Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1.0 Introduction
Empowerment is the process of enabling or authorizing an individual to think,
behave, take action, and control work and decision making in autonomous ways. It
is the state of feeling self-empowered to take control of one's own destiny.
Empowerment means providing freedom for people to do successfully what they
want to do rather than getting them to do what managers want them to do.
Empowerment is a pull strategy rather push strategy. It refers to giving up
control and letting others make decisions, set goals, accomplish results and receive
rewards.
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The first rule that Ken Hoffman violated was Articulating a clear vision and
goals. When Ruth Cummings was made the branch manager, she was told to make
the store one of the best in the system. He failed to share the vision of where the
organization is going and how Ruth can contribute as an individual.
The second blunder caused by Mr. Hoffman was not Fostering personal mastery
experiences. By successfully accomplishing a task, defeating an opponent, or
resolving a problem, people develop a sense of mastery. Hoffman should have
helped Ruth feel increasingly empowered by helping her develop an awareness that
she can succeed.
Another technique that was not followed by Ken Hoffman was Providing Support.
In order to help others experience empowerment, social and emotional support is
needed. If people are to feel empowered, managers should praise them, encourage
them, express approval of them and reassure them. It is important to express
confidence in employees by supervising them less closely. In this case we see that,
Hoffman didnt support Ruth in any ways. Instead he became very irritated each
time Ruth took ant decision by herself.
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Information is one of the most crucial management power tools. Mr. Hoffman
neglected an important part Providing Information of empowerment. When
managers provide their people with more rather than less information they gain a
sense of empowerment and are more likely to work productively, successfully and in
harmony with the managers wishes. Ruth wasnt provided with any information
regarding the norms of the store. She had no idea what rules are followed by
branches. She wasnt given clear direction regarding how much power she has.
Finally, Hoffman didnt Create Confidence in Ruth. He did not exhibit reliability,
consistency, fairness, personal concern, competence and expertise.
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II.
III.
IV.
V.
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Deciding to Whom
Deciding how
Subordinates have
needed information
(Alternatives)
Commitment is crucial
Subordinates capabilities
will be expanded
Common values are
shared
Involve no one
Consult with other
individuals, but decide alone
Participate as a member of
the team
Delegate completely
Provide support
Focus accountability on
results
Delegate consistently
Avoid upward delegation
Clarify consequences
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EXPLANATION
A sense of personal
competence
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A sense of personal
choice
A sense of having
impact
A sense of value in
activity
a sense of security
Huffman can only be sure that Ruth is properly empowered after she has all the core
dimensions of empowerment.
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Experienced Empowerment
Desired Outcomes
Self-efficacy
Self determination
Personal consequence
Meaningfulness
Trust
Productivity
Psychological and physical
health
Proactively and
innovativeness
Persistence in work
Trustworthiness
Interpersonal effectiveness
Intrinsic motivation
High morale and commitment
Support
Emotional arousal
Information
Resources
Connect to outcomes
Confidence
Delegation Principles
Empowered
Delegation
Task acceptance
Motivation and morale
Subordinate
development
Discretionary time
Strengthened
relationships
Successful
performance
Deciding when to
delegate
Deciding to whom to
delegate
Deciding how to
delegate
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Delegation goes against the grain for many small business owners. But if we want both our
businesses and our personal lives to thrive, delegation is a skill we have to master.
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6.0 Conclusion
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References:
1. http://www.accel-team.com/human_resources/
2. Devid A. Whetten and Kim S. Cameron Developing Management
Skills Sixth Edition
3. http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/worklifebalance/a/delegate.htm
4. http://humanresources.about.com/od/glossarye/a/empowerment_def.ht
m
5. http://humanresources.about.com/od/involvementteams/a/empowerme
nt
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