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Shelter Chieza : Change Management

Employee empowerment is an issue that has been discussed in many circles and has gained a lot of interest among employees and employers alike. Any employer that proposes that benefit to its workers will see it as a process of allowing employees to have input and control over their work. The expectation is that there is openness in sharing suggestions and ideas about their work and the organisation as a whole.Empowered employees are a lot different to those that have not because they are more committed, loyal and conscientious.

They are also eager to share ideas and can serve as strong ambassadors for their organisations.

I have discovered that owners of businesses have a bigger role to play in this issue and one of the key aspects is the way they treat employees. Naturally, an employee that feels more confident that their input will be valued, listened to and acted upon will be more likely to share those ideas. It would be folly for a business owner to assume that it’s only a great product line up that will contribute to success of the business.

It is mostly the actions of an empowered employee that has a bearing on making or breaking the business. Most organisations use manuals and workflow charts to disempower the employee to the point that they are unable to go off script and act in response to either a crisis or even an irate customer.

If only employees were empowered, they could do a lot more to create a feeling of true customer service that ultimately yields more benefits such as customer loyalty.

Most employers are hesitant when it comes to giving the workers the freedom to make decisions.

There should be a starting point to empowering an employee. Start by establishing an environment when employees feel free to question, challenge and offer new ideas.

Most organisations do not understand why their revenues keep dropping yet they have a great product.

It’s because they have a majority of employees that are disenfranchised and have no loyalty. An employer that always focuses on the bottom line may runs the risk of ignoring worker satisfaction.

One of the issues that has been brought up by researchers into terrorist attacks in Europe has been the concern towards disenfranchised youths that have been converted to extremist religions. I believe the most dangerous employee in the company is the disengaged employee. Employees must take time to study employee behaviour at all times.

I often tell employers though that the solution is not the employee empowerment programmes that most people are propagating.

There tends to be an abuse of the phrase. The issue is changing the fundamentals particularly in the way your organisation is designed and managed so that people can exercise the natural power that comes from being a human.

Making it a programme has not helped most organisations because it has been made top down.

It also helps reward your employees for making an effort to advance.

Make all the noise about an employee’s newly acquired skill towards leadership or in their area of expertise. Most organisations centralise decision making to the point of insanity — that if the general manager is not available, the organisation comes to a standstill.

I have had experience with several organisations that have told me that a certain manager was on leave and she is the only one that approves of that decision. In these instances, I have had to wait until that person comes back from leave.

I believe that some organisations must push decision-making down the organisation as far as possible so that the decision is made by those people who are closest to the information. It is very embarrassing to see a general manager to be sitting in a meeting to discuss the choice of a nail to be used in the workshop?

At one time I warned an organisation to ban the word empowerment because it was being abused by management. It got to a point where it was so vague that there was no line to draw and measure. If my gym instructor proposes an increase in my stamina but I am not aware of my goal and how many calories I need to lose each day then I am an aimless fighter.

My dress size should come down, I should even see a change in moods, or get a few comments of how much my arms have toned down. In the same vein empowerment is not a destination, you do not arrive.

This game is much similar to a military setup. My limited knowledge of a battle front points out that the highest performing teams are the empowered ones.

You simply cannot ask the commander if you can fire when you are well aware that the enemy is within sight. The same goes for titles that management use to intimidate employees. At some point titles used to intimidate me, they no longer do after observing that most of these individuals only have authority without autonomy.

It’s a complete waste of time to make a presentation to a person that has to consult their boss. I have since stopped dealing with such kind of people. I believe that in highly effective organisations there are leaders at every level, not just at the top.

Till next week, may God richly bless you!

Shelter Chieza is a Management Consultant. She holds over a decade of Management Experience .She can be contacted at [email protected]