Everyday Business Tips: Empowering Your Employees

Before you listen to what I got to say, you definitely would like to know who I am. I understand the idea behind your concern. You are a busy person, very busy and do not really have the time to listen to anyone who is not important. I am exactly that side of a perspective - the side that you do not care to listen to. I am an employee. It does not really matter, where I work or whom I work for. What matters is that I am one of the billions of employees out there who is working hard to make you successful. If you care to listen, it will be for your own good. You are welcome to comment on what I have got to say - I will definitely hear your side and respond what I feel about that. I also welcome others like me to express their thought here so that we can make some creative and interactive use of this online space.

Be Truthful: Are you really interested in empowering your employees?

Every book that you ever might have read about managing enterprises would have spoken about the need to empower your employees. It is indeed true that empowering your employees to take decisions of their own not only enables their professional and psychological growth, it also relieves your of a lot of stress. However, when you decide to do something of this kind, you are always arguing with someone who is against it - yourself. As business owners and managers you need to ask yourself this one very important question. As you really looking at empowering your employees or are your words a mere mechanisms to keep their faith and hold them responsible for their failures. Experience of many others like me suggests that bosses are actually not too very keen to delegate powers. What they are interested actually is to delegate responsibilities among the staff below.

Responsibilities and Powers are actually two different aspects of managerial development. It is only when both go together that managers are able to be successful. Imagine if you are responsible for a certain activity but do not have the power to actually go ahead and execute it - how will you end up managing it. Most organization performs in such a messy environment. Business enterprises often fail to understand that, employees are not actually weary of assuming responsibility, what they are worried is that responsibilities are not often accompanied by the requisite form of power which will empower them to take action to achieve a certain goal. Most business owners and manager are wearier than their employees when it comes to handing out responsibilities and powers. More often than not it is seen that employees end up receiving not more than lip service leading them into frustration.

If you are seriously interested in seeing your employees perform give them the responsible and also the commensurate powers to execute the responsibility. If they fail, even before you pin them hear what they have got to say. Evaluate their response. Were the powers sufficient for them to execute the responsibilities which they were asked to deliver. Remember, you need your employees as much as they need you. Work together rather than against each other.