A520.5.3.RB - Forrestor's Empowerment

I would agree with many recognized leaders that state that many professionals use the term “empowerment” without comprehending the true meaning of the term.  I have seen and experienced numerous variations of empowerment usage and my definition would be a combination of all of them.  The idea of empowerment is based on the theory of giving employees, control of resources and authority to make decisions that benefit the organization.

The article, “Empowerment: Rejuvenating a potent idea”, provides examples of organizations that focus on the fallacy that “one size fits all” or what I describe as “one bandage can cover all wounds” process of empowerment.  However data showed that the bottom line is the process was not successful.  The article provides an overview of nine principles of developing empowerment in employees. Those 9 principles are as follows: Articulating a Clear Vision, Fostering Personal Mastery Experiences, Modeling, Providing Support, Emotional Arousal, Providing Information, Providing Resources, Connect to Outcomes and Creating Confidence.  Also discussed were attributes of empowerment, which are, Self-efficacy, Self-determination, Personal consequence Meaning and Trust.

Author Russ Forrester, also discussed the process of the social learning theory of motivation which encourages organizations to consider power sharing by senior leadership.  However, the process has to show a tangible benefit.  Without a doubt it must be understood that delegation is key to empowerment. 

No matter how you look at delegation, it is not as simple as it would seem.  When management delegates certain duties and tasks, management retains overall accountability and the majority of responsibilities to ensure tasks are completed correctly.  On the flip side of the coin, empowerment can be a process where employees can gain trust from superiors through their actions.  The article summarizes empowerment with the fact that, as one size does NOT fit all!  Leaders and managers must use the historical lessons to learn how to properly apply delegation!