DB 8

Chapter8: Empowerment and Engaging Others

BOOK:

*Developing Management Skills

· Author: David A. Whetten and Kim S. Cameron

· Publisher: Pearson

Edition: 9th edition

Empowering and Delegating

Empowerment means helping to develop in others a sense of self-efficacy, self-determination, personal control, meaning and trust. As we have seen recently with the corruption of corporate leadership in our country, the business environment today is not particularly compatible with the principles of managerial empowerment. Because of the turbulent, complex, competitive circumstances, managers frequently reduce delegation and empowering concepts. Managers who truly empower people remove controls, constraints, and boundaries for them instead of motivating, directing, or stimulating their behavior.

Empowerment means giving up control and letting others make decisions, set goals, accomplish results, and receive rewards. Learning how to be a competent, empowering manager is a critical skill for individuals who foster an efficient, productive work environment. Many times when we feel threatened or pressured from deadlines, we tend to become more controlling. Research on how organizations are managed when they face decline, turbulence, downsizing, and change, reveal 12 negative attributes or attitudes. 

In reaction to a perceived threat, managers often revert back to what they know or have experienced in the past. Without recognizing the behavior, they consider fewer options, look for information that confirms previous biases, or become more narrow-minded in their perspectives. Empowerment is the key to unlocking and redirecting the behavior.

Inhibitors to Empowerment

Inhibitors to empowerment can be categorized into three broad categories:

· Attitudes about subordinates

· Personal insecurities

· Need for control

Managers who avoid empowering others often believe subordinates are not competent, aren’t interested in accepting more responsibility, are overloaded or unable to accept more responsibility, require too much time and training, or shouldn’t be involved in tasks or responsibilities typically performed by the boss.

Some managers want to selfishly retain the recognition and rewards associated with successful task accomplishments without sharing it with others. These personal insecurities may cause them to fear loss of power or position if they reveal their “secrets” of success.

Many managers often have a high need to be in control. They presume that an absence of clear direction and goals from the manager might result in confusion, frustration, and failure. The final result of this behavior is short-lived, disappointing results from pep talks, work teams, suggestion systems, job enrichment programs, and other band-aid fixes. Another form of control is to give employees freedom without clear direction, resources, or the authority to accomplish the assignment.

Dimensions of Empowerment

In order for managers to empower others successfully, they must engender the following five qualities.

Five Core Dimensions of Empowerment
Dimension	Explanation
Self-efficacy	A sense of personal competence
Self-determination	A sense of personal choice
Personal control	A sense of having impact
Meaning	A sense of value in activity
Trust	A sense of security

Self-efficacy has been found to be a significant factor in overcoming phobias and anxieties, alcohol and drug abuse, eating disorders, smoking addiction, depression, and increasing pain tolerance. Recovery from illness and injury, as well as coping with job loss or disruptions, is more effective if a strong sense of self-efficacy is prevalent. Three conditions are necessary for people to feel a sense of self-efficacy.

· A belief that they have the ability to perform a task

· A belief that they are capable of putting forth the necessary effort

· A belief that no outside obstacles will prevent them from accomplishing the task.

A perfect example of self-efficacy is the movie My Fair Lady. In the musical, Professor Henry Higgins works with Liza Dolittle, eventually convincing her that she is a princess – instead of a flower seller on the streets.

Self-determination refers to a sense of competence and the feelings of having a choice. People feel self-determined when they can voluntarily and intentionally involve themselves in tasks. Their actions are a consequence of personal freedom, autonomy, a sense of responsibility, and ownership. Employees are more proactive, take self-initiative and make independent decisions, or try new ideas. They feel themselves as the locus of control, instead of a predetermined, external control. Research indicates a strong sense of self-determination is associated with less alienation in the work environment, more work satisfaction, increased levels of work performance, more creative and innovative solutions, higher levels of job involvement, and less job stress. Self-determination is associated with having choices about the methods used to accomplish a task, the amount of effort to accomplish a task, the pace of the work, and the time involved to accomplish the task.

Personal consequence refers to a perception of impact. Employees feel that they can make a difference by influencing the environment in which they work or the outcomes being produced. Having a sense of personal consequence is closely related to a sense of self control. Research on personal control suggests that people are intrinsically motivated to seek personal control. Loss of control has been associated with physical and emotional issues, such as depression, stress, anxiety, low morale, loss of productivity, burnout, co-dependency, and even increased death rates.

Empowered people have a sense of meaning or value the purpose or goals in which they are engaged. They invest psychic or spiritual energy in the activity. They feel a sense of personal significance from their involvement. They experience personal connectedness and personal integrity as a result of being a part of the activity. Activities infused with meaning create a sense of purpose, passion, or mission for people. They give energy, enthusiasm, and persistence in pursuing goals.

Finally, empowered people have a sense of trust. They feel treated fairly and equitably. They maintain an assurance that even if they are in subordinate positions, the ultimate outcome of their actions will be justice and goodness. They are confident that those holding authority or power positions will not harm or injure them. Research on trust indicates trusting individuals are more apt to be open, honest, and congruent rather than deceptive or shallow. They are more self determined, self-assured, and willing to learn. They have a larger capacity for interdependent relationships, and they display a greater degree of cooperation and risk taking. Trusting people are more willing to try to get along with others, and contribute to teams. They are more self-disclosing, more honest in their own communication, and more able to listen to others. They have less resistance to change and can cope with unexpected traumas. 

How To Develop Empowerment

Research has produced at least nine prescriptions that managers can use to empower others.

· Articulate a clear vision and goals

· Foster personal mastery experiences

· Model successful behaviors

· Provide support

· Arouse positive emotions

· Provide information

· Provide resources

· Connect to outcomes

· Create confidence

Empowerment ensures better acceptance of delegated tasks by subordinates, enhanced motivation and morale, improved coordination and efficiency, better development of subordinates, increased discretionary time, strengthened relationships, and successful task performance.

Delegating Work

While empowerment is required when accomplishing work through other people, delegation involves the assignment of work to others. Delegation normally refers to the assignment of a focused task or assignment given to a subordinate.

A competent manager delegates tasks to further production and simultaneously empowers others. Delegation is a time-management tool. Empowered delegation develops subordinates’ capabilities and knowledge, encourages personal mastery, demonstrates trust and confidence. Empowered delegation is used to enhance the commitment of individuals receiving work. Research demonstrates a positive relationship between having an opportunity to participate in work and subsequent satisfaction, productivity, commitment, acceptance of change, and desire for more work. Empowered delegation also improves the quality of decision making by utilizing more information, first line user experience, thus enhancing efficiency and effectiveness. Finally, empowered delegation increases the coordination and integration of work by funneling information and final accountability through a single source. The result of a competently administered empowered delegation produces all five dimensions of empowerment: a sense of competence, choice, impact, value, and security.

Deciding When to Delegate

To determine when delegation is most appropriate, managers should ask five basic questions. Results have proven to be almost four times more successful when these questions are considered.

1. Do subordinates have the necessary (or superior) information or expertise?

2. Is the commitment of subordinates critical to successful implementation?

3. Will subordinates’ capabilities be expanded by this assignment?

4. Do subordinates share with management and each other common values and perspectives?

5. Is there sufficient time to do an effective job of delegating?

When a decision to delegate a task has been made, a person assigned to the task, and empowered delegation has been given, there are 10 proven principles to follow to ensure positive results:

1. Begin with the end in mind

2. Delegate completely

3. Allow participation in the delegation of assignments

4. Establish parity between authority and responsibility

5. Work within the organizational structure

6. Provide adequate support for delegated tasks

7. Focus accountability on results

8. Delegate consistently

9. Avoid upward delegation

10. Clarify consequence

Empowered employees are more productive, psychologically and physically healthy, proactive and innovative, persistent in work, trustworthy, interpersonally effective, intrinsically motivated, and have higher morale and commitment then employees who are not empowered.