The Power of Employee Empowerment in the Workplace

Your company doesn’t function very well without motivated employees. Think about it. If you treat them like dirt, will they produce for you? No way. They’ll probably sabotage every project, and bleed your corporate coffers dry in the process. Plus, it sets up an antagonistic relationship with them that’s almost impossible to recover from even after the business fails – making it difficult to start up another company in the same location. It’s much easier, and more profitable, to employer your employees.

Assign Project According to Skill Level

You just spent a lot of money with CleanItSupply on cleaning products. Do you then put someone whose skill level is above that into a janitorial position? No way. That would be crazy, yet it happens all the time in higher-level positions. Employees skills are often underutilized in many companies these days due to the ongoing recession.

In 2009, a Work Foundation survey of more than 2,000 workers found that 40 percent of employees  possess more advanced skills than their roles require. That’s a lot of wasted talent – find something more productive for the underutilized geniuses in your company. Your bottom line will thank you.

On the other end of the continuum, there are the employees whose job duties exceed their competencies. Sometimes, these employees are able to effectively cover mistakes and inadequacies through delegation, but it eventually comes out. When assigning projects, audit employee skill levels so that there’s always a good match between their skill level and the project’s demands.

Communicate With Employees

Talk to your employees about any changes that your department or organization might be going through. You might not want to reveal some details or plans yet, but keeping your employees informed of what’s going on builds morale and shows that you care about their welfare. Speak with employees, including rank-and-file employees to measure their satisfaction with their job.

Listen To Employees

Part of being a good communicator is being an effective listener. Listen to what your staff says about the company, about their job, and about their home life. Pay attention to any complaints, and suggestions, they have.

Listen to any ideas that employees have for making their own job easier. If you’ve never done their job, or it’s been a long while since you’ve held that position in the company, they might have picked up on a process that would simplify things. Nothing bad comes from adopting more productive practices.

Give Your Employees Authority

Want to give your employees a sense of pride? Give them decision-making authority. When you give more responsibility to employees who prove themselves responsible, it creates a sense of trust. They, in turn, want to be more productive for you. They want to continue to prove higher and higher levels of trust within your company.

Create an Atmosphere of Positivity

Create policies and rules that promote and foster a positive work environment. It makes sense, but it’s not something that always gets implemented. If you treat your workplace like a dictatorship, employees will develop an antagonistic relationship with you.

You’ll have to fight to get projects completed on time, your QA will drop, and you’ll start seeing higher employee turnover.

Show Appreciation

When employees do a good job, and hit benchmarks, show them that you care. A bonus, gift card, a night out on the town, and even a small paid vacation are all ways to show your employee that you appreciate the work he’s doing.