Coaching and Empowerment are considered as new methodologies that, if used correctly, can be very useful for any organization in achieving its objectives.
The theories of "Coaching" and "Empowerment" originate as a complement to the change processes in organizations, such as Total Quality Control, Just In Time, Management Requirement Production, Total Production Management, Reengineering, among others.
These methodologies come to light, since in many companies only orders are still received. Managers rarely know if their human capital is working properly, staff have little or no control over their work, there is no motivation for job-related things, and they see them more as an obligation than as something they like to do. These workers only care about their financial compensation, their vacations and their pensions, almost no one is interested in their neighbor, they do not meet their goals when it comes to doing a better job, they all assume limited responsibility for their tasks and there is a general fear of change.
This kind of attitudes in organizations, leads to monotonous and low-quality work, confusion in the staff working in the organization, lack of communication, there is no trust, they are not participatory in decision-making, nobody knows what is happening, there is not enough time to solve problems, people solve third party problems, they do not give credit to others for their ideas or effort. There is a shortage of resources, knowledge and training.
Apart from what has already been mentioned, the increase in competition in the market combined with the high demand and demands of the consumer regarding quality, flexibility, speed, functionality and low costs, have not only caused the organization to evolve, but also way to the people involved in these.
The new tendencies, techniques and philosophies force organizations to respond quickly and decisively to changes, since their permanence in the current context will depend on it.
Another point that should be mentioned is that the company is growing in large proportions both in size and capacity to satisfy the customer. Also, today the majority of the organizational population is made up of people of the “Y” generation or also called “Millennials”, individuals born between 1980 and 2000, they are digital natives who are between 18 and 32 years old. And the "X" generation, also called "Baby Boomers", individuals born between 1960 and 1980, are becoming a minority within organizations.
The “Y” generation that prevails in the organization is characterized by being proactive, seeking growth and professional development, they are creative, independent and look for a competitive work climate, which gives them challenges and the opportunity to make their own decisions.
All of the above points to another type of administration. It is at this point that "Coaching" and "Empowerment" are applied in organizations.
Why is another type of administration necessary?
The business environment is increasingly competitive as it demands a series of changes. Organizations must move from a traditional rigid model of Business Administration to a model of excellence, quality and satisfaction of the internal and external clients. To achieve this you have to have constant improvements and changes. This involves the restructuring of processes and changes in structure and culture. All of this is done to stay competitive and increase efficiency and quality in operations.
There are two elements to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization: "Coaching" and "Empowerment". "Coaching" is the development of the potential of human capital (Escribá, 2006), while "Empowerment" is delegating power and authority to employees to act on behalf of the organization (Johnson, 2006).
Coaching develops the potential of human capital, fosters leadership and improves performance. Today, supervisors need to become facilitators. Your primary task must revolve around employee development through training, encouragement, and confidence.
The "Empowerment" changes the balance of responsibilities in companies. The organization allows its employees to have influence and power over their work, without requiring constant permission to act. The employee is given responsibility and authority and the opportunity to make decisions that affect the fulfillment of the entrusted task.
Introducing these new concepts within the company requires a lot of effort on all sides. Also, trust and tolerance on the part of top management towards employees is required. Organizations must understand that both concepts "Coaching" and "Empowerment" must be integrated to obtain positive results, both for the same organization and for human capital, since it will achieve a change in attitude, greater commitment, effective communication, better quality and improvement in operations.
What is "Coaching"?
It is a system that is made up of concepts, structures, processes, work tools and measurement instruments and groups of people; It is also made up of a leadership style, a particular way of selecting people or designing developing groups of people.
It is an activity that improves performance permanently. Coaching is a professional service. A client hires a coach to reach a goal or solve a problem. Coaching is a relatively new profession that summarizes the best concepts from the professional world, psychology, philosophy, sports and spirituality to promote positive changes and professional growth. The challenges they face range from helping an entrepreneur develop a business plan to encouraging a person to follow an exercise and weight loss plan. The “coach” is a lawyer, a counselor, a source of encouragement and a mirror of the truth. People like organizations work together with a “coach” to reach their maximum potential in life.
According to Cardona (2005), “Coaching” is a management development tool that is carried out through a personal and professional advisory system for the subsequent impact on the organization.
Benefits of "Coaching"
- It promotes the human resource towards the production of positive results. Improves performance both individually, in work teams and consequently in the organization. It develops human potential, relocating them to jobs where they have better performance, promoting creativity at the individual level and within work teams. It promotes communication between human resources, improving relationships within the organization.Promotes effective leadership in managers by achieving effective communication with human resources.Promotes motivation and enthusiasm to be able to work as a team, increasing job satisfaction as a whole.Increases the level of commitment of the workers towards the organization for which they work.
What is the "Empowerment"?
This methodology arose in the year of 1988. It was mainly proposed by the experts Kenneth Blanchard, author of books like “Full steam! and to the load! and Paul Hersey. However, several years before, the term self-leadership, which is its equivalent and the only substitute for pure leadership, had already been mentioned by themselves (Díaz, 1999).
According to Johnson (2006) "Empowerment" means empowerment or empowerment which is the fact of delegating power and authority to staff and giving them the feeling that they own their own work.
According to Torrico (2006), the "Empowerment" is a change of mind in labor relations that more than a decade ago began to change the balance of responsibilities in companies and its main objective is to increase the organization's efficiency through transfer of power to make decisions at the first level.
Empowerment benefits
- It improves satisfaction and motivation in the organization's work environment. It increases responsibility and commitment. It improves creativity. Better adaptation to change. It increases communication. It increases enthusiasm and positive attitude. It increases productivity. Performance increases.
Looking for a permanent advantage: Google
Google is one of the world's best-known brands and the essential tool for anyone navigating in cyberspace. In May 2007, Google did 65.2% of all Internet searches conducted in the United States and more than two-thirds of Web searches worldwide.
Management model
The main components of the model are detailed below:
- A scheme for innovation, which means that engineering resources are allocated under the formula "70-20-10": Google researchers spend 70% of their time improving the base of their business, 20% to services that will extend this foundation and the remaining 10% to explore their own idea, however strange it may seem. A small team-based work style - three engineers on average per team who experience a lot, receive extensive feedback from their colleagues and move on. An intellectual environment marked by discussion and meritocracy. Google only hires the brightest candidates, so its current workforce is free from people with average intelligence and skills that could ultimately harm the company's innovative ability. Google's structure is flat and decentralized.In fact, it is similar to the Internet itself: highly democratic, strongly linked and without hierarchy. In Google, questioning authority is not anarchist thing but an imperative for innovation. Almost half of the 10,000 Google employees who work in Product development does not require authorization to change equipment. Google's policy is for people to “commit to projects and not wait to be appointed to projects.” Engineers use their 20% to spend on exploring a personal passion, usually on a cumulative basis, so that after Work hard six months on a project, it takes six weeks to explore your own.At Google, questioning authority is not anarchist thing but an imperative for innovation. Almost half of Google's 10,000 employees working on product development do not need authorization to change teams. Google's policy is for people to “commit to projects and not wait to be appointed to projects.” Engineers use their 20% to spend on exploring a personal passion, usually on a cumulative basis, so that after Work hard six months on a project, it takes six weeks to explore your own.At Google, questioning authority is not anarchist thing but an imperative for innovation. Almost half of Google's 10,000 employees working on product development do not need authorization to change teams. Google's policy is for people to “commit to projects and not wait to be appointed to projects.” Engineers use their 20% to spend on exploring a personal passion, usually on a cumulative basis, so that after Work hard six months on a project, it takes six weeks to explore your own.Google's policy is for people to “commit to projects and not wait to be appointed to projects.” Engineers use their 20% to spend on exploring a personal passion, usually on a cumulative basis, so that after Work hard six months on a project, it takes six weeks to explore your own.Google's policy is for people to “commit to projects and not wait to be appointed to projects.” Engineers use their 20% to spend on exploring a personal passion, usually on a cumulative basis, so that after Work hard six months on a project, it takes six weeks to explore your own.
Now, what lessons can be drawn from Google's management model? Mainly: that like the Internet, Google has an open, flat, democratic, non-hierarchical architecture; and that management innovations that promote personal experimentation are irresistible to brilliant employees, driven by great ideas and who want a job where they can get started; And Google is one of those jobs, so much so that in 2007 it was ranked # 1 on Fortune's "Best Places to Work" list.
Conclusions
It can be concluded that "Coaching" and "Empowerment" have become a strategic necessity for organizations committed to producing unprecedented results. Organizations need individuals who can think for themselves, who are responsible for everything that happens in their company.
Both "Coaching" and "Empowerment" have given positive results in organizations. This is expressed in various ways, such as human capital, for example, who has responsibility and power over the way things are done, they have control over their work, jobs generate value, the contribution of each individual's work it is significant, since it can carry out a variety of tasks, work is challenging and not burdensome, they have the authority to act on behalf of the organization, human capital participates in decision-making, their opinions are heard and taken their contributions are recognized, their knowledge and skills are developed, they have real support, customer satisfaction is increased, there is greater commitment, communication improves, processes are more efficient,reduced operating costs and a more effective organization.
"Empowerment" and "Coaching" are highly effective strategic tools, but that by themselves are incapable of achieving a positive effect on the organization. It is understood that these concepts must be applied together and not separately, so that they can have a significant impact on the positive performance of human capital in organizations.
Bibliography
Áviles Quiñones, L., Centeno Morales, J., & González Tosado, D. (October 2006). How «Coaching» and «Empowerment» contribute to improve the performance of organizations.
Cardona, A. (2005). The truth of Coaching.
Díaz, G. (1999). Empowerment. Acta Academica Magazine of the Autonomous University of Central America.
Escribá, E. (2006). Coaching and intellectual capital.
Johnson, Y. (2006). Definition of "Empowerment".
Scorsese, M. (Direction). (2013). The wolf of Wall Street.
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