Since Blanchard wrote the first book on “Empowerment”, many companies have chosen to incorporate the subject into their way of managing, those that went further, developed the concept under what we now know as self-directed kaizen cells, or self-administered teams..
The main cause that gives rise to this movement stems from the reflection that the way of managing that led to success in the past, will hardly lead to success in the future. Today there is talk of unlearning, forgetting many of the things that gave us results but that with the great changes and at the speed they are taking, lead to the company that does not change must be willing to perish.
Today companies are following several of the postulates of empowerment that are reinforced by the different tools and work philosophies that are in vogue.
Orientation to processes: both in the concepts of Just in Time, Total Quality, reengineering, ISO and the Balanced Scorecard itself, they give us as a keyword the concept of processes, companies that today have not understood the concept really have a future short.
Cost efficiency: companies must be cost efficient, if your company does not have an innovation strategy, it can hardly be at the level of those who charge what they want to have a unique product on the market, neither the competition, nor the customers they will allow it. Methodologies such as Activity Based Cost (ABC) and Six Sigma Kaizen are useful tools for radical improvement of costs and process efficiency, just like Lean Manufacturing.
Speed and Flexibility: Today's companies must be fast and flexible, you cannot maintain dinosaur-like structures, with a small head and a body that is too large, which moves slowly. Today they look for “cockroach” -type structures, very quickly (have you tried to kill one?), With great flexibility to adapt in the best neighborhood pantry, or in a sewer. The speed and flexibility of companies is a key to success, as well as the ability to adapt to the environment. Recall Harvard's proposal on TBC, Time-Based Competition, remains in effect.
Continuous improvement or Kaizen, is another success factor, we cannot take for granted that we have achieved the best and stay there, no matter if this improvement is continuous or radical as reengineering proposed, we must always find a better way to do things. Always faster, higher, further.
But success is above all in developing an asset, which is valuable if it is aligned with the organization's strategy, otherwise it is an expense. But that asset, the human resource, is no longer just looking for a job, it wants a job where it can be done, where it can feel like it is making a real contribution to the organization that hires it.
An advanced manager kept repeating incessantly, "You don't have to give empowerment, it's enough that we stop removing empowerment. " People already have enough power (the treasure of their knowledge and motivation) to perform their job magnificently. Every person who enters the company, does so with a high level of motivation and with the desire to do things well, it is in the company where we kill her enthusiasm and creativity, preventing her performance, forcing her to accommodate herself to rigid power structures. New tools on "coaching" are useful to support this process.
We must work on how to unleash that power, but unless the process starts at the top, it will not go anywhere, no one can give what they do not have. A manager told us that this was what he told his people day by day, to use empowerment, but he kept control, he did not delegate, but he expected others to do so.
Instead of directing, controlling, and supervising employees, new leaders act as a link between their employees and the rest of the organization, because empowering employees does pay off, only as Blanchard says, author of the book “Leadership to Minute ”,“ it takes more than a minute to obtain them.
The main excuse for not providing empowerment is that they do not have enough experience to make decisions. But if you don't train them and don't let them act like they will become experts. If your employees do not have experience in decision making, they will not know how to proceed, and above all, if you do not have a deep faith in your people, that they will be able to achieve the same results, then you are wasting time. Empowering employees does not mean empowering them; rather, it consists in releasing the knowledge, experience and motivation that they possess.
Although we have used the word empower as a translation of empowerment, nevertheless we prefer to use the word in English, for the power that it represents.
Our suggestion to start the path towards self-administration raises the following:
- Establish a clear vision of what you expect with its implementation, consistent with the vision of your organization. Support efforts for "empowerment" in all areas. Lead through the Vision and values Adjust the systems, policies and procedures for support vision and values Stimulate communication in all directions Provide training and resources that people need to do their work Delegate what others can do Stimulate initiative and take risks Delegation to challenge Advise to ensure success Assess, trust and respect each person Provide support without taking command Reinforce work and good attempts Practice what you preach Make jobs meaningful Adapt jobs to styles,individual motivations and skills Stimulate direct contact with suppliers and customers.
Suggested tools:
- Self-administration (Self-directed cells) Self-control (Statistical Process Control) Self-programming (Kanban System) Adequate structure (Organization by processes) Compensation and benefits (Multifunction, rotation, training) Documentation of Processes (ISO 9000)
Bibliography:
- Blanchard K., “Empowerment”, Editorial NormaWellins R., “Empowermed Teams”, Jossey Bass PublishersPasmore W, “Developing Self Managing Work Teams”, Compensation & Benefits ReviewParker G, “Cross Functional Teams”, Jossey Bass PublishersPalom, J. "How to organize high performance teams", Nelson R, "Empowerment Employees Through Delegation" Seminar "Kaizen and Self-Directed Cells", by Grupo Kaizen SA
