Empowerment means to enable, help develop a sense of self-confidence, help people overcome feelings of powerlessness, energize people to take action, and to mobilize intrinsic motivation to accomplish a task (Whetten & Cameron, 2011, p. 445). According to Forrester, empowerment is an “exacting involvement that implies the freedom and the ability to make decisions and commitments, not just suggest them or be part of making them” (Forrester, 2000, p. 67). Empowerment is usually mentioned at some point when discussing how to achieve organizational success. However, the challenge for an organization lies within finding ways to foster empowerment. Conversely, an organization may have good intentions of integrating empowerment techniques, but end up failing by incorporating methods which ultimately destroy it. Some believe empowerment may even be overrated based on how organizations struggle with making it work to their advantage. Forrester suggests “that the shortfalls in empowerment that many organizations have experienced are more about implementation than flawed conception; and there are ways to correct what has been limiting the success of organizations” (Forrester, 2000, p. 67).
Forrester’s article, “Empowerment: Rejuvenating a potent idea” delves into examples of some common mistakes organizations make when trying to introduce empowerment and offers suggestions on more effective options. These empowerment errors include (1) impulsive empowerment mandates, (2) overreliance on a narrow psychological concept, (3) one-size-fits-all empowerment, (4) negligence of the needs of power sharers, (5) piecemeal approaches, and (6) distortions of accountability. Like Forrester, Whetten & Cameron identified empowerment roadblocks. They have recognized three broad inhibitors to accomplishing empowerment: attitudes about subordinates, personal insecurities, and need for control. There are way organizations can succeed in empowering their employees, despite the challenges organizations face in trying to attain it. The strategies Forrester recommends to achieve empowerment include (1) enlarging power, (2) be sure of what you want to do, (3) differentiate among employees, (4) support power shares, (5) building fitting systems, and (6) focus on results.
Whetten & Cameron take a similar approach to accomplish empowerment and claim there are five dimensions of empowerment which include: “skillful empowerment means producing (1) a sense of self-efficacy, (2) a sense of self-determination, (3) a sense of personal consequence, (4) a sense of meaning, and (5) a sense of trust”. Additionally, Whetten & Cameron go into greater depth in discussing the nine prescriptions for fostering empowerment and how each relates to the five dimensions. These prescriptions for empowerment include: articulating a clear vision and values, fostering personal mastery experiences, modeling, providing support, emotional arousal, providing information, providing resources, connecting to outcomes, and creating confidence (2011). Empowerment is a valuable strategy to incorporate for organization success as evidenced through the examples of Forrester and Whetten & Cameron. However, it is up to the organization to exercise these strategies, dimensions, and prescriptions while simultaneously avoiding using the wrong tactics to destroy empowerment.
References:
Forrester, R. (2000). Empowerment: Rejuvenating a potent idea. The Academy of Management Executive, 14(3), 67-80. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/210518384?accountid=27203
Whetten, D. A., & Cameron, K. S. (2011). Developing
Management Skills (8th ed.)
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall.
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