Sharing Power: Empowerment

Empowerment:
sharing power in such a way
that individuals learn to
believe in their ability to do
the job!
 Empowerment
■ Empowerment is the ability and freedom of employees to make
decisions and commitments
– To some degree, boundaries are set around where employees can make
decisions, and empowerment seeks to expand them
■ Empowered employees exhibit 4 characteristics
– Self-determination – free to choose their work
– Sense of meaning – feel their work is important
– Sense of competence – confident in their ability to do the work
– Sense of impact – believe they can influence their work unit, team or
organization
■ Empowerment benefits management because
– it reduces management work load
– Places decision making power in the hands of those often better equipped
to make decisions
– Provides significant motivation and learning opportunities for employees
 Empowerment
■ Empowerment increases as employees or teams are given more power
over their job context (reason for the job) and job content (tasks)
■ Empowered employees are expected to act as owners of the business
■ Levels of Empowerment
– No discretion (usually for routine, low skilled jobs)
– Task setting – employee can determine how the job gets done
– Participatory – some decision making power over job context/content
– Mission defining – groups set broad goals for a project
– Self-management – Total decision making power
 Empowerment’s Dimensions

Meaning - fit between

the work role and the
employee’s values and
beliefs
E2s
Self-determination -
having control over the
way one does one’s
work
Competence - belief
that one has the ability
to do the job well
Impact - belief that
one’s job makes a
difference within the
organization
 Guidelines for Empowering

■ Express confidence in employees

■ Set high performance expectations
■ Create opportunities for participative decision
making
■ Remove bureaucratic constraints that stifle
autonomy
■ Set inspirational and meaningful goals
 Randolph’s Empowerment
Model
The Empowerment Plan

Create Autonomy Let Teams Become

Through Structure The Hierarchy

Remember: Empowerment is not magic;

it consists of a few simple steps and
a lot of persistence.
 Five Stages in the Process of Empowerment
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5
To provide self-
efficacy information
Conditions leading to The use of to subordinates, using Results in
a psychological state managerial strategies four resources empowering Leading to
of powerlessness and techniques experience of behavioral effects
subordinate

Organizational Participative Enactive Strengthening

Strengtheningofof Initiation/
Organizational Participative Enactive Initiation/
factors management attainment effort— persistence
factors management attainment effort— persistence
performance of behavior
Supervision Goal
Goalsetting Vicarious performance of behavior
Supervision setting Vicarious expectancy
expectancyoror totoaccomplish
Reward system Feedback system experience accomplish
experience belief
beliefinin task
Reward system Feedback system
Verbal taskobjectives
objectives
Nature personal
Natureofofjob Modeling Verbal personal
job Modeling persuasion efficacy
persuasion efficacy
Contingent/
Contingent/ Emotional
competence- Emotional
competence- arousal
based
basedreward
reward arousal
Job enrichment
Job enrichment
and

Remove
Remove
conditions
conditions Source: Jay A. Conger and Rabindra N.
listed
listedunder
under Kanungo, “The Empowerment Process:
Stage 1 Integrating Theory and Practice,” Academy of
Stage 1
Management Review (July 1988): p.475.
Decision-Making Authority over Job Context
Employee Empowerment Grid
Implement
Follow-up Point D Point E
Mission Defining Self-Management
Alt Choice
Point C
Participatory
Alt. Eval
Empowerment

Alt. Dev.
Point A Point B
No Discretion Task Setting
Problem Id.
Alt. Implement
Problem ID. Alt. Dev. Alt. Eval
Choice Follow-up

Decision-Making Authority over Job Content

Amitai Etzioni, Modern Organizations, 1964, pp.... 59-61. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
Empowerment of Group Members
■ Empowerment
– Is the process of sharing power with group members, thereby
enhancing their feelings of self-efficacy.
– Strategic benefits of distributing power:
» Improved productivity, quality, and satisfaction
– Keys for the transition to effective empowerment:
» Sharing information
» Providing more structure (training and support)
» Gradually replacing traditional organizational structure
» Allowing individuals and teams to determine how to achieve objectives
» Above all, trusting in employees to do the right thing
 Signs of Empowerment and Disempowerment
■ Empowered Employees
– Take initiative in ambiguous situations
– Identify opportunities in ambiguous situations
– Apply critical thinking skills
– Offer judgments about how decisions
support shared purpose
– Identify and act on opportunities to
improve systems
– Optimize resources by reducing
expenses and finding opportunities
to invest in new resources
 Signs of Empowerment and Disempowerment
■ Disempowered Employees
– Wait for a designated authority to take charge
– Address problem but fail to see opportunity
– Accept decisions without questioning
– Discuss but not able to apply information
about shared purpose
– Attempt consensus but yield to higher
authority when failing at consensus
– Focus on resource questions only
when directed to do so
 Using Power Effectively
■ Use power in ethical ways
■ Understand and use all of the various
types of power and influence
■ Seek out jobs that allow you to develop
your power skills
■ Use power tempered by maturity and
self-control
■ Accept that influencing people is an
important part of the management job
 Delegation

‘The process of granting decision-

making authority to lower-level
employees.’
 Barriers to Delegation
 Belief in the fallacy, ‘If you want it done right, do it yourself.’
 Lack of confidence and trust in lower-level employees.
 Low self-confidence.
 Fear of being called lazy.
 Vague job definition.
 Fear of competition from those below.
 Reluctance to take the risks involved in depending on others.
 Lack of controls that provide
early warning of problems with
delegated duties.
 Poor example set by bosses who
do not delegate.
 Personal Initiative: The Other
Side of Delegation
Levels of
Action Taking
action
Asking for
approval to act
Asking someone
else to act
Telling someone
about a problem
Noncompliance
Decreasing time
to action to
solve a Apathy
problem
 Tips for Personal Initiative
and Taking Action
 Go beyond the job.
 Follow through on new ideas.
 Don’t be defeated by criticism; learn from it.
 Look ahead and around.
 The Evolution of Power: From
Domination to Delegation
Power Distribution
High Followers granted
authority to make
decisions.
Power Sharing
Degree of Empowerment

Manager/leader and
followers jointly
Influence Sharing make decisions.
Manager/leader
consults followers
when making
decisions.
Authoritarian
Power
Manager/leader
imposes decisions.

None Domination Consultation Participation Delegation