What important ideology?
Recently, more and more companies are realizing its importance and are now starting to implement it. It’s systematic, practical, and efficient. Employee empowerment is a complex strategy and philosophy that enables employees to make decisions and take responsibility for their jobs. Often put in place to foster a sense of belongingness and boost morale, the system contributes to heightened productivity. Depending on the structure and nature of the work environment, employee empowerment takes on many different forms. In most cases, the organization still assumes responsibility while giving their employees their own responsibilities. Besides the employees stepping up to the plate, the leadership must want and believe the empowerment in order for the employees to be empowered. It’s like a two-sided coin.
So, where do I start?
Communicate! It’s one of the strongest points on employee empowerment. Giving your employees both a voice and an ear is crucial in teamwork and an overall collaborative company structure. The leadership must be consistent and execute repeated communication, from some of the most vital decisions that drive the company to daily decision-making. Including your employees and being involved with them through an effective communication network has been proven to go a long way.
Again, two-sided, communication requires equal effort from both parties. When employees give feedback or ask questions, management listens. Providing a safe space for employees to do this allows for growth on both sides. The management leadership can then guide their employees by asking questions rather than directing them too assertively. This encourages employees to see the higher-ups in an approachable light.
Why should I?
Employee Satisfaction and Retention
Although you shouldn’t expect results (or, at least immediate results), employee empowerment often leads employee satisfaction. This, ultimately, leads to increased employee retention. When employees are content, they experience increased productivity and are more likely to stay with the company.
Collaboration
Confident employees are more willing to share information and best practices with others, directly impacting the togetherness of the team. A team is more collaborative and cohesive when there is honesty and participation within the group. Overall, the organizations’ capability to achieve success is positively affected.
Higher Quality of Work
Employees tend to produce higher quality work when given the opportunity to make a difference in the product or its processes. Both the customer and the employee benefit, as the employee gains a sense of personal price in his or her work.
Productivity
Employee empowerment brings a more quality-focused, collaborative system. Upon formation of this positive arrangement, productivity increases.
And these are only some of the aspects an empowered workforce reflects. Strong, empowered employees work better and deliver evidently better-quality work. Not to mention, they are overall happier as they feel appreciated, which eliminates the time, effort, and money to onboard new hires. Employee empowerment benefits everyone.
How do I do that?
Touching back on the topic of communication, atwork is a collaborative business platform that offers the solution to employee/leadership connection. With the easy-to-use app, employees can practice their empowerment through surveys, polls, or posts to the company feed. The company feed also serves as a safe space for employees to host discussions or receive commemoration for their great work. atwork enables seamless communication through personalized channels that allow for direct access to the internal service teams, like HR and IT. If you’re looking to implement employee empowerment, look into to purpose-built platform, atwork! Click here to schedule a quick demo.
