Empowering employees can have multiple positive benefits to the workplace.
1. Free Up Management Time:
Employees can take the lead on projects and tasks and free up the manager or leader to do other things. The leader often has the responsibility of growing the company. When they tie themselves up in the day to day operations they remove themselves from this important task.
2. Company Growth
Growing the company, getting out and acquiring new projects, new clients and visioning greater success are all part of being the CEO or leader. Employees can take on the day to day operations of organizations.
4. Empowering employees is good for morale.
When managers have to control every aspect of an employee’s work it is demoralizing to the employee. When staff make suggestions or put forth ideas and they are never accepted or considered, or have to be the idea of the manger or leader, then employees stop making suggestions. Staff do not work for pay alone.
5. Increased staff satisfaction
Work conditions play a major role in staff satisfaction and performance. When staff are in a situation where they have little control, are not acknowledged for their work or ideas then their performance suffers. The results for the team or the company are negative. Turn-over increases and the costs to organization are impacted.
Empowering means giving up some control, but does not mean that the organization runs wild. Staff have great ideas. It is gold. They see ways to improve operations, get things done faster, easier for less cost. The misconception of the micro manager is that only they care about the company. When true leaders share their vision and passion for the company, employees can embrace that vision and passion as well. When that leader then empowers the employees to do great work, results can soar.
As the leader or CEO you can set up communication systems that empower employees and at the same time keep you informed and in the loop. But you do need to follow through and let employees make decisions and not take back all control when you are informed of staff decisions.
Empowering instead of micro managing will result in better organizational results and free you, the leader up to further grow the organization.
When you develop an environment that coaches staff, then you are meeting with your staff consistently and regularly. Your staff have specific goals that they are working on and reporting on and you are both tracking what the results are. That environment looks forward towards the company vision and strategic plan so that everyone is working in the same direction for the growth of the organization. This shift not only empowers staff but also empowers you as the leader to be the leader and focus on growth.
Download an excerpt of my book Employee Coaching or pick up a full copy. Employee Coaching and learn how to inspire staff to create the results that you need through coaching.
Last night’s new episode of Undercover Boss featured the City of Pittsburgh. We just visited Pittsburgh a couple of years ago and we were shocked at what a nice city it has become!! We were biking the Great Allegheny Passage from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C. We ended up in Pittsburgh for an extra day due to weather and got to do a bit of exploring. The bike trails are incredible. The city has two rivers that converge right downtown and the new park is beautiful.
