Empowering Employees

Responsibility helps employees feel valuable, and this book aims to show managers how to create an atmosphere of responsibility, benefiting both employees and managers. It explains what empowerment means, why performance improves through empowerment and when to increase responsibility to employees.

One of the major discussions in the business world is: How do we get our human capital assets more engaged in the organization? Current Gallup Polls state that 85% of our employees are not engaged within their organizations. Employee Empowerment fully analyzes this workplace condition, which is a major concern for most CEOs. The solution proposed by this book is the introduction of the TLS (Theory of Constraints - Lean - Six Sigma) Continuum Empowerment model, which comprises three levels of empowerment – Management, Cross-Functional Team, and Individual. The first is the empowerment that comes from upper management to the organization as a whole. The second level is the empowerment that comes from the various cross-functional teams and the final level is from the individuals themselves through their ability to take ownership in the processes in which they are involved. The end solution in the book is that if we can get the human capital assets to take ownership of the processes (that is, empower the front-line employees), it will increase the level of engagement. If they become more engaged they will empower the organization at all levels to introduce sustainable change management to resolve problems within the organization. One of the tools of individual empowerment is the use of the Six Sigma toolbox. This book makes the case that when human capital assets take ownership of the processes, then we have greater engagement, and thus a more empowered organization.

"Provides a step-by-step guide through the delegation process"--Preface.

It's the new normal. Now all of your employees are Twittering away and friending clients on Facebook. Not to mention customers--who feel obligated to update your Wikipedia entry with product complaints. In this new world, dealing with empowered employees and customers --Insurgents -- is only going to get more challenging. Employees are using this technology in the workplace and customers are using it in the marketplace, and neither obey the rules you set up. This chaos is your future as a manager. You could try to shut it down and shut it off. Or you can harness it and reap the business benefits. According to Josh Bernoff and Ted Schadler of Forrester Research (the organization that brought you Groundswell), your defense against insurgents is to enable them. At its heart, this is a book about how to scale the management of insurgency, both the innovation of insurgent employees and the energy of insurgent customers. The key is a process Forrester calls E Triple S, for the four elements of managing insurgents effectively: empowering, selecting, scaling, and socializing. While it's based in current trends, the core concept of Managing Insurgents -- that the next management and innovation challenge is harnessing individuals empowered by mobile, social, and connected technology -- is a new idea. In the wake of Groundswell, dozens of social-technology-for-business books cropped up. And there are plenty of books on improving your customer service. But there's no serious business book about management, marketing, and innovation in the throes of this trend. When Insurgency hits, it will be perceived not just as a sequel to Groundswell but as the start of a new management philosophy.

Responsibility helps employees feel valuable, and this book aims to show managers how to create an atmosphere of responsibility, benefiting both employees and managers. It explains what empowerment means, why performance improves through empowerment and when to increase responsibility to employees.

The complexities of employee empowerment have been largely underestimated and it is clear that organisations struggle with putting the concept into practice. Rozana Ahmad Huq recognises that effective utilisation of human resources is a strategic issue for organisations. Hierarchical organisations struggle to survive. The growing trend for downsizing and merging of organisations means that they can no longer maintain the 'command and control' approach and employees are given more responsibility and expected to take decisions. However, simply burdening employees with extra responsibility without empowering them does not deliver results. Drawing on her own research in organisations, Dr Huq investigates the concept of empowerment in a new way that combines themes from the disciplines of management and social work, the latter being a domain where empowerment is an important construct. This helps to bridge the gaps in knowledge in the management domain and draws attention to the positive and negative psychological implications for employees of the practice of empowerment that are often ignored by leaders and managers. Ultimately, the author offers a 'practice model' to help people in management and non-management understand the new roles and behaviours that they need to adopt if empowerment is to become a reality. This book is a resource for any business or other organisation genuinely interested in employee empowerment and for those with a responsibility for teaching about it.

Employee empowerment is thought to be both a solution to the problems associated with outdated 'command and control' workplaces and a way to stimulate creativity and innovation in organizations. Valuing people's dignity is at the heart of Dr. Huq's work and this led to her interest in conducting in-depth research into both the academic understanding of employee empowerment and what happens in practice. Divided into clearly defined sections are: a clear navigation of the management literature and explanation of the controversies surrounding employee empowerment.the key concepts that must be addressed and where the problems in interpretation arise.two live case studies (one large organisation with over 2000 employees and one small with 54 employees). an outline of the research methodology and sample questions. direct feedback from boardroom members to frontline operatives about their experiences of empowerment, revealing the pitfalls that may be common to many organisations.an overview of the findings with suggestions on what needs to be considered before implementing an employee empowerment programme. extensive bibliography providing an excellent reference resource. Referring also to the philosophy of Total Quality Management (TQM) and guidelines given by European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), this neat little book is a valuable resource, not only to researchers and academics, but also to practitioners in large and small organisations who are considering an empowerment programme or who want to understand and improve their current policies. Employee empowerment is thought to be both a solution to the problems associated with outdated 'command and control' workplaces and a way to stimulate creativity and innovation in organizations. Valuing people's dignity is at the heart of Dr. Huq's work and this led to her interest in conducting in-depth research into both the academic understanding of employee empowerment and what happens in practice. Divided into clearly defined sections are: a clear navigation of the management literature and explanation of the controversies surrounding employee empowerment.the key concepts that must be addressed and where the problems in interpretation arise.two live case studies (one large organisation with over 2000 employees and one small with 54 employees). an outline of the research methodology and sample questions. direct feedback from boardroom members to frontline operatives about their experiences of empowerment, revealing the pitfalls that may be common to many organisations.an overview of the findings with suggestions on what needs to be considered before implementing an employee empowerment programme. extensive bibliography providing an excellent reference resource. Referring also to the philosophy of Total Quality Management (TQM) and guidelines given by European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), this neat little book is a valuable resource, not only to researchers and academics, but also to practitioners in large and small organisations who are considering an empowerment programme or who want to understand and improve their current policies. Employee empowerment is thought to be both a solution to the problems associated with outdated 'command and control' workplaces and a way to stimulate creativity and innovation in organizations. Valuing people's dignity is at the heart of Dr. Huq's work and this led to her interest in conducting in-depth research into both the academic understanding of employee empowerment and what happens in practice. Divided into clearly defined sections are: a clear navigation of the management literature and explanation of the controversies surrounding employee empowerment.the key concepts that must be addressed and where the problems in interpretation arise.two live case studies (one large organisation with over 2000 employees and one small with 54 employees). an outline of the research methodology and sample questions. direct feedback from boardroom members to frontline operatives about their experiences of empowerment, revealing the pitfalls that may be common to many organisations.an overview of the findings with suggestions on what needs to be considered before implementing an employee empowerment programme. extensive bibliography providing an excellent reference resource. Referring also to the philosophy of Total Quality Management (TQM) and guidelines given by European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), this neat little book is a valuable resource, not only to researchers and academics, but also to practitioners in large and small organisations who are considering an empowerment programme or who want to understand and improve their current policies.