Guest Editorial
by John Troyer
Empowerment
Empowerment-the process of driving decision making to the lowest possible
level-is trendy. It is one of the hottest organizational buzzwords today.
But what does it look like, why do you need it, and what is it made of?
What does empowerment look like?
There are various stages of empowerment. At the lowest level, where there
is no empowerment, the one in charge retains responsibility. At the highest
level, the person in charge releases full decision making and responsibility
to someone else. The four levels in between quantify the gradual growth
from the least to the most release.
I was in a meeting recently at a major international corporation with the
total quality director and human resources manager. They both indicated
that the executive team had a high degree of discomfort with the whole concept
of empowerment. They had determined that without some compelling reason,
they simply would not take on the risks involved in releasing control. This
raises a key question.
Why do you need empowerment?
Why must managers and business owners consider releasing control to their
employees? We could drone on endlessly about employee morale and development
and utilization. But the important issue is getting things done, and getting
the right things done.
Surveys indicate that executives understand very little about where the
functional problems lie in an organization. Unless the manager is also running
the machines, ordering the material, making the journal entries, stacking
boxes, shipping parts, storing inventory and performing every other activity,
he or she doesn't know about the functional problems everyone faces and
must overcome daily.
According to one survey, executives are aware of only 4 percent of functional
problems. That means they don't know about 24 out of 25 issues that line
workers solve daily.
Many managers, especially in smaller organizations, operate as supervisors.
They may have a different title, but their primary function includes making
sure the line workers actually get the job done. Most small-business owners
devote a large amount of time to this task. The survey indicated that those
who supervise line workers know of 68 percent of the functional problems
their people face. That means that they are unaware of 32 percent.
Line workers know every obstacle they must overcome. They know everything
that stands in their way. So they are the ideal ones to address the problems.
When we think about empowerment, we need to understand delegation of responsibility.
Notice that responsibility is delegated, not authority.
If you hand your neighbor the keys to your house and say, "While I'm
out of town, could you please water the plants for me?" you have delegated
the responsibility of watering the plants and provided the necessary authority,
the keys. The implied authority only extends as far as the mission. Specific
limits are implied in the delegation of responsibility.
On the other hand, if I hand you my car keys and say, "You can drive
my car," I've delegated authority. But there are no parameters. You
can do anything you want with my car. I must either specify all the things
I want you or don't want you to do, or just let you go. And that's the problem
most managers have with empowerment. They know they should give the line
workers the keys, but they are afraid of what might happen.
What is empowerment made of?
Empowerment has three facets: the wisdom to know what to do and when to
do it, the will to do what needs to be done and the wherewithal to do it.
These facets fit together like three sides of a cube (see Figure 1). Their
individual success depends on the presence of the other two parameters.
If you remove any one side, the other two collapse into a useless heap.
If your workers know what to do and when to do it (have the wisdom), and
have the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to want to do it (have the will)
but lack the tools, techniques and training (don't have the wherewithal)
to do it, they won't be able to do what needs to get done.
If, on the other hand, your workers have the will and the wherewithal but
lack the wisdom, they could fail to act when they should and will act when
they should not. And if they have the wisdom and the wherewithal but lack
the will, they won't do anything. Each facet of The Empowerment Cube depends
on the other two.
So what do you do? When you set the direction for your organization's development,
make sure that you look for opportunities to equip your employees with the
big picture. Seek to remove any demotivating factors. Build on their desire
to do a good job and to use their natural talents, their intrinsic motivation.
Share the greatest financial and career rewards possible.
And, finally, make sure that they have the tools, techniques and training
they need to do the job right. You will have not only an empowered employee,
but you will feel empowered to release them.
About the author
John Troyer is director of the Center for Organizational Effectiveness,
which exists to help organizations maximize their effectiveness. He is the
creator of The Improvement Path, the process for process improvement, and
the author of Walking the Improvement Path.
Contact Troyer at http://www. cinti.net/~jtroyer/welcome.htm or jtroyer@cinti.net,
or call (513) 742-9552.
