EMPOWERMENT
Team Building Glossary
Team Building — Empowerment
Information on Empowerment
It would be unfair and incomplete to address the topic
of Self-Directed Teams without a corresponding mention about empowerment, as they are, in effect, one and the same!
An empowered workforce is one where employees take on many
of the responsibilities previously reserved for managers. Empowerment
is thought to lead to greater levels of employee commitment
and adaptability. At the same time empowerment produces
increases in productivity, quality, and cost-efficiencies for the organisation, it
generates gains in the Quality of Work Life (QWL) for
employees.
Whatever the particular form empowerment takes in an
organisation, it hinges on several important features. These include, among
others:
These features, or variables, all work in concert with one another. For example, as opportunities are provided to employees to manage themselves, and access to resources and authority are permitted, they will increasingly make better-informed decisions and take actions consistent with organisational purpose. This cycle continues positively as employees experience rewards consequent to their initiatives, seek, and are given more opportunity.
As the team becomes more skilled and responsible, asserts its own control, and begins to regulate itself, it is accorded greater organisational opportunity to perform more challenging tasks and make more significant decisions. Thus, the team acquires increasing autonomy, responsibility, and accountability. In a process that typically begins with the organisation top-down, but becomes more of the team’s responsibility over time, team members acquire the skills, practice effective behaviours, and internalise self-assurance, enabling the team to wield the power it has earned.
Other topics in our resources on Team Building related to Empowerment include:
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