8 Ways To Really Empower Your Employees

by Kelsey Ruger on March 07, 2009

What manager doesn't dream of having enthusiastic, committed employees who can "make things happen" without constant direction? Some managers have attempted to jump start this behavior by creating programs intended to get "empowered" employees to make decisions and take independent action. What they aren't prepared for is the surprising fact that these programs usually have the opposite effect leaving managers wondering why people won't act in "empowered" ways. Maybe you've heard or said something like this before:

"When I started this program I was pretty sure about what I wanted. I kept seeing employees who didn't care about their work, didn't understand what it takes to keep the business afloat and didn't really seek out ways to help the business grow. I was always really good at doing this earlier in my career so I tend to be hands-on, spending lots of time showing them how to do their jobs the right way. Even though I worry a lot about the decisions they make, I still want to delegate lots of projects that will help them grow. I don't get it...they simply won't take my lead. I don't think employees want to be empowered..."

It's time we all realize - the traditional view of "employee empowerment" simply doesn't work. Why? There are two basic reasons. The first reason is that most managers confuse delegation with empowerment and don't give employees the freedom needed for independent action to take place. Second, you simply can't give people power. The only thing you can do is create an environment where employees understand the company's vision, and feel that they have the freedom to go do whatever is required to achieve it - thereby creating power for themselves.

Empowering employees isn't just about finding lots of ways to give more authority, it's about liberating them so that they can make something happen with that authority. Before you add any programs, take a look at the the habits you might have that are seriously limiting your employees ability to help you run the ship, maybe without you even knowing it. Here are 8 tips to increase the likelihood your employees feel this freedom, how to recognize them, and what to do instead:

Tip 1: You have to be committed first

You can't expect employees to believe lofty goal that you don't believe in and commit to first. Whenever I speak about creativity, leadership or new media marketing (or any new learning objective for that matter) the first thing I ask people to do is commit. It sounds really simple, but even if you hear and agree with advice you receive not committing to following the steps needed to put the advice into action will result in very little progress. If you truly want to have employees who know how to make things happen you have to commit to doing the things that will make that possible.

Tip 2: You have to communicate your vision with clarity

Vision is the fuel that drives your organization. It's the ideal that employees are supposed to be working toward bit by bit every day. To be the most powerful employee, you need to know and understand the vision.. I'm not talking about silly plaques, t-shirts and wordy statements that don't mean anything. A corporate vision or mantra should clarify for an employee why their job exists on the deepest level, regardless of what they do. Also, it's important to note that there is a difference between "sharing the vision" and making sure there is "shared understanding of the vision". If the team doesn’t commit to or more importantly - understand how it relates directly to their role in the company it won’t work. Understanding your vision allows employees to seek out creative solutions to every day challenges because now they know why they are doing it.

Tip 3: You have to really value people

The worst things you can do to derail an initiative intended to help employees be more proactive is to tell them you value them and then not demonstrate it. In today's economic downturn people really should be viewed as appreciating assets. That means understanding the cumulative value of training and experiences employees receive while working for you. Skill and talent simply aren't the same thing anymore than a stock certificate and cash in the bank are the same thing. If you use "skill" and "talent" interchangeably, and see employees as replaceable expenses you are more likely to cripple or crush a relatively healthy company than you are to encourage people to seek new opportunities to grow themselves and the company.

Tip 4: Coach Them - Then Get Out Of The Way

If you really want to stop employees from seeking new ways to improve the company - be an autocrat. Autocratic managers, who micromanage their staff tend not to be able to utilize employee empowerment because they don't understand its source. Micromanaging diminishes employee self-confidence, kills their ability (and desire) to take initiative and think for themselves. The best policy is to coach your employee how to determine the best decisions by teaching concepts like problem solving, communication, conflict resolution and time management. Coaching allows you to step away and know that for the most part when they make a decision it's probably exactly what you would have them do. If you think it's necessary to oversee all aspects of employee work, and will not give up control you need to examine that first. "empowerment" becomes a futile and demeaning exercise if it's only about delegation. Start freeing your employees from the traditional shackles and "helpful" managerial intrusions.

Tip 5: Flip your organization on its head

In a traditional environment most of the knowledge and/or expertise resides at the top of the organization or in specialized roles. It's much more about hierarchy and control than it is about efficiently solving business problems. To give employees the ability to move an organization forward you have to flip this model. That means anyone in the organization can be a part of the "brain" because they have access to the information, expertise, learning opportunities, decision-making authority and most importantly the accountability needed to do so. People also need to be able to easily cross boundaries between the roles in the organization in order to make things happen. In this way your job isn't just to be the "boss" and the employees' job isn't just to "complete tasks" as delegated by the "boss". Both become a part of a larger, more capable company brain.

Tip 6: Encourage Curiosity

Many times people are hired based simply on technical skill or expertise and are expected to contribute within a specific narrowly defined job role and an even narrower scope of "this is how we do things". It might be explicitly stated, but no one wants you to ask questions or make suggestions about anything other than what you were hired for. Are you a programmer with a great idea for the marketing team? Don't even think about because it will probably be dismissed and surely be unwelcome. As a manager you can help cultivate an environment of empowerment by encouraging employees to have a voracious appetite for questions and the desire to seek out the answer to those questions. Curious (don't confuse nosy with curious) people don't tolerate mediocrity and definitely don't have a just "doing my job" attitude.

Tip 7: Accept Your Failures And Theirs

Thomas Watson, the founder of IBM, once declared “success lies on the far side of failure.” Most people are taught at an early age that failure is bad and should be avoided at all cost. The truth is, many successes are the result of failures. Employees have to feel free to make mistakes so that can make the most of failure by learning from it. Tell your employees about your own failures and what you learned from them. Instead of saying things like "Anything worth doing is worth doing well", adopt a habit of saying "Anything worth doing is worth having the courage to do poorly." Being OK with failure is a critical step that people need to take because action (good or bad) breeds more action, and soon they will be rolling along.

Tip 8: Challenge Sacred Cows

We live in a world of constant change and thinking that your processes, your policies or even your business model don't ever need to be changed or thrown out is a recipe for disaster. Most companies have at least one "ideal" whose meaning has lost its original impact, but hasn't been abandoned because of the energy invested in its creation. These ideals are often immune to criticism and the people who challenge them are often ignored or marginalized. Why is this a problem? Because even if the old "ideal" was correct when it was introduced, it may be false now because it is based on facts that have changed or become irrelevant. You have to encourage employees to view everything (policies, processes, meetings, etc) as being open to challenge. That doesn't mean that you will change them, it simply means they feel free to and trust that if it's a good idea it will be considered.

Remember this powerful truth: Empowerment actually has very little to do with you giving an employee anything other than freedom. It's all about an individual enabling himself to take action, control their work and make decisions autonomously. Empowerment comes from the individual and isn't just a matter of delegating job authority to the job-holders.