also the freedom allowed to the employees, in order to share ideas and make suggestions to the organization. Empowering employees consequently helps in making them to be loyal, committed and diligent. As a result, they become very eager to share their ideas, moreover they also become very good ambassadors of the organization. Most organizations therefore use employee empowerment as a means of increasing the sense of ownership within the organization. Empowered employees therefore become happier, thus being able to offer the best services to the company. This also reduces the employee turnover rates in the organization, since the employees feel appreciated being determined in order to provide the best services for the company.
Employee empowerment has therefore become a strategy which most companies are using in order to ensure maximum participation from the employees. In addition, it creates good relationships between the management of the company and the employees, a thing which helps in bettering the performance of the organization. Moreover, due to good relationships between employees and the management of the company, this consequently allows the employees to collaborate with the management of the company, thus coming up with goals which can be easily attained. In so doing, most managers and leaders therefore become secured of good performance, since the employees are the main drivers of development within the organization.
Current situation
Most companies are using employee empowerment in order to be able to foster developments within the organization (Christiansen & Chandan, 2017). Moreover, some companies have also come up with ways of ensuring that all employees are treated equally, regardless of the positions which they hold within the company (Huq, 2010). This move has consequently seen most employees working very hard and also providing the management of the company with ways through which they can be able to deal with the issues at hand. In the past, most companies used to award hardworking employees as a means of enticing other employees in order to work hard. This was however different from employee empowerment, since back then, the employees were never respected and treated equally by their employers.
In addition, most employees were not comfortable with the way their employees were treating them, and they therefore opted to quit their jobs (Nelson & Quick, 2014). This is however not the case with employee empowerment, since the employees are given the privileges which they were not allowed in the past. Employee empowerment consequently allows the employees to participate in board meetings, where they can be able to provide the company with ways through which it can be able to reach its goals (Huq, 2010). This is usually the case simply because the employees are usually connected with the customers, hence understanding what it is that the customers really want. They therefore help in the provision of concrete ideas which consequently help in improving the performance of the organization.
Moreover, empowering the employees has also helped in improving productivity within the organization (Christiansen & Chandan, 2017). This is majorly through the provision of ideas and techniques which can really help in bettering the performance of the company. Improved communication between the management of the company and the employees been brought about by employee empowerment, since most employees can now be able to easily communicate with the management of the company without any fear at all. Failure to empower the employees means that the management of the organization will not be able to effectively communicate with the employees, a move which tends to affect the performance of the organization as a whole. This therefore brings about the question of how employee empowerment has become a key factor in making the organization to become more effective (Huq, 2010).
Answering the Question.
Employee empowerment has been on the forefront in improving the performance of the organization, through providing the organization with ways through which it can be able to reach a wider market. For instance, the management of the organization may not be able to understand what it takes for it to be able to reach the customers (Chelladurai & Kerwin, 2017). The employees, who are the closest people to the customers, stand a better chance of understanding how the customers can be reached, through which strategies, and through which ways. Moreover, most employees communicate with the customers, whereby the customers advise them on ways of improving their service. Hence empowering the employees through allowing them to participate in decision making within the organization consequently helps in providing the management of the company with firsthand ideas on how to better the performance of the company (Huq, 2010).
Secondly, the employees know how they can be able to improve the productivity of the organization through reducing the costs (Christiansen & Chandan, 2017). Employees may therefore come up with strategies which will not cost the company a cent, but will really help in improving the market share of the company. A good example is when an employee is told by the customers that the company needs to create very unique products in order to be able to a certain group of people living in a certain region. In order for the employee to understand the recommendation of the customer, he or she will have to inquire about the given recommendation from his or her colleagues, a thing which may easily result in coming up with non-costly strategies (Nelson & Quick, 2014). In addition, customers who are youths, can also provide the employees with ways through which the organization can be able to beat its competitors, in order for the youths to be able to enjoy the services offered by the given organization. This is however effective only if, the employees are given the chance to participate in decision making within the organization.
Empowering the employees often leads to better customer service (Chelladurai & Kerwin, 2017). Customer service is one of the key issues which needs to be taken very seriously in order to improve the performance of the company. Empowered employees are usually motivated hence offering the best services to the employees (Huq, 2010). Through rewarding the employees for their hard work and also giving them bonuses, this boosts the morale of the employees, hence making them to perform better. Customers may dislike a product, but they may like the customer service offered by the employees. On the other hand, a product may be good, but the customer service may be bad, a move which is likely to impact the loyalty of the customers, since they will feel unappreciated, hence opting for companies with good customer care representatives (Christiansen & Chandan, 2017). Most customers have become loyal to certain companies, due to the close relationships that they have with the employees. This therefore helps in improving the performance of the company, since it can be able to attract more customers due to the spread of word of mouth.
Empowering the employees also makes the employees to embrace change. Embracing change is very significant as it allows the employees to change their ways of operating, hence operating in a very effective way. There is a saying which stipulates that, in every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction (Huq, 2010). This therefore means that if the employees are treated in the best way by the management of the company, then they will react through offering the best services for the company. Employees will therefore do what it takes in order to be able to improve the performance of the company. This means that they will increase their work output, hence making the company to be easily able to reach its goals.
Conclusion
Employee empowerment has really benefitted most companies, since the employees have been able to work very hard, hence improving the performance of the company. In addition, employees have also provided the company with alternative ways of reaching their business goals, hence being able reach greater heights. The employees have a better knowledge on which goals they can be able to achieve, hence allowing them to participate in setting the company’s goals consequently makes it easier for them to be able to come up with goals which they themselves can be able to achieve. Moreover, through empowering the employees, the organization can be able to reduce the costs of production, since most of activities will not require the use of finances due to the efforts which the employees will be putting in place.
Reference
Huq, R. (2010). Employee empowerment: The rhetoric and the reality. Axminster, Devon: Triarchy Press.
In Christiansen, B., & In Chandan, H. C. (2017). Handbook of research on organizational culture and diversity in the modern workforce.
International Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance, In Dover, P. A., In Hariharan, S., In Cummings, M. G., & Babson College,. (2014). Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance ICMLG 2014: Hosted by Babson College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA, 20-21 March 2014.
Total quality management. (2011). Delhi: Pearson.
Nelson, D. L., & Quick, J. C. (2014). ORGB 4.
Chelladurai, P., & Kerwin, S. (2017). Human resource management in sport and recreation.
