Is Empowering Employees A Myth in Your Organization?

I’m pleased to announce that I have joined in partnership with Sprint to highlight and share some of the valuable content being provided on their new small business information and community site, Business on Main, which can be found on the MSN Network.

On the surface, most leaders will agree that encouraging a workplace where employees feel valued and engaged is important to their organization’s growth and success. Indeed, a recent study by Aon Hewitt has shown that companies with high levels of employee engagement outperformed the total stock market index despite the current economic difficulties.

And yet, despite this understanding of the correlation between employee engagement and financial gains, a recent Gallup poll revealed that more than 70% of employees are “not engaged” or “actively disengaged”.

In the article “Empower Your Employees … Your Business Depends on It“, business consultant and customer service expert John Tschohl, author of the book “Empowerment: A Way of Life”, points out that part of the problem is that the concept of empowering employees is more of a myth as most “business owners think they’ve empowered their employees when in reality they haven’t.”

While corporations have access to a greater number of resources to tackle this issue, if not the ability to offer their employees more opportunities and challenges, how can small businesses address the issue of a disengaged workforce? Check out this article “Empower Your Employees … Your Business Depends on It” to find out what measures small business owners can take to empower their employees and read some of the results other business owners have had with engaging their team to succeed.

Disclaimer: My blog is a part of an online influencer network for Business on Main. I receive monthly incentives to share my views on content I find noteworthy and relevant for my audience.

15 comments on “Is Empowering Employees A Myth in Your Organization?

  1. There is no such REAL thing as empowerment. The concept suggests that you can actually directly change someone's behavior. As a simple proof that this is not possible, "Go ahead and empower me to do something."

    It is NOT your choice, but it is the choice of the individual.

    Related to this, however, is that most of us would find that most people act as if they are un-empowered in the workplace. I will not offer any proof on this, since you can undoubtedly think of many examples. To my way of thinking and reframing just a bit, these people are ROADBLOCKED, either by perception or experience or choice.

    Roadblocks are those things that get in the way of people doing things and many of them would simply be what we would call, "beliefs." If people think that they can't, they are right. (And they can demonstrate that to you, if you wish. No amount of argument will change that.)

    My suggestion for workplace (and personal) improvement is to better analyze the roadblock itself and generate "considered alternatives," changing the choices that people have available to them. Lots of counseling techniques and coaching approaches are focused on simply changing perceptions or altering choices. It makes no sense to protest and push on the really big roadblocks – those simply need to be delegated upwards and do not need to use up energy.

    On the other hand, many roadblocks are simply perceptions — people believe that they cannot and thus they do not even try.

    SO, one of my reccomendations for managers and parents and others is something simple that I call Dis-Un-Empowerment. It is an approach to work to help that person remove some of the perceived roadblocks that get in the way of them improving.

    You can coach someone to be less roadblocked. You cannot coach them to be "empowered" since you do not get at the reasons behind their being blocked.

    Don't Just DO Something, Stand There.

    Take a look at the situation, generate a list of considered alternative behavioral possibilities and help that person to better understand the dynamics surrounding their current behavior.

    But do not try to "empower" them…
    .

    1. Hi Scott,

      I think what we have here is more an issue of semantics than differences in applied approaches. While I agree with you that people do box themselves in because of self-limiting perceptions and other biases, the fact is that leaders can nonetheless inadvertently introduce obstacles that prevent their team from succeeding. No matter how much I might change my perception of what goes on in my workplace, if those in charge insist on shooting down any suggestions or recommendations I have because they can't see the value or because the idea is not theirs I will still be prevented from reaching my objectives.

      Also, to empower someone doesn't mean forcing them to do something which you allude to in your comment "Go ahead and empower me to do something." as it's not a question of having power over someone. Rather, it's about creating an understanding and appreciation of how what you're doing is valuable and meaningful. In this light, the power doesn't come from me, but from within you because you're being recognized and valued for contributing something that matters to those around you; that you're making a difference outside of yourself.

      We have to be careful about generalizations in saying that we can't empower people because the truth is we can – we can through our efforts to validate the contributions of others, to recognize the value they provide by sharing their unique talents, insights and abilities with the team and by providing them with feedback to inform them of not only how their contributions help the organization reach its objectives, but also by providing them with a sense of direction to ensure their efforts remain relevant and vital to an organization's success.

      Again, one needs to only look at the various studies being done on employee disengagement to see that this has less to do with internal perceptions about our abilities and more the lack of recognition and feedback on how our efforts matter. It's easy to dump this on the laps of employees, but the reality is that leaders play a very critical role in fostering a culture and work environment where employees feel valued and yes, empowered.

      1. I agree with you there Tanveer, empowerment definitely is a REAL thing. No disrespect intended to Dr Simmerman, but empowerment is not supposed to be about forcing people to do what you want.

        Empower: Give (someone) the authority or power to do something.

        I think if we all agree on this definition of the word there can be no question that this is a very REAL word, and one that should be used a lot more by business owners and managers. It's about giving people the authority to overcome "Roadblocks", not about making them do so.

  2. Good conversation; hear-hear! I also feel, and have observed through my experience working with organizations, that consistency in feedback and communicating value is very important — in a manger to employee relationship as well as employee to employee relationship. This type of relationship requires patience, generosity of spirit, willingness to develop each other across the team, recognition of strengths, encouraging risk-taking — all to grow the organization, employees and teams to the point of enabling themselves to be self-empowered. I agree that it's a choice and, oftentimes, a risk to take action that may be outside or above our everyday decision-making capacity. And it's a choice that's enabled and encouraged in an organization that values learning by mistakes, growth and development, led by leaders who are willing to step back, be role models and make room for that to happen.

    1. Exactly, Renee. In discussing this with a colleague, I was reminded of how many studies have shown how our attitudes and perceptions are affected – either positively or adversely – by those around us. On that finding alone, we can see that the ability for employees to feel valued and empowered in their organization is very much tied to the efforts of those in leadership to communicate that value and purpose to those they lead.

      Assuming that people are getting a paycheck is proof enough that they are valued isn't enough – your employees need to see that what they do matters in a meaningful way to their organization.

      Thanks again, Renee for sharing your thoughts on this; grateful to have your participation in this discussion.

      1. You're welcome, Tanveer. Another thought that just popped for me is this — knowing my value and knowing that my contributions are both valued and are aligned to what I really care about directly relates to the level of well-being I experience. (Gallup: Well-being study).

        1. Absolutely; it's a fallacy to think that employees only care about work to earn a regular paycheck. To truly tap into the full potential of everyone in your organization, leaders need to demonstrate how their employees matter, to their team, to their organization, and ultimately to those they serve. Thanks for adding that point to this discussion, Renee.

  3. As far as I have seen, people (read – business owners) want to prevent their employees from learning and they discourage engagement as far as possible. In that sense, empowering employees is actually a myth alright!

    1. Unfortunately, it most certainly is, Raj, as the various studies I pointed out in this piece reveal. The fact that more than 70% of today's workforce is disengaged is not something to take lightly as it's no doubt part of the vicious cycle which is allowing the current economic crisis to persist.

      As the article on the Business on Main site points out, small business owners especially need to take notice of this issue if they are to keep their business operating and not slowly slipping down the hole.

  4. Depends on the culture, but thanks to our turbulent economy people have become risk averse, thus do not want to make any decisions that potentially can cause them to lose their job.

    1. Exactly, Jim. This is in fact one of the very first points this article on Business on Main points out as to the reason why so many employees are checking out at work – better to be quiet and keep your job safe than run the risk of drawing attention to potential opportunities which may not pan out or problems which you might get the blame for because you dared to point it out.

  5. Treating any employee with the respect that they deserve can really spur them on to do a great job for you. It's common knowledge that if you treat your staff poorly, they're not going to put in the effort when they get nothing in return.

    1. Agreed. Unfortunately, what one might consider as treating your staff poorly is considered by others to be the way things are done around here. That's why in some ways, the idea of empowering employees in today's workplace is more of a myth because those in charge either wrongly assume they are engaging their employees or worse, they don't think it's necessary or a part of their job.

      One look at these two studies mentioned above prove that leaders not only need to do more to empower their employees, but they also need to be more aware of the damage they do to the viability of their organization if they let this slide.

    2. Couldn't agree with this more. A lot of managers think it's the employees' fault for not being empowered and engaging, but neglect to realise that it their poor management and leadership could be responsible. Sure, there will always be employees who don't care, no matter how hard you try – that's just an unfortunate truth. However, many good, once-empowered employees may have gone the other way, simply giving up or losing interest…

      1. Absolutely, Steve. As I've written before, it's important for leaders to demonstrate why the efforts their employees do matter – for the organization, for their customers/clients, and for the employees themselves – so that their team feels driven to deliver more and achieve success.

        We are all driven to know that what we do has a purpose, has a meaning beyond ourselves. Delivering that message consistently to your team is one of the most critical functions a leader has to ensure their organization succeeds and grows.

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