In the modern world of work there is now a
constant pressure to do more with less. Agile work conditions are increasingly
becoming commonplace as organisations realise the benefits. Paired with an explosion of global business
practices, this has given many employees the capacity to work anywhere at any
time. Employees are now being asked to
be adaptable to changing circumstances, autonomous, and capable of
self-managing their teams. Too often
however, organisational development can occur to infrastructure and processes,
and yet fail to engage employees.
This is why employee empowerment is so
important to success during organisational change. It is a critical element for any organisation
committed to development and change in the digital age. Shifting circumstances need an aligned change
culture, or risk critical failure. Given the costs typically
associated with restructuring an organisation, it is reasonable to question
organisation and individual benefits when it comes to promoting an empowerment
mindset. Business
leaders and human resources academics have frequently made note of the many key
workforce issues that can be addressed through employee psychological
empowerment strategies.
Turnover Intention
Employee empowerment has been shown to have negative direct and indirect
effects on turnover intention. Empowered
employees are far more likely to care about the work they produce, as well as
their organisation. This loyalty and
commitment has enormous implications.
A recent report
by the Australian Human Resource Institute revealed an average turnover rate of
16%,
a notable increase given the turnover rate was 12% only three years prior. It is no secret that increased employee
turnover has detrimental financial implications for organisations – it can cost
anywhere from tens of thousands of dollars to double an employee’s annual
salary, just to replace one individual. This
is before factoring the intangible costs of employee turnover on organisations,
such as added stress, tension, reductions in employee morale, and disruptions to
group synergy and productivity.
The
benefits increase even further when considering the features of the digital
age, where smaller talents pools have created a shortage of quality candidates.
David Brown, a Deloitte partner in Human
Capital, noted that in Australia “we spend almost twice as much on recruiting
people as we do training and developing them”. Reducing turnover intentions through empowered
employees allows organisations to invest less on recruitment and more where it
matters: development.
Leadership Development
For years organisations have proclaimed the
importance of cultivating leaders from within
their organisations; executives frequently posit that succession management is their
most critical human capital priority. While
leadership development programs have come a long way, they are far from ideal
when equipping employees with the necessary skills to manage within their
functions. Far too many training
initiatives tend to assume one size fits
all, and that the same styles of leadership will produce consistent results
across areas of work, indefinitely.
In enacting an employee empowerment strategy, employees can be given a
sizeable chunk of the decision-making function, alongside a small number of key
competencies that will make a sizable impact on performance. Instead of throwing high potentials into a sea
of capability frameworks and organisational value statements, the impactful
aspects of leadership - such as decision-making and coaching skills - can be
fostered on a daily basis. With the
right training in place to aid employees to develop these core capabilities, today’s
sales representative could be tomorrow’s empowerment leader.
Productivity & Performance
Greater productivity arises at the
operational level when employees are empowered, as they have a superior ability
to resolve problems without added delays in contacting front line managers. At a more strategic level, employees who feel
as if they have a say in the decision-making process work harder. Understanding that they have additional
autonomy over their work, and that managers are going to back their decisions
fosters a sense of ownership. This
feeling of ownership leads employees to feel more committed to producing
quality work, leading to higher productivity and performance.
In the digital age department budgets are
growing exceedingly smaller as margins thin. Having employees that are able to do more with
less ensures sustained, competitive advantages in the market.
Innovation
Giving employees more
autonomy over their environments and consumer interactions provides additional
insights into management decisions and service innovations. Front line employees can often see problems
that behind-the-scenes executives won’t. Being empowered gives these employees the
capacity to share their insights in a far more effective manner. Organisations that value innovation (which
should be all of them) get access to a wealth of employees who can bring new
ways of thinking to existing practices. This employee feedback provides the
opportunity for practical organisations to develop their business strategies
and cement their role in the market.
Beyond these significant business
advantages, empowered employees also promote effective culture change that
aligns with modern continuous and iterative change practices. It appears evident that when seeking to
implement role restructuring, employee empowerment ensures sustained buy in.
With
an understanding of the numerous long term organisational benefits, the next
question is how to implement the required changes to foster a culture of
empowerment – the how to.
Foster Frequent Communication Practices
Transparent and frequent communication should
be, or should become, the norm. Not only
does this aid in building trust and creating a collaborative culture, but
empowered employees need as much information as possible to ensure informed
decision-making in critical situations. Share any relevant information as immediately
and effectively as possible. Employers
should also put in place systems that allow employees to have their voices
heard. Empowered employees should feel
as if they can express themselves and that they will be listened to.
The organisation’s long-term vision and objectives
need to be salient to all employees. Empowered
employees have greater flexibility in their need to rely on management for
guidance. In this dynamic, managers should
be able to provide a clear vision of the organisation’s future. Acting as transformational leaders as opposed
to transactional ones gives empowered employees a resource they can turn to
when required but won’t interfere with every decision made. Further this ensures decisions made by
employees align with consumer demands and the movements of the market.
Providing additional responsibilities to employees
comes with a natural risk of blunders, especially for those that lack
experience. While offering resources and
providing agency, be ready and willing to allow employees to make and learn
from their mistakes. Berating employees
for trying something novel only serves to deter others. The long-term benefits of an innovative
culture far surpass these risks. Remain
cognizant of the big picture and the myriad of other satisfied clients when it
comes to mistakes.
Even
further, create an environment that celebrates not just the success stories,
but the failures as well. Applaud
employees that were willing to take a risk but didn’t quite get the intended
results. These are opportunities to
learn valuable lessons and maintains a freedom to innovate novel business
solutions.
Position Teams to Transition into the New Hierarchy
As employees start to
feel empowered within their work functions, slowly and carefully transfer
further responsibilities from managers to teams. Role restructures towards a flatter
organisational hierarchy should occur over time as an iterative process,
ensuring that key functionally and managerial responsibilities don’t fall to
the wayside, or are taken on by employee’s incapable of immediate delivery. Easing into this process with a lot of support
from employers can make or break a successful change management strategy.
Practical organisations have the chance to foster a
sizable competitive advantage through an empowered culture. In saying this however, some employees are
much better suited to empowerment than others.
Personality
questionnaires offer organisations an
opportunity to identify those employees who are the most capable of excelling in
this environment. One vital personality
attribute we at Psych Press have observed makes all the difference in these
types of endeavours is Autonomy.
Autonomy measures the extent to which an individual feels
comfortable acting with independence, and whether they can perform in a
situation with little or no supervision.
Autonomous individuals are likely to enjoy and succeed in empowered environments
with minimal guidance, where they have the freedom to work through business
problems independently.
An item that you
might see on our Business Personality
Reflections® questionnaire measuring Autonomy
is:
“I make decisions quickly
and effectively under minimal supervision”.
Employees
that enjoy autonomy at work have been shown to have higher work engagement
(Christian, Garza, & Slaughter, 2011).
As stated in the Job Demands and Resources Model, the job resource of
autonomy helps to mitigate the undesirable aspects of work, including high
stressors and psychological strain.
Individuals who can work autonomously also bring organisational
advantages, increasing performance and organisational commitment (Spector,
1986).
Moreover, as
noted by Ryan and Deci (2000) in their Self-Determination Theory, autonomous
employees possess higher levels of motivation, contributing to better
performance and high-level execution of tasks.
This demonstrates how an autonomous employee in your workforce, could
require less supervision, yet perform tasks to a higher quality. Employees who have a high level of autonomy
over their work have a better sense of pride and accomplishment, and are more
resistant to job burnout, reducing turnover intention (Kim & Stoner, 2008).
You
should consider using an Autonomy scale
in your recruiting and development processes if you:
- · Intend on implementing an employee empowerment strategy
- · Want to improve employee motivation and satisfaction
- · Have increasing levels of employee turnover
- · Want to improve workplace performance without constantly providing guidance
Organisations
that hire high-scoring autonomous individuals are reaping the benefits of more
motivated, satisfied and empowered employees.
If
you were interested in learning more about the Psych Press Autonomy Scale on the Business Personality Reflections® personality
questionnaire please simply enquire now for access to an exclusive free trial, or to see how
this menu-driven system can work for you.
