Encouraging the empowerment of employees and their autonomy is now essential for companies. Indeed, few of them succeed in sufficiently stimulating initiative taking within their teams. Employee projects therefore do not often come to fruition, even though they are in the best position to have relevant ideas in order to make your business evolve. We will see together all the benefits you can obtain by empowering your employees, and will give you advice to implement this new form of management in your teams.
Employee empowerment: what is it about?
Employee empowerment refers to promoting initiatives and encouraging autonomy. This allows employees to be creative, to propose new ways of doing their tasks and to think more for themselves in the face of the challenges they face on a daily basis.
This concept of accountability is totally opposed to traditional and authoritarian management practices, which impose a very strict framework in carrying out missions. The manager gives instructions, dictates how to do things and checks the execution very regularly.
Benefits for both the company and the employees
By offering autonomy to your employees, you allow them to become more effective. Indeed, this allows them to adapt at their own pace, to carry out tasks in the way that seems most relevant to them, but also to develop skills. By achieving goals on their own, they gain confidence. They can thus receive recognition from their manager or colleagues. All of these factors make them feel good.
For its part, the company benefits from a positive employer brand, which makes it possible to attract new talent and then to retain them. Empowering employees can be a decisive point for a candidate: it means that the organization trusts its employees and lets them take initiatives.
In general, employee empowerment is a real added value for a company. Indeed, it promotes creativity and innovation, two factors that can be essential to stand out from the competition. It also allows teams to be more productive, so the gain is also economic.
Fears that are still present
Despite all these benefits, some people continue to fear giving their employees more freedom.
This is sometimes the case with managers. Accustomed to leading and controlling everything, it is common for them to have difficulty giving more autonomy to the members of their team. They may feel that they are losing control and that they no longer have a role in the company. It is important to support these people, by defining their new missions and by highlighting the challenges of this form of management.
Some employees, who are used to being very guided and making few decisions, may also be disturbed. Very often, it is the fear of doing the wrong thing that makes them apprehend this. This is why it is essential to establish a climate of trust and caring in your business before offering them more responsibilities.
Encourage initiative within your company
Promoting employee accountability is not always easy. To help you, it is interesting to rely on one or more tools.
Teamstarter is an example. This participatory budgeting platform allows your employees to get involved in causes or projects that are important to them. To do this, they allocate a monthly sum (offered by the company) to the ideas of their choice. This system allows everyone, regardless of their hierarchical level, to propose actions and then to implement them. That greatly encourages taking initiative, gives employees confidence and makes it possible to carry out very beautiful projects, which would probably never have succeeded without the existence of such a platform.
Employee empowerment and autonomy have become real challenges for companies. Encouraging teams to make decisions and to follow through with their ideas has a very positive impact on organizations. Unfortunately, many are still struggling to encourage this. To help you, you can set up tools that encourage employees to propose projects and make them a reality. The trust and recognition they will gain will help them to take responsibility for their daily work as well.
Discover the secrets to involve your employees in business strategy!
Gisèle Sanquigro (Member of Comex Aeroline - Sopra Steria), Joseph BenAaron (DRH Aeroline - Sopra Steria), and Thierry Luthi (President of Report One) share their experiences and best practices to overcome the challenges of engaging employees in corporate strategy.
Download our summary to benefit from their valuable advice and discover how these leaders are succeeding in uniting their teams around strategic goals.
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