"Empowerment: Developing Effective Followers"

Empowerment: Developing Effective Followers

At a galnce, it seems that the leader is the most important person in an organization; he/she is ultimately responsible for successes or failures of group efforts. However, anyone who has been in charge of a group understands that some portion of control lies in the followers' hands. In organizations, the followers are the ultimate vehicle through which leader's goals are executed. Chris Lee (1991) states that the ultimate "Litmus test" of leadership is if anyone is following.* Therefore, increased attention to developing effective followers is a must for organizational success. Effective leadership entails qualities of having vision, being considerate, taking responsibility, and setting direction for one's subordinates. For subordinates to be a useful addition to a work group, mere followership is not enough. Sheepish subordinates will surely slow down, if not hinder, a leader's visionary process. Thus, qualities such as independence, communication, competence, and Ironically, the characteristics of effective leadership and effective followership are almost identical responsibility for one's own actions and career seem imperitive for successful followership. Ironically, the characteristics of effective leadership and effective followership are almost identical. Leaders must, however, set the tone within their organization to enable their subordinates to be as effective as possible. Empowerment of followers to contribute to organizational goals is the prerequisite to making followers effective. Empowering followers means training them in ways to solve problems as well as allowing them to act without approval for every task. In essence, empowerment enables followers to exert leadership over their specific area of work. Upward feedback from subordinates is possibly the most important contribution a subordinate can give to his/her leader. Honest feedback to the leader about progress and quality of direction allows the leadership to excel. The subordinate will inevitably be able to assess the influence of the leader's actions on the organization better than the leader him/herself. However, the leader must encourage his/her subordinates to speak up without fear of punishment and with a personal openness to adapt based on these inputs. The results of a study conducted by Surcon International will help illustrate the importance of empowering subordinates and encouraging them to give upward feedback to managers. The survey was conducted on about 1,400 employees and assessed the effects of empowerment and upward feedback on organizational outcomes such as customer orientation, job satisfaction, satisfaction with career development, ratings of supervisors, etc. Subordinates were separated into two groups who felt empowered or did not not feel empowered. One way ANOVAs were conducted on the organizational outcomes. Of those who felt empowered, all outcomes were significantly higher than those who were not empowered to. An excellent case study in the importance of such qulaities in followers is that of the Chicago Bulls basketball team. Phil Jackson, the coach, ultimatley decides who plays when, general strategy, and general visionary direction of the team. He also encourages the same behaviors in his followers. If it were not for the shared vision, feedback , competence, and communication of players -----------------------------------------------------------------------A "What do we do now, coach?" mentality is unknown to an effective follower. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

such as Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, the team surely would not have had the success it has had. The players look to the coach for direction but also share in the responsibility for wins as well as losses. A "What do we do now, coach?" mentality is unknown to an effective follower. In the research conducted by Surcon International, those who were empowered and encouraged to give feedback were more satisfied with their jobs and the leadership, as well as more efficient and oriented toward the customer. In addition, they were more satisfied with their own career development. Perhaps empowered individuals are forced to attribute their career to their own actions as opposed to situations where subordinates feel dependent on management for advancement. Furthermore, it seems that unless allowed, encouraged, or directed to take responsibility for themselves, followers have no other logical choice but to blame those in leadership positions for dissatisfaction with any or all organizational outcomes. The more followers within organizations are encouraged and enabled to act in a manner consistent with leadership qualities (competence, responsibility, honesty, shared vision, etc.) the greater the likelihood of organizational success and the speed with which goals are accomplished. -----------------------------------------------------------------------*Lee, C. (1991). Followership: The essence of leadership. In Contemporary Issues in Leadership. Boulder: Westview Press. Empowerment is the development of knowledge, skills and abilities in the learner to enable them to control and develop their own learning. Empowerment is a continuous process comprising a series of conscious steps taken by individuals to gain access to economic, educational and health resources; to better express and defend their rights and in the process, gain greater awareness and control of the self. Empowerment is not about wresting power from an individual or group of individuals and handling it over to another. It is the means to an end, not an end in itself. EMPOWERMENT AND INVOLVEMENT Empowerment can be a useful mechanism for efficient and effective use of human resources. It is a variation of delegation where involvement and participation are keys to its success. An empowering working culture can be difficult to implement in the public sector. In local authorities the organisational values, beliefs and attitudes are in line with using resources to prevent organisational failure. Councils are accountable to the citizens and must demonstrate efficient use of the council tax payers' money. Empowerment on the other hand, is all about creating and adopting a conceptual mindset of "assuring success" rather than "preventing failure". This is certainly beyond the typical "blame culture" that blocks employees from believing in themselves and their judgements. A definite prerequisite for empowerment is a feeling of personal safety. The managers should be able to feel safe enough to relinquish power and give more authority to particular employees. Focusing on outcomes, rather than procedures, is the basis of the leader's new role of "success enabler" rather than "controller for possible failure". It is the leaders' and managers' responsibility to make it easier for employees to do their work. Empowerment is also about realising its benefits. Many organisations, both public and private sector, are driven by tangible metrics such as profits or funds, output and quality. The benefits of empowerment and involvement tend to be underestimated due to the difficulties of measuring their effects in quantifiable ways. However, some financial justification can be found in increased motivation creating improved team sprit, which in turn will reduce absenteeism and produce better quality work.

General advantages of empowerment and involvement:

increased employee contribution lower absenteeism better productivity increased work satisfaction less conflict as employees will more likely agree with changes if they can get involved in the decision making process

Disadvantages of empowerment: (factories which influence on disempowerment)

abuse of the newly acquired power by the employees empowerment is for team workers - employees that do not value team success or choose to focus only on individual success are likely to be disinterested or even to resist some employees may not be knowledgeable enough to make good business decisions too much responsibility on some employees increased time in groups or committees can be distracting and take time away from regular jobs for empowerment to work, all team members should "buy-in" to the idea managers and leaders should be capable enough to facilitate the sharing of information; this can translate into additional training costs

Employee Empowerment is giving employees responsibility and authority to make decisions regarding all aspects of product development or customer service. Some of the disadvantage of employee empowerment include: employees can abuse the increased power given to them; it is too much responsibility for some employees; employees who focus on their own success rather than group's may leave; managers must be better trained to facilitate through sharing of information, cooperation, and referrals to appropriate resources; all employees must "buy in" to the concept for it to be effective; there is an increased cost to the organization for training and education; there is increased time in groups or committees which takes away from regular jobs; there may be increased conflict or power struggle between employees due to group work; some employees may not be knowledgeable enough to make good business decisions; decisions made on the basis of personality versus logical reasoning. Advantages of employee empowerment include: increased employee education and training; employees participate in creating their own goals; increased employee contribution; increased respect among employees secondary to teamwork; increased power equals lower absenteeism and better productivity; employees have more satisfying work; an increased depth of competence among employees secondary to cross-training; less conflict with administration and managers; fewer middle management positions means decreased cost to the company. Employees are more likely to agree with changes if they participate in decision making. There needs to be a balance between empowerment and traditional management. The manager of the department needs to be sensitive to the employees' needs and the company's needs and to know how to use a management style that will work best to achieve desired outcomes. The Advantages of Employee Empowerment Employee empowerment is the act of giving more responsibility to employees in the workplace. The process not only relieves stress on management but also, according to Dr. Nihat Karakoc of Balikesir University, is "rather closely related to the various concepts and techniques designed to democratize the workplace." Employee empowerment, just like any other managerial strategy, has both positive and negative aspects when implemented.

Involved Employees According to Karakoc "Empowerment is to give more authority to employees in organization in management of work". Through empowerment, employees can become more involved in their work and thereby more satisfied with what they are doing. This effect will trickle down, as more satisfied employees will work in a way to make customers more satisfied also. Relief of Management Stress In putting responsibility making in the hands of empowered employees, management will not have to worry about day-to-day operations. Employee empowerment will, according to Karakoc, "facilitate authority transition from managers to subordinates." By putting more authority in the hands of employees, management can leave the operations side of business in the hands of employees. Disadvantages of Employee Empowerment Lessen Chance of Unionization When employees feel more of an investment in the work that they are doing, there is less of a chance for unionization. Empowered employees will have more of a say in everyday operations; this includes their schedules, vacations and sick time. Because of this they will not feel the need to look to labor unions in order to get more rights in the workplace. Non-Implementation Many companies believe that they are giving employees more empowerment when, in fact, they are not. Companies that wrongly say they are empowering employees risk employee dissatisfaction and the chance that labor unions may form within their company. The best way to avoid these results is to make sure that employee empowerment is being implemented properly by all levels of management and accepted by employees. Management Worries Many managers may worry that because employees are being empowered they may lose their jobs. This is a real risk, as empowering employees means that there is less need for different levels of management. It is best to make sure that management still has a place at the company, but to put them in a different functioning role, as they will no longer be needed to run the daily operations of employees. If a management position does need to be eliminated, help the managers to either find new employment, or find another placement in the current company. Employees Not Ready Some employees may not be ready to be empowered. Employees may not be able to handle the increased stress that the added responsibility and decision making will bring. Some employees may also take advantage of their new responsibility and abuse their power. It is important to make sure that employees are completely ready for, and informed of, their new responsibilities before they are assigned.