Empowerment and management of power and authority

Introduction

From the beginning of the quarter to the end of the last century, organizations around the world began to replace their traditional structure with greater commitment and high staff involvement. The traditional structure is made in the shape of a pyramid, where the functions are highly specialized, its limits are clear and there is control by supervisors to ensure that work is fast and consistent, in conclusion the people who occupy the top of the pyramid it's the people who plan and think while the lowest levels are the ones that do the job. The structure of staff involvement and greater commitment is in the form of a circle or network because it can be seen as a set of coordinated groups or teams working towards the same objective.

Empowerment is a strategic process that seeks a relationship of partners between the organization and its people, increasing trust, responsibility, authority and commitment to better serve the customer. Empowered teams are work groups with employees responsible for a product, a service that shares leadership, collaborates in improving the work process, plans and makes decisions related to the work method.

Empowerrnent is not simply delegating tasks. It is a question of power; of how and who exercise it. No one doubts the positive values ​​of this Total Quality management tool to improve processes and performance within the organization. But to put it into practice, you must banish preconceptions, both from bosses and employees. Recognizing the central role of teams and effective leadership are the keys to successful empowerment. If the barriers between management and employees are not overcome, the commitment of the highest executive level of the company is achieved and the work teams are properly motivated, the empowerrnent will not work and will only serve to hide the problems in the management of the company. company.

As you will see, empowerment is a topical issue, but not to be confused, do not think that it is NFO (New form of organization), which it is; A tool used by Total Quality, Learning Organizations, Reengineering, etc. With the aim of acquiring a change in their culture and vision of the company, in this way achieving greater efficiency for both the top managers of the company and subordinates to acquire a greater sense in their employment and in their lives, to obtain an improvement continuous systems and processes in the organization.

The present work is developed in two parts, a first with the themes of Power, authority and delegation, closely linked to Empowerment, and a second with the specific theme of the work. We hope this work is to the liking of the teacher of the course and the classroom. We humbly acknowledge that there is much to investigate, that perhaps a specific Peruvian company could be focused on, but it is a task that can easily be done, that if with much more time, hours of study and research.

Chapter I

Authority, power and delegate

1.1 Power

"Power refers to A's ability to influence B's behavior, so that B acts in accordance with A's wishes. This definition implies a potential that does not need to be realized to be effective and a relationship of dependency.

Power can exist, although without being exercised. It is, therefore, a capacity or potential. One can have power but not impose it.

Probably the most important aspect of power is that it is a dependency function. The greater B's dependence on A, the greater A's power in the relationship. ”

Power is a much broader concept than that of authority, it is the ability of individuals or groups to induce or influence the opinions or actions of other people or groups. Some define power as the ability to do what you want. Since man is a social being, doing what you want often involves other people. The dictionary defines authority as the power one person has over another who is subordinate to him; like that of the father over the children, that of the guardian over the ward, that of the superior over the inferiors. This is how the concepts of power and authority are intermingled and linked.

The fact of belonging to a company, whatever position one occupies, means that we relinquish some control over our work. Many times the concept of power is confused with the use of force. If an audience is asked to give a symbolic gesture of power, many will show their fists, threateningly or insultingly.

Strength is taken as a concept of domination; There is a tendency to identify power with the capacity for victory, that is, to exercise it over another person or organization.

These confusions and tendencies become evident in the abuses of power, understanding abuse as the misuse, excessive, unjust, improper and improper use of something (Dicc. Encicl. Salvat).

The abuses of power of the type: - because yes!, - it is done this way because I say so!, - I'm the boss and that's enough! You are not going to teach me how to do it!, -if you don't like it you already know what to do!, - Follow your orders and stop it!, they are not good for any of those involved in the situation.

The "victim" of abuse may obey, but she will do so with anger and will not recognize the legitimacy of authority, she will react with hostility, her self-esteem will drop, her performance will decrease, she will be more exposed to errors and accidents, etc.

The one who commands in this way, is also a "victim" of the same situation, because he sees other risks and dangers, insufficiencies and defects, he is also not reliable for his subordinates, he loses contact with them, therefore he loses the possibility to be aware of what happens.

When in a company leadership and standards are rigid, fixed and immutable, communication is indirect, vague, and insincere. This is a foolproof way to create a troublesome organization. Instead, leadership and standards are flexible, appropriate, and subject to change, communication is direct, clear, specific, and sincere. While there are no guarantees, they are more likely to create a vital organization that supports and nurtures its members.

Gregory Bateson, an American anthropologist who died a few years ago, said that power was a relational situation. Someone has power if there is another who grants it. So who has the power? "Goebbels himself, Bateson relates, believed that he could control and dominate public opinion in Germany by means of a vast communications system. But, in fact, the would-be controller would always have to have his spies on the street to… to be told what people are saying about his propaganda. Therefore, he continues, you cannot have a simple unilateral control of power ”. Goebbels, almighty, realized that he could not do it alone, he needed to know the opinion of those recipients of his decisions (German public opinion) to make his decisions.

POWER: Etymologically, power comes from an Indo-European voice, poti, which means "leader of a group." Poti alludes to the heads of the family or clan who roamed in the times of the caves. So the first thing there was was absolute command of the "boss." From him even the generic sense of "power" was born as an ability to do something in any other field.

It seems that the first thing there was was to order and obey. First the head of the family, then the king, an almighty, to him and only to him belonged the secret of his decisions. No one could ask why. The chief kept to himself the reasons for what he ordered.

When we talk about the sources of power it is logical to think that it comes from the high level of an organization but this is totally wrong, although it is true that part of it derives from it, we can also mention the five sources of power identified by John French and Bertram Raven.

Expert power.- It is that influence that one obtains as a result of his experience, special ability or knowledge.

Reference or reference power.- It is based on identification with a person who has the resources or traits that one believes are desirable, arises from the admiration of another and the desire to be like that person.

Power of reward.- Power can also be the product of a person's ability to grant a reward.

Coercive power.- It is to punish, either by dismissing his subordinate or denying recognition of his merits.

Legitimate or position power.- It is identical to authority, it represents the power that one receives as a result of his / her position in a formal hierarchy.

Although authority in an organization is the power to exercise discretion in decision-making, it almost invariably derives from the power of the post, or legitimate power.

1.2 Authority

Authority: In an organization it is the proper right of a position to exercise discretion in decision-making that affects other people.

Authority in an organization is the right of a position (and therefore of the person who occupies it) to exercise discretion in making decisions that affect other people.

It is, of course, a type of power, but power within an organization.

Today the exercise of authority has become very difficult; the prevailing disorientation is such that the exercise of authority is confused with manipulation, authority properly understood with authoritarianism, and healthy democracy with anarchy assembly. Detractors of authority forget a basic sociological observation: the universal need for authority as an instrument of order and of social economy. Wherever we see a social reality - from a primitive tribe to the board of directors of a company - there we meet the observation of men and women who exert their influence and take initiatives over others. Of course, like all human work, the exercise of authority is subject to the possibility of error and corruption, as Aristotle said "power corrupts",but this does not invalidate its character of authentic social demand.

The difficulties experienced by the exercise of authority in modern organizations are the result of various concomitant factors:

1. The elevation of the educational level, which confers a greater criterion and induces to ask for more protagonism in the decisions.

2. The elevation of the standard of living, which reduces the economic dependence of the subject and, consequently, confers more power against organizations (as Rostow observes, the diffusion of goods, the result of economic growth, generates a diffusion of power).

3. The increasing complexity of business operations; This complexity requires close coordination of efforts between professionals, which must be based more on collaboration than on taxation.

4. The development of a clearer awareness of human dignity, leading to calls for more participation.

Although there are people who seem to be born to be leaders, to exercise authority, the truth is that the majority of people who occupy leadership positions, whether in nations, large and small organizations, companies, etc. They do it through a demanding and disciplined preparation. There are some routes to get to lead. It is necessary that someone wants to do it, that does to the motivation of the leader; then you need to believe that you can do it, this is linked to self-esteem; Then it is good to know how to be a leader, to recognize yourself as such, it makes identity; and finally all this is possible if one knows how to do it, that is, if there is training.

Line authority.- It is the one that has an administrator to direct the work of a subordinate. It is the relationship of superior authority - subordinate that extends from the top of the organization to the lowest echelon following the so-called chain of hands. Sometimes the term line is used to differentiate line managers from personnel managers. In this context, Line highlights those managers whose organizational role contributes directly to the achievement of the organization's objectives.

Personnel Authority.- As organizations grow larger and more complex, line managers find they don't have the time, experience or resources to do their jobs well. In response they create authority functions to support, advise and generally reduce some of the informal burdens they have.

1.3 Delegate

“Authority is delegated when a superior grants discretion to a subordinate for decision-making. Obviously, superiors cannot delegate the authority they do not possess… ”. For Robbins “delegation is the assignment of authority to another person to carry out specific activities. It allows a subordinate to make decisions, that is, a change in decision-making authority from one level of the organization to a lower one ”.

The delegation process involves: 1) determining the expected results of a position. 2) Assignment of tasks to that position. 3) The delegation of authority for the fulfillment of such tasks and 4) The responsibility of the person who occupies the position regarding the fulfillment of the tasks. Delegating lends itself to misunderstanding since it is not about getting rid of simple tasks for which you do not have time. Delegating not only gives you more time to do what's really important, but it helps your team members develop their potential, increasing team effectiveness and credit.

Thus, delegating means:

• Distribute responsibilities

Many people are afraid to delegate part of their work because they feel that they lose part of the control over it. Delegating does not mean losing control over the tasks that you entrust to others. On the contrary, by having more time, you can get a better overall idea. You'll be able to see new opportunities, spot potential hazards early, and develop new concepts that can make your team more effective and impress your boss.

When you are saturated with unfinished business and have time against you, you may choose to delegate boring but necessary tasks to save time. But not everything that piles up on your desk is urgent and you should be able to apply delegation principles to almost any unfinished business.

Here are the guidelines to follow to achieve success when delegating:

1. Review the task and determine the goal. Do you realize that setting goals is one of the most important management skills? This is because, if you do not know where you are going, it is difficult to consider that you have arrived. A goal is a final destination, if you know you can prepare the route, calculate the time, find alternative routes or shortcuts and, at the end of the journey, you will be aware of having reached where you wanted.

Therefore, the first thing is to define the job and determine its objective. Assemble the groups of tasks that have the same objective. If you require information to prepare a proposal, ask someone else to find it, to research the cost, performance data, presentation options, to analyze competing products, etc. The goal is to get all the information you can collect so that your proposal is documented and convincing.

2. Decide to whom you will delegate the task. If something is not urgent, choose the right person to do the job. Your employees will thank you. There is nothing to stop a competent and intelligent person from entrusting a crucial task, even if they do not have experience in that particular area.

On the other hand, there is no point in delegating a job to someone who does not belong, if that means wasting their talent and ability. If you want someone to investigate something, find a methodical and friendly person, who knows how to treat others and can convince a very busy person to waste some time looking for some data.

3. Set the parameters. The person to whom he delegates must know the work to be done but also the objective to which he responds. It is important that you know what you hope to achieve and why. But you will need to know something else: how much time you have or what authority you have.

So you should provide the following:

• A goal A delivery timeframe Quality parameters A budget Determine how far your authority goes Information about available resources

What you should not do is explain how to do the job. Just provide everything you need to get the desired result, including information on time, cost, etc. But the person must be free to choose how to achieve that result. Returning to the analogy of the objective as a travel destination, the person to whom he delegates must be able to choose the route as long as he arrives at the indicated destination within the specified time, having consumed a reasonable amount of gasoline and without having a car accident. If you want, ask him to tell you which route you plan to take, but do not change it if you don't like it. If you foresee a problem that the other person doesn't seem to see, let them know and let them solve it.

4. Make sure you understand. Encourage the other person to talk about the job to make sure they have a good understanding of what to do and why. She can suggest ideas as long as it doesn't mislead you or forces you to take her approach.

5. Give him information. If you can, help the person you have delegated to. Talk to the head of another department for help, explain where you can find the information if you know it and she doesn't, give her access to documents that may be helpful, give her a copy of the draft proposal for which you are investigating, or, failing that, your notes.

6. Follow your progress closely. If the project is long, organize follow-up meetings. Even on short assignments, be sure to check how it goes: close but informal follow-up tends to work better than a formal meeting. This allows the employee to consult the doubts that may have arisen, to verify that they are not losing details or that they have chosen the wrong approach. Following up improves your confidence and also calms you down.

In any case, following up does not mean interfering. Check that you are not making serious mistakes, but don't waste your time with trivia. It is inevitable that not everything is to your liking and, probably, if you had done the work, you would have made serious mistakes, but do not waste time with trivialities. It is inevitable that not everything is to your liking and, probably, if you had done the work, you would have made similar mistakes. You should only intervene in case of serious error and only to get things back on track. Taking away from someone a task that had been delegated is very demoralizing and should only be done in extreme circumstances.

7. Rate the job. When the person has finished her work, set up an evaluation meeting. If you deserve it, congratulate her and praise her effort. Keep in mind that even if the result was not what you expected, there is always something to value. It is important that the employee has learned one or more lessons while completing the task. Remember that both success and failure are your responsibility.

Below we will introduce you to some solutions that will be useful when delegating.

1. Don't think that the fact that your boss has delegated to you implies that you cannot delegate to anyone else. After all, you will be responsible and will have to bear it. But if the result is good, what does it matter who does the work?

2. Ask yourself the following question: If you were sick or on a business trip for a month, what part of your job could no one do? The answer should be "almost none." Everything that does not appear in that category is delegable.

3. If you are in a hurry, it is preferable that you delegate someone who knows how to do the job without the need for great support. Anyway, if you have time, find the person who best suits the job and can learn from it. By learning something new, this person will be motivated and, in addition, you will have gained another trained person to delegate to another future difficult situation.

4. If it is a large project or small but you are in a hurry, you can delegate to more than one person at a time. Usually it's best to choose a team leader and talk to everyone at once so they know exactly what you need.

5. The fact that he works against the clock does not mean that he cannot closely follow the progress. After all, it is important to check that you are doing well. If you have passed a job to someone to give it to you at the end of the day, nothing prevents you from dropping by your office in the middle of the afternoon to check that everything is going well and you don't need anything.

6. If you delegate work with enough time, you can better develop your own project. For example, you can ask to receive the result of an investigation for a proposal ten days before you have to write it, allowing you time to take advantage of the information. So don't interpret delegating as a way to shake off jobs you don't like or don't have time to do. In fact, it is an excellent opportunity to improve your management skills and to help your team grow.

1.4 Line and staff

Line and staff relationships are important as an organizational way of life, since the authority relationships between the members of an organization necessarily affect the operation of the company.

Line functions are those that have a direct impact on the fulfillment of the company's objectives.

Staff functions are those that help line personnel work more effectively in order to meet these objectives.

Those who hold this view invariably classify production and sales (and sometimes finance) as line functions, and purchasing, accounting, personnel, maintenance, and quality control as staff functions.

Nature of line and staff relationships:

Line authority gives a superior a line of authority over a subordinate. This is present in all organizations as a scale or uninterrupted series of steps.

Hence the scalar principle of organizations is: the clearer the line of authority is from the top administrative position of an organization to each subordinate position, the clearer the decision-making responsibility and the more effective the organizational communication. In many large companies, the steps involved are long and complex, but even in smaller companies, the mere fact of organization implies the application of the scalar principle.

Line authority is the relationship in which a superior exercises direct supervision over a subordinate; an online authority relationship or direct steps.

The nature of the staff relationship is advisory. The function of those who exercise exclusively staff capacity is to conduct research and provide advice to line managers.

Line / staff relations or departmentalization ?:

Although a department may occupy a position in which the line or staff predominates over other departments, line and staff are distinguished by relationships of authority, not by what people do.

Staff benefits:

Staff advice is currently much more decisive than before for companies, the government and other institutions. Operations managers today face decisions that require specialized knowledge of economic, technical, political, legal and social issues. In many cases where highly specialized knowledge is required, it may be necessary to give specialists some functional decision-making authority on behalf of their manager.

Another great advantage of staff personnel is that these specialists can be given time to think, gather information and analyze, a luxury that their superiors, absorbed by the administration of operations, cannot afford. It is not common for operations managers, especially at high levels, to have time to do what a staff assistant can conveniently do instead.

Staff staff can not only contribute to the effectiveness of line managers, but their analysis and advice have also become an increasingly pressing need in the face of increasingly complex problems. Otherwise, and despite the risks of multiple command, delegating functional authority to staff specialists is often an imperative.

Staff limitations

Although staff relationships are often necessary for companies and can greatly contribute to their success, the nature of staff authority and the difficulty in understanding it give rise in practice to certain problems;

1. Risk of weakening line authority:

Too often, the president of a company brings in staff executives, invests them in authority, and demands cooperation with them from all other managers. He enthusiastically receives their proposals, and the administrators involved are pressured to implement them. But what actually happens in this case is the weakening of the authority of the department administrators, despite which, even if it is suspicious and forced, the proposals will be accepted, due to the clear general perception of the high esteem granted. to the prestige of the staff specialists. The persistence of this situation could harm and even destroy operational departments.

2. Lack of staff responsibility:

Advisory departments are limited to proposing a plan; others must make the decision to adopt it and put it into operation. This produces an ideal situation to blame third parties for the mistakes that are made. Staff personnel will claim that the plan was correct, and that if it failed it was due to the inability, disinterest or attempted sabotage of the operational administrator.

3. Risk of thinking in a vacuum:

The argument that their staff position gives planners time to think is certainly attractive, but it leaves out an important consideration: since staff do not intervene in the implementation of their proposals, their work may amount to thinking in the void. The supposed practical inapplicability of staff proposals often leads to friction, moral deterioration of employees and even sabotage.

4. Administrative problems:

Excessive staff activity can complicate the leadership and control tasks of a line executive. The president of a company can keep himself so busy considering the recommendations of a large number of staff assistants and straightening crooked lines of authority that he doesn't have time and attention for operational departments.

1.4 Centralization of authority

It is the tendency to restrict the delegation of decision-making to an organizational structure, usually by retaining authority at or near the top of the structure.

Centralization types:

Performance centralization

Corresponds to geographic concentration; it is characteristic of, for example, a company that operates in one place.

Departmental centralization

It refers to the concentration of specialized activities, generally in a department. Plant maintenance, for example, may be the responsibility of a single department.

Centralization as an aspect of administration

It is the tendency to restrict the delegation of decision making. In this case, managers at the highest levels of the organizational hierarchy hold a high degree of authority.

Chapter II

Empowerment

2.1 Definition

Empowerment means empowerment or empowerment, and is based on empowerment to delegate power and authority to subordinates and convey the feeling that they own their own work, it is a tool used in both total quality and reengineering, which provides of elements to strengthen the processes that lead companies to their proper development.

“Empowerment means that employees, managers or teams at all levels of the organization have the power to make decisions without having to require the authorization of their superiors. The idea on which empowerment is based is that those who are directly related to a task are the best suited to make a decision about it, with the understanding that they possess the skills required for it. ”

In fact, the historical basis of the idea of ​​Empowerment lies in the proposals on suggestions, enrichment of functions and employee participation, not forgetting that the concepts of delegation are closely related to empowerment.

Also, it can be said that it is a process by means of which the utilization of the diverse capacities of human resources can be maximized. This process usually works in groups that share leadership and administrative tasks that have the power to evaluate, improve the quality of performance and the information process, in addition to providing ideas for business strategies. Likewise, empowerment occurs when management provides employees with all the information, knowledge and resources required to perform their assigned tasks and also allows them to execute them in a way that is necessary to achieve the desired results as long as they comply with the values ​​of the organization.

The 20th century was the scene of multiple changes at the organizational level marked by wars, economic depressions, etc., but in essence it maintained the same structures inherited from the successive industrial revolutions in which the individual was considered a simple substitute cog in the great machinery. of production. This mechanistic approach proved to be effective in the markets relatively isolated by the conflicts that occurred in all parts of the world, but it turned unconsciously in the depersonalization of the employees who increasingly lost motivation and personal satisfaction.Its structural base showed a pyramidal hierarchy with power centralized in a few (middle and upper management) and with little or no participation from the lower level and where communication flowed in one direction (from top to bottom), practically isolating the force. of the organization itself.

The dissatisfaction of the workers was immediate and that is how the union and union movements arose that promoted the need to be treated as human beings and not as machines. This need was reflected in the low levels of employee performance that directly affected the profits of the organizations, which later noted that their personnel was not only an instrument or means to achieve the objectives, but their most important and vital capital.This is where empowerment is born as a new paradigm of human talent management, seeking to insert as active members and with decision-making capacity each and every one of the individuals who work in an organization decentralizing power and promoting communication in all directions at the same time. that flattens out the hierarchical structure making it more efficient and less. The current panorama has changed, if before the markets were relatively isolated, today we live in the era of globalization where phenomena such as the union of markets (for example, the European Economic Union) are observed, which intrinsically generates a dynamic and permanent change hand in hand with technological advances and especially in telecommunications.In the global village, knowledge is power and its value increases over time due to the high competitiveness of the markets in which the one that adapts to changes first remains and those that don't, disappear.

What would become of a company that is not aware of market changes? What would become of an organization that does not have access to the information relevant to the medium in which it is developed? If the world were static it could remain successful for a long time, but with constant social, economic and political change, companies that do not adapt are destined to disappear. This generates a real-time dissemination of knowledge throughout the world and new techniques for managing human talent are no exception.

Empowerment is a multidimensional social process in which leadership, communication and self-directed groups replace the mechanistic pyramid structure with a more horizontal structure in which the participation of each and every individual within a system is an active part of the control of it in order to promote the wealth and potential of human capital that will later be reflected not only in the individual but also in the community in which it operates. Now there are two types of empowerment. Kanter's structural empowerment that focuses on conditions in the work environment such as variety, autonomy, workload, organizational support, and position within the company; These constitute the structural characteristics of employment.Variations in these conditions translate into a form of job satisfaction, but they leave aside the worker's perception of such variations in environmental conditions. It is here that Spreitzer opens the way to psychological empowerment defined as the mental interpretation of each individual to the structural changes of the work environment. These interpretations generate four dimensions: a) the meaning that implies a congruence between an employee's beliefs, values, behaviors and the requirements of the job; b) competence that refers to trusting skills in job performance;c) self-determination that refers to feelings of control over work and d) the impact defined as the sense of being able to influence important results in conjunction with the organization.

The general idea of ​​empowerment is the complementation of the two types, since in order to analyze the process it is necessary to know whether or not favorable conditions exist for an empowered environment and also how the employees perceive these conditions.

This process of empowerment begins, stimulating the leadership of the organization's middle managers to fulfill a role of guides towards the objectives of the company and not of supervisors of their fulfillment. Subsequently, information should be shared with all employees to take advantage of the maximize human capital and allow them to understand the current situation in clear terms, build trust throughout the organization, end the traditional hierarchical way of thinking, help people to be more responsible and in turn stimulate them to act as if they owned the company. business.

After complying with the previous stage, autonomy begins to be generated through borders. In this step, workers rely on shared information to make their own decisions without losing sight of the mission and vision of the company, feeding back on themselves and setting specific goals to fulfill their role. Finally, as a last step, the organization must replace the pyramid hierarchy with self-directed teams that enjoy a certain autonomy and for this everyone must train in team skills and receive a commitment and support from management.

Empowerment requires effective leadership that is capable of directing people in the right direction on a daily basis and that these followers identify with the values ​​and mission of the organization and can contribute ideas for the execution of the objectives set. With this, it is obtained that the leader has several very important and particular characteristics, being able to motivate her subordinates to enter their work with enthusiasm.

Empowerment will improve investment in human capital and job performance in three ways: “The first is direct: Self-employed individuals, empowered with information and free to do their jobs, are likely to perform better than other closely controlled workers and less informed… the second is that the freedom and control of work that accompany autonomy constitutes an intrinsic benefit of the investment of human capital, which in most cases, determines an increase in effort. Consequently, both the worker and the company will progress when autonomy increases (read power and responsibility)… The third advantage… comes as a reduction in the cost associated with management. ”

Empowerment also implies that employees and teams accept responsibility for their actions and tasks. Conceptually, this can be illustrated as follows:

• Power must be equal to responsibility (P = R). If power is greater than responsibility (P> R), the result could be autocratic conduct by the superior, who is not responsible for his actions. If responsibility is greater than power (R> P), the result could be frustration for subordinates, since they lack the power necessary to perform the tasks for which they are responsible.

Conditions for placing an order:

1. The order must be understood by the subordinate, hence the importance of using clear and precise language.

2. At the time of the decision, the receiver of the order must perceive that the order is compatible with the objectives of the organization, hence the importance that when the incompatibility appears, the validity of the order is emphasized.

3. At the time of the decision, the receiver of the order must perceive that it is compatible with his personal interests.

4. The receiver of the order must be mentally and physically able to carry out the order, since according to an old legal principle "nobody is forced to the impossible".

2.2 Application

For the application of empowerment you need the following elements:

to. Conditioning the jobs: consists of improving the jobs so that the employees feel comfortable and can have a sense of orientation, possession and responsibility, so that they develop the following attributes:

• Authority.Diversity.Challenge.Significant performance.Power for decision-making.Changes in work assignments.Attention of a project until it is completed.

b. Work teams: Comprehensive training plans must be designed to develop the technical skills of each employee. Work teams organize people in such a way that they are responsible for their performance or work areas, work teams take on many of the responsibilities that were assumed by supervisors, this is an excellent way to energize staff, and motivate them to improve decision-making regarding:

• Planning Internal organization Leader selection Job rotation

c. Training: Training is generally needed to develop skills when collaborators and teams take on greater responsibilities, Empowerment staff should be able to lead others and resolve their own conflicts without having to appeal to higher authority.

d. Career and development plans: These are the benefits and facilities that the organization provides to employees, to improve their quality of life and that of their family group and in this way they will be able to continue training academically and develop careers within the organization.

2.3 Principles of empowerment

The empowerment have the following principles:

• Assign authority and responsibility for activities. Define standards of excellence. Provide timely feedback on the performance of process members. Timely recognize achievements. Trust the team. There is always a better way of doing things (continuous improvement). Try employees with dignity and respect. Provide the necessary training to achieve the objectives and goals. Provide the information and tools necessary to facilitate and ensure adequate and timely decision-making.

2.4 Values ​​of empowerment

Empowerment has the following values:

• Pride: Feeling Satisfaction for doing things well constantly. Union and Solidarity: Joint effort in recognizing that everyone is interdependent. Willingness: I always want to make that effort to continue reaching the highest goals. Attention to details: Constant habit of controlling everyone the factors, however small they may seem, affect the operation and the client. Credibility: Trust that comes from converting the promises made into individual and group personal commitment.

2.5 Leadership model for empowerment

“Today, the chief is not the most skilled specialist in a functional department, but rather, the conductor Drucker was talking about, a coordinator of specialists. The conductor is the one who knows the score best, but the trumpeter is the one who knows how to play the trumpet. When musicians have difficulties with any movement, the directors advise them <>, who is not their boss (director). The president of a company.com,… once said to me: <>. The boss expects professionals, like financials or IT professionals, to work with little supervision. ”

Most leaders agree that hierarchical, rigid, and bulky organization has outlived its usefulness. Leadership tasks are too complex for one person to have all the answers. Information and knowledge are more easily available to everyone than to one person, so excessive levels of management are no longer necessary or appropriate. The old traditional model for leaders who sought to reach the top, encouraged the grabbing of power and influence; Fortunately, organizations have been restructuring to break free of that model and fully equip themselves to achieve their desired success. The hierarchical and traditional structure and the bureaucratic culture were built on one foundation:

• Hierarchical Organization. Formal top-down structure. Bureaucratic Culture. Powered by policies and procedures. Position Power Leadership. Autocratic, dominated by chief.

At present, a new model is required to build a world-class, high-performance company, to mobilize the latent potential of people and to face the challenges of competition; This leadership model for the Empowerment shifts from "position power" to "people power", in which all people are given leadership roles so that they can contribute to the best of their abilities.

In this way, leadership along with responsibility and compliance are distributed throughout the organization, which translates into a more participatory, creative and sensitive culture. All of this is paired with a newer, flatter and more flexible structure made up of interactive leadership teams linked by knowledge and communication networks.

When applied effectively, Empowerment mobilizes individuals and self-directed teams not only to execute orders, but also to innovate and improve products, services, and programs, often with results that break new ground.

The Empowerment also allows the heads of organizations to focus on broader needs, such as formulating new visions, determining strategies and priorities, and training teams to configure a culture that sustains excellence.

Today the situational leader no longer seeks to apply a leadership style to a predetermined situation, but rather facilitates team performance, in which employees are treated like colleagues, developing and implementing action plans together. Leaders must be constantly monitoring the environment to see what factors can threaten or stimulate their competitiveness and respond to those factors. Forces must be supported and weaknesses improved. Lifelong learning is the key to survival. Those who see change as an opportunity rather than a threat are ready to learn and they will enjoy it.

Result of the new leadership model for the Empowerment:

• Flat and Flexible Organization. Informal collaborative teams, high technology and communication networks. Participatory Culture Inspired, creative, sensitive. Leadership For Empowerment Decentralized responsibility and Participation of power.

2.5 Creating a company with empowerment

To carry out an effective and short-term Empowerment, we must take into account the following steps:

Be clear about what empowering means: We must be clear that empowering means valuing people and understanding the contributions they can make; through team performance, both individually and as a whole. Also, it means taking responsibility for decisions and work.

Allow teams to freely exchange information; information is important, since any successful initiative in this regard is based on an improvement in communication. It will be discovered that people want to change ideas and suggestions on how it works.

We must verify the resources available and if it is necessary to get some money as part of the plan and we can also create a contingency fund or a small fund during a certain period.

Be very clear about the starting point: it is very difficult to begin to value people unless you know where they come from. The first thing that is observed in the organization is the organizational culture, which means how things are done here, if the organization is very hierarchical and resists change, the job of empowering is more difficult.

The positions have to be devised so that the employee has a sense of possession and responsibility. The attributes that the jobs must have are the following:

• Responsibility and authority. Each position must have the authority to resolve problems and conflicts in the most effective way possible. Without taking into account the responsibility and commitment with said empowered authority. Diversity. Challenge. The position must have challenges in order to avoid becoming repetitive and encouraging. Significant performance. Power to make decisions. Changes in work assignments. Attention to a project until it is concluded.

In addition the position must let determine the responsibility that the job implies. There must be indicators that let you know if you are meeting what is expected of people in each position. Only the possibility of self-elevation allows access to continuous improvement.

The work teams must be organized and their responsibilities must be assigned:

• Improve quality. The main idea of ​​creating work teams is to improve the quality of the good or service. Quality audit. Selection of the leader. The correct leader of each team must be chosen, even better if it is the team that chooses it. This in order to avoid that the tasks become repetitive and lose the stimulus. Internal organization. Planning. You must plan the action of these teams and keep in mind where you want to go.

Design a comprehensive training plan, in addition to team skills training, they must develop technical skills according to each job. Training in interpersonal skills to solve problems, which consist of:

• Control conflicts. There are conflicts everywhere, and there always will be. You must learn to control these conflicts, to know how to manage them. Every problem has a solution, either from some past experience or using the team's ingenuity. Evaluate Differences. Support your colleagues. Achieve empathy within the group, making the group supportive, supporting and teaching new colleagues in positions or laggards. Help in decision-making. Workers should be an active part of decision-making, as they are closer to the problems, they are the ones who identify them and provide solutions. Participate in meetings. Learn to work in a team, learn to listen and understand, communicate ideas. New ideas of processes or for problem solving must be transmitted,not to remain as ideas either, they must be analyzed. These ideas must be taken into account quickly. Get organized. Meet and form study group or tasks in order to improve job performance.

Training is not just about a "course", it is something else. A course to start is good, but leaders at all levels have the responsibility to follow up on what has been learned, to allow it to be applied, and developed day by day, to its people. As people develop the intrinsic values ​​of empowerment, more training will be needed.

Develop leadership.

• Maintain and increase self-esteem. Listen and respond empathetically. Ask for help and encourage participation.

Empowerment also means delegating, without losing control, but control of the situation not of the people.

2.6 Barriers to empowerment:

Because empowerment means allowing people to take responsibility, it is necessary to think about the obstacles that are in the way, that is why it will be necessary to create a plan to dismantle all the barriers.

• To do a personal brainstorm: to put yourself in the place of others or to look for the barrier that one faces. The key is to make sure that no corner is left to explore and take into account all the information.Gathering the team and testing it: it means, gathering the group and starting to discover things about them and see what the barriers they think they face are not. They should disqualify or remove anyone's ideas or try to challenge the proposed barriers.Develop a list of activities to remove barriers: write down all the barriers that are possible to remove immediately, in the medium and long term, and then list in order of importance and see if they were successfully attacked. Find a way to verify success: develop the strategy list and find two or three ways to carry them out.

2.6 Empowerment results:

Empowerment is necessary for business success. This must be measured in terms of customer satisfaction, improvement of financial results and development of its people.

Companies must review existing and historical culture as well as structures; and develop specific actions to change what is inappropriate.

People at all levels of the organization cannot embrace empowerment overnight. Achieving this requires having consistent goals, a proper focus, training, recognition and feedback.

We will start by listing the positive results of empowerment:

• The person has the responsibility, not the boss or the supervisor, or another department. The positions generate value, due to the person who is in them. People know where they are standing at all times. People have power over the way that things are done. The person has control over their work. The contribution of each individual's work is significant. Each person can develop a diversity of assignments. His work represents a challenge for each individual and not a burden. Their responsibilities have authority to act on behalf of the company. Employees participate in decision-making. Staff opinions are heard and taken into account. They know how to participate as a team. Their contributions are recognized. They develop their knowledge and skills. They have real support for.Increases end-customer satisfaction. Improves attitude change from 'having to do' one thing to 'wanting to do it'. Greater employee engagement. Improved communication between employees and managers. More efficient decision-making processes. Reduced operating costs.A more profitable organization.

Each of the individuals that are part of the organization's human resources will be able to:

• Control conflicts. Solve problems. Evaluate differences. Support peers. Help in decision making. Participate in meetings. Communicate ideas.

Achieving Success with Empowerment means that everyone must work together, to design the process of change, from senior management to line workers must be left. Oriented to the following results:

• Investments must be made taking into account what you want to achieve: The satisfaction of the end customer. Improve the finish and quality in finished products. More trained personnel and aware of the objectives set by the organization. Improve the organizational climate. Organizations should review the existing culture, as well as the physical and organizational structures, to change what is inappropriate. Staff at all levels within the organization must be aware that the results and benefits provided by the Empowerment are not reflected in the short term, as that achieving them requires consistent objectives, a change in consciousness, thoughts, beliefs and actions at the collective level. As well as a proper approach, training, acceptance of new values ​​and recognition.Everything expressed in the previous points is achieved through the practice and desire of each member of the organization to be willing to accept changes. Negative consequences of Empowerment in companies: Repetitive and unimportant work. People Lack of confidence Lack of contribution in decisions No one knows if one is working well No one knows what is happening Little time to solve problems People are not given credit for their ideas or efforts Lack of resources, knowledge and training.Lack of confidence Lack of input into decisions No one knows if one is working well No one knows what is happening Little time to solve problems No one gives people credit for their ideas or efforts Lack of resources, knowledge and trainingLack of confidence Lack of input into decisions No one knows if one is working well No one knows what is happening Little time to solve problems No one gives people credit for their ideas or efforts Lack of resources, knowledge and training

Factors that drive the failure of Empowerment:

Many are the organizations that fail to try to implement the Empowerment, this is generally due to the fact that they do not pay due attention to it and that they do not communicate in a concrete and detailed way to all the personnel which are the objectives that are sought with this radical change. And what are the new duties, responsibilities, limitations, authority and field of action that each individual within the organization is expected to contribute.

If the fundamental factors that Empowerment touches are not incorporated (customer satisfaction, improved financial results, and retaining and attracting the right employees), managers will achieve only mediocre results. The best solution to avoid this, would be to delegate responsibility taking into account the following options:

• Entrusting the job to the right person, Not delegating enough authority to carry out the job, Delegating the job, but not setting decision-making limits that involve a lot of risk, considerable resources, or interfere with the attributions of another agency, not knowing how to properly distribute the work and absorb more than its share.

Conclusion

Empowerment has given extremely positive results in companies, such as the person who has the responsibility, the jobs generate value, people know where they are standing at all times and have power over the way things are done, the individual has control over their work, the contribution of each person's work is significant, each person can carry out a variety of assignments, the work is a challenge for them and not a burden, the staff has the authority to act on behalf of the company according to their responsibilities, subordinates participate in decision-making, staff opinions are heard and taken into account, they know how to participate as a team, their contributions are recognized, they develop their knowledge and skills, they have real support,increases end customer satisfaction, improves attitude change from "having to do" one thing to "wanting to do it", greater worker commitment, improves communication between subordinates and superiors, more efficient decision-making processes, reduced operating costs and a more profitable organization.

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