Top 10 Principles of Employee Empowerment (By Susan M. Heathfield)
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Top 10 Principles of Employee Empowerment
By Susan M. Heathfield, About.com
http://humanresources.about.com/od/managementandleadership/tp/empowerment.htm
The Credo of an Empowering Manager
Looking for real management advice about people? Your
goal is to create a work environment in which people
are empowered, productive, contributing, and happy.
Don't hobble them by limiting their tools or
information. Trust them to do the right thing. Get out
of their way and watch them catch fire.
These are the ten most important principles for
managing people in a way that reinforces employee
empowerment, accomplishment, and contribution. These
management actions enable both the people who work
with you and the people who report to you to soar.
1. Demonstrate You Value People
Your regard for people shines through in all of your
actions and words. Your facial expression, your body
language, and your words express what you are thinking
about the people who report to you. Your goal is to
demonstrate your appreciation for each person's unique
value. No matter how an employee is performing on
their current task, your value for the employee as a
human being should never falter and always be visible.
More about communication and value:
Listen With Your Eyes: Tips for Understanding
Nonverbal Communication
Interpersonal Communication Dynamics
You Can Make Their Day: Ten Tips for the Leader
2. Share Leadership Vision
Help people feel that they are part of something
bigger than themselves and their individual job. Do
this by making sure they know and have access to the
organization's overall mission, vision, and strategic
plans.
More about vision:
Build a Strategic Framework: Mission Statement,
Vision, Values ...
Leadership Vision
3. Share Goals and Direction
Share the most important goals and direction for your
group. Where possible, either make progress on goals
measurable and observable, or ascertain that you have
shared your picture of a positive outcome with the
people responsible for accomplishing the results.
More about goals and direction:
Beyond Traditional Smart Goals
The Darker Side of Goal Setting: Why Goal Setting
Fails ...
4. Trust People
Trust the intentions of people to do the right thing,
make the right decision, and make choices that, while
maybe not exactly what you would decide, still work.
More about trust:
Trust Rules: The Most Important Secret About Trust
Inspirational Quotes: Trust and Trustworthiness
5. Provide Information for Decision Making
Make certain that you have given people, or made sure
that they have access to, all of the information they
need to make thoughtful decisions.
More about decision making:
Preventing Predictable Decision Making Errors
How to Involve Employees in Decision Making
6. Delegate Authority and Impact Opportunities, Not
Just More Work
Don't just delegate the drudge work; delegate some of
the fun stuff, too. You know, delegate the important
meetings, the committee memberships that influence
product development and decision making, and the
projects that people and customers notice. The
employee will grow and develop new skills. Your plate
will be less full so you can concentrate on
contribution. Your reporting staff will gratefully
shine - and so will you.
More about delegation:
How and When to Empower People
Tips for Effective Delegation
Why Employees Don't Do What You Want Them to Do
Play Well With Others: Develop Effective Work
Relationships
7. Provide Frequent Feedback
Provide frequent feedback so that people know how they
are doing. Sometimes, the purpose of feedback is
reward and recognition. People deserve your
constructive feedback, too, so they can continue to
develop their knowledge and skills.
More about feedback:
How To Provide Feedback That Has an Impact
Performance Management: You Get What You Request and
Reward
Coaching for Improved Performance
8. Solve Problems: Don't Pinpoint Problem People
When a problem occurs, ask what is wrong with the work
system that caused the people to fail, not what is
wrong with the people. Worst case response to
problems? Seek to identify and punish the guilty.
(Thank you, Dr. Deming.)
More about problem solving:
Why Employees Don't Do What You Want Them to Do
Fight for What's Right: Ten Tips to Encourage
Meaningful Conflict
9. Listen to Learn and Ask Questions to Provide
Guidance
Provide a space in which people will communicate by
listening to them and asking them questions. Guide by
asking questions, not by telling grown up people what
to do. People generally know the right answers if they
have the opportunity to produce them. When an employee
brings you a problem to solve, ask, "what do you think
you should do to solve this problem?" Or, ask, "what
action steps do you recommend?" Employees can
demonstrate what they know and grow in the process.
More about listening and asking questions:
Communication Success Tips: Listen to Understand
Communication Success Tips: Listen With Full Attention
10. Help Employees Feel Rewarded and Recognized for
Empowered Behavior
When employees feel under-compensated, under-titled
for the responsibilities they take on, under-noticed,
under-praised, and under-appreciated, don’t expect
results from employee empowerment. The basic needs of
employees must feel met for employees to give you
their discretionary energy, that extra effort that
people voluntarily invest in work.
More about employee reward and recognition for
empowerment:
The Power of Positive Employee Recognition
What Employees Want From Work: Employee Motivation
Employee Recognition Rocks: Kick Employee Recognition
Up a Notch
Suggested Reading
How to Demonstrate Respect at WorkTwenty Dumb Things
Organizations DoWhat Great Managers Do Differently
Related Guide Picks
Management Books for the HR Book ShelfRewards,
Recognition, Awards, and Thank You Ideas for
RecognitionBooks That Enlighten Management Thinking
Other Related Resources & Guide Picks
Secrets of Leadership SuccessMotivation and a
Profitable Business Are All About the
Managers...Duh!Award Winning Business and Management
Books
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