How Can Empowering Employees With Authority Affect Performance?

Empowering employees requires trust and confidence from managers.

The employees who devise strategy, accomplish tasks and deliver value are the core building blocks of any successful business, and managers constantly face the challenge of creating a satisfying work environment that allows employees to perform at high levels. Empowering employees with true authority is a recent trend seen in many organizations that can dramatically improve job satisfaction and increase work performance.

More Efficient Decision Making

Shared authority eliminates red tape and allows employees to take action.

Employees empowered with autonomy and authority make meaningful decisions without being forced to navigate through the morale-killing red tape of an organization. Eliminating unnecessary and repetitive layers of management by empowering employees and distributing authority increases the speed and efficiency of decision making, and being the first product or service to launch in a competitive market can be the difference between success and failure.

Stronger Sense of Responsibility

Empowerment gives employees the opportunity to make meaningful contributions.

When employees are empowered to take critical actions and exert meaningful influence, they internalize a sense of responsibility and feel more in control of their own career destinies. This internalized responsibility improves feelings of self worth and value within an organization, and similar to an employee stock ownership program, motivates employees to maximize performance by more accurately connecting their own actions with realized outcomes and results.

Increased Job Satisfaction

Recognition of success and achievement is critical to effective empowerment.

Management and organizational behavior guru Frederick Herzberg determined that greater responsibility and authority are among the most critical factors leading to high job satisfaction. Delegating authority, challenging employees and celebrating individual and team accomplishments leads to increased employee morale, productivity and performance.

Effective Use of Management Time

Famed philosopher Lao Tzu expertly remarked, "a leader is best when people barely know he exists."

Many managers struggle with the leap of faith required to empower employees with authority, but if they commit fully, they can reap the rewards and benefits of an empowered workforce. By delegating certain authority to employees, managers are free to focus on the big picture strategic issues, supporting employees and facilitating growth without getting caught up in the minutiae of day-to-day task completion. Further, many managers are evaluated on the performance of their teams, and with an empowered, high-performing team under their supervision, managers can be recognized for their strong leadership skills.

References

• Leaders Direct: Empowerment
• Net MBA: Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory
• Business Performance: Boosting Employee Morale Increases Productivity