Are You Actually Willing to Empower Your Employees?

 

Everyone seems to agree and supports the idea of empowering your employees.  Leaders want to empower their people. But while empowering sounds good and beneficial, not many leaders are actually empowering their people. 

Much of the frustration that people have today with business is that no one seems to be empowered to get anything done.  Why?  Simply because the reality is that giving up control is insanely difficult. In the business world, empowerment can mean giving up control of tasks, embracing an employees’ suggestions, or even using ideas that come from outside your current company.  We are all guilty of not wanting to give up power. 

In a study conducted by Leadership IQ entitled “The State of Leadership Development” some interesting findings were as follows:

• Only 29% of employees say their leader is always open to using ideas/practices from outside the company to improve performance.
• Only 16% say their leader always removes the roadblocks to their success.
• Only 20% say their leader always takes an active role in helping employees to grow and develop their full potential.
• Only 29% say their leader’s vision for the future always seems to be aligned with the organization's.
• Only 27% say their leader always encourages and recognizes suggestions for improvement.
• Only 26% say their leader always responds constructively when employees share their work problems.
• Only 20% say their leader always shares the challenges we're facing.

 If you truly want to empower your employees, consider the following three statements:

When employees give me alternatives, I avoid telling them which one I want. Instead, I ask for their suggestions. 

I’m open to using ideas/practices from outside the company to improve our team’s performance.

I encourage and recognize my employees’ suggestions for improvement.

If you are brutally honest with yourself while considering these statements you’ll discover where you are on empowerment or if you struggle to empower.