In the human talent of the organizations lies great wisdom and strength to achieve the objectives set, they must be trusted and also made responsible for the success rate of the management, when we assimilate this fact it is favorable to handle what refers to the empowerment of this model. it is understood as the delegation of power from the superior to his subordinates. It is about delegating authority and responsibility to the workers, so that they feel autonomous and responsible for their work, and consequently for the results they produce. This favors people to have greater satisfaction and motivation for work, while increasing their responsibility and commitment, improving their creativity, communication and ability to adapt to change, and, finally,It also increases their enthusiasm and positive attitude when developing their functions.
For Lloyd and Berthelot in their book “Develop Your Potential (Selfempowerment), A Guide to Personal Success”, empowering someone means, “that you must be given authority to make decisions and act, without having to seek approval every time " and adds that this means" letting people use their own intelligence, experience, intuition and creativity to help the organization improve and succeed. " It also means "keeping people informed and involving them in the operations of the organization" as well as "listening to them and taking advantage of their ideas".
In this order of ideas we can say that it consists of carrying out the necessary actions to enhance the motivation and results of all the collaborators of an organization through delegation and the transmission of power in a responsible manner .
Advantages and Importance of Empowerment
- Improves the performance of work teams Increased level of productivity and production Increased customer satisfaction Better performance compared to the competition Promotes quick decision-making Motivates staff to be taken into account and considered as an important part of activities.
At the same time it brings positive results in the aspect of the person as an individual, since it allows them to carry out a greater diversity of activities, they know how to work as a team they are able to recognize their successes, accept their mistakes and work on their corrections, they know the meaning of support.
Practically in all these advantages lies the importance of a company adopting empowerment as a philosophy because, from the recognition of the virtues of the other, which are only perceived if the individual demonstrates them, the organization will be able to work with people who respect what they are and respect the work of others and this harmony generated in relationships will leave no other result than to commit to the common goal of the group to which they feel they belong by the valuation they are given.
Features of teams with Empowerment:
- Leadership and administrative tasks are shared Members are empowered to assess and improve the quality of performance and reporting process The team provides insights for business strategy They are committed, flexible and creative They coordinate and exchange with other teams and organizations.Honesty, relationships with others and trust are improved. They have a positive attitude and are enthusiastic.
An empowered team uses the talent and abilities of all its members to achieve better results. This synergy of many people working together often produces impressive results.
To develop this synergy, there is a set of basic elements that guide the working groups with empowerment.
Elements that must be shared by a team with Empowerment:
- Property Responsibility Authority Power Reward Energy Sharing responsibilities
Many times managers perceive empowerment as a way to abandon responsibility. However, sharing responsibilities does not mean giving up responsibility. When a manager delegates responsibility, he has three ways: keep the job, delegate the job without giving decision-making authority, and delegate that authority.
The manager with empowerment is responsible for providing the methods for:
- Create mission and vision Offer guidance, support and training Evaluate performance as it is being achieved
Functions need to be clearly defined before and during the transformation process. Organizations need between fifteen months and five years to complete the empowerment stages, and a high level of help, commitment and support is needed to carry out the project.
During the development of empowerment, we can find difficulties that can be foreseeable, therefore, we should not stagnate because of the problems but face and solve them, some of these difficulties may be:
- Inertia: difficulty deciding to start Personal doubts: believing that you are not capable, nor can you create in your workplace Anger: blaming others for having to go through all this Chaos: there are so many ways to reach the end that one gets lost along the way.
Therefore, a correct training in interpersonal skills to solve problems would be based on:
- Control conflicts Solve problems Assess differences Support peers Help decision-making Participate in meetings Communicate ideas Organize
How to implement Empowerment in an Organization
- Commitment of the Management and the HR department in the decision to implement the empowerment Define and communicate the goals with all those involved Creation of work teams Training of all the personnel involved in leadership matters, the delegation, self-directed teams, etc. Define responsibilities of each position and communicate them adequately. Define performance management systems to evaluate and develop performance. Establish associated career plans. Definition of variable remuneration systems.
Four fundamental levels of empowerment:
Level 1: The job
Empowerment initiated at the job level changes a person's work structure and context. Although the context is the same, the tasks that are added give more meaning and control to the individual.
The empowerment process also requires the removal of hierarchical managerial controls and the introduction of a degree of self-direction. People will start to think for themselves, they will be responsible, and they will see to it that everything goes well in their work and to solve any possible problem. Before empowerment these factors would have been the responsibility of the supervisor or manager.
Level 2: The workplace
The workplace can be defined as the environment and circumstances in which products or services are produced.
Each organization must have clear ideas about the level of empowerment it wants to achieve.
The strategy is to think at the highest level of the organization and take into account the present and future environment in which it will move, the strengths and weaknesses, technological, political and social change. In fact, they must recognize and take into account anything that may affect the organization
Regarding the creation of an internal policy, it is highlighted that the policy emanates from the strategies considering that each aspect of the operation of an organization is influenced by some specific type of social policy, be it decision making, budget allocation or decisions. of marketing.
With reference to planning, it is considered to be the function of an organization that turns politics into viable and effective programs. The policy sets the direction and defines the guidelines to be followed. Planning should also be a multidisciplinary activity that allows all stakeholders to contribute to planning and modify it according to their needs and thereby ensure that it is implemented successfully.
Level 3: Unity
Empowerment at the unit level involves participation in the leadership and management of a specific unit within a larger company.
Empowerment in the unit requires a flat, non-hierarchical and non-bureaucratic structure, perhaps a level between the unit manager and operational operatives. A structure that would push down decision-making and there would be lines of communication, so there would be a faster flow of information, from top to bottom, within the company
Level 4: The company
Level 4 empowerment is an extension of Level 3 empowerment. Employees are involved in decision-making in their unit and in the company of which they are a part.
The organizational empowerment decrees that the people of the units affected by this change can give their opinion on it.
An open and frequent communication is highlighted that enables the individual to understand where the company is headed, how it is acting and what changes are going to take place in the future.
Empowerment at the highest level of the company means that base-level employees are fully involved in the running of the entire company, in all five functions from strategy development to organizing implementation.
The modern organization has to be an organization of equals, of colleagues and associates, because it consists of knowledge specialists. No knowledge is superior to another; each is judged by his contribution to the common task rather than by any intrinsic superiority or inferiority. Therefore, the modern organization cannot be a boss and subordinate organization. You have to organize as a team.
The idea on which the empowerment is based is that those who are directly related to a task are the best suited to make a decision about it, because who better than them, who are in direct and continuous contact with the specific work, You can have the knowledge, the attitude and the precise decision-making for the work to evolve and achieve the objectives of the organization. That, in the other way, their potentialities would be curtailed, the burnout syndrome would be promoted or they would be alienated and with little motivation towards work, negatively impacting on the operation of the organization and thus in achieving the objectives that it aims to achieve. reach.
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Author: Lcdo. Michael Aular - Micdan Consulting Twiter: @Micdanconsultin
