Effective Ways to Empower Your Employees

What is the definition of empower?

Empower (Verb): To give someone the official authority or the freedom to do something.

Empowerment does not mean removing structure

Some managers believe that empowerment equals freedom. While that may be true for the most part, managers can confuse freedom with a lack of direction, guidance, or support.  Denying employees guidelines or help will leave them frustrated, confused, and ill-equipped to do their work.

Managers are responsible for directing employees in a way that gives them the knowledge and resources they need to succeed, while also allowing them enough room to fulfil their responsibilities on their own terms. Finding this balance is an important part of the employee empowerment process.

What does it mean to empower an employee?

Here are just some of the many ways that businesses can work to empower their employees:

● Give control – Allowing employees to have control over their schedules, task management and processes can be a great way to empower them

● Give employees autonomy over assignments – It is okay if an employee does not get from A – B using the same means as you. When delegating, accept that this may mean your employee may complete the task differently than you would. Relinquish control, refrain from micromanaging, and accept that your way may not be the only (or best) way to complete the task

● Delegate to develop – delegate with the intent to grow and develop the capabilities and responsibilities of your employees

● Communicate – Concise communication is key to getting your message across. This goes for written communication, too. When communicating, less is definitely more

● Listen – Good leaders set time aside to listen to employees and implement and act on their ideas (and give them credit when they do)

● Earn trust – it is easy to be there for an employee in good times, but will you be there in bad times?

● Believe in your employees – Find out what each person does best. Discover better ways for people to support each other. Bring these people together in order to support and encourage each other

● Keep your employees accountable – while it may seem contrary to empowerment, consistently holding your employees accountable for their responsibilities will empower them to take genuine ownership of their work and training

● Forgive mistakes – If you punish mistakes, you will encourage overly conservative behaviour. Establish clear differences between acceptable mistakes versus mission-critical errors

● Promote learning opportunities – Create a culture of continuous learning to help employees advance their careers by promoting knowledge growth

The benefits of employee empowerment

Employee empowerment can instill greater trust in leadership, encourage employee motivation, lead to greater creativity, and improve employee retention.

Ready to empower your employees?

If you wish to learn more about the importance of empowering your employees in the workplace then please feel free to get in touch with us today. We have a wealth of experience in this field and are happy to discuss these strategies in greater detail.