What is one way to empower your employees?
To help you successfully empower your employees, we asked HR leaders and CEOs this question for their best insights. From investing in career progression plans to involving employees in decision making, there are several ideas that may help you empower your employees for the growth of your organization.
Here are 10 ways to empower employees:
- Invest in Career Progression Plans for Employees
- Offer Employees Genuine Feedback
- Value Employees as People
- Invest in Further Education of Employees
- Allow Employees to Try New Things
- Give Employees Autonomy Sometimes
- Delegate Responsibilities and Tasks to Employees
- Encourage Collaborative Work Among Employees
- Ensure Your Employees Are Happy
- Involve Employees in Decision Making
Invest in Career Progression Plans for Employees
Organizations spend countless hours and millions of dollars trying to figure out a way to inspire their employees. All the while not actually investing anything into them to learn and grow for the company. The best way to empower employees is to give them a reason to want to be empowered. You do this by putting the time and money into progressing their careers and road mapping their success within the organization. When an employee knows the organization is vested in them they will be motivated to do more. They will strive to aid the organization to be better and you will have empowered them to take control of their career path. Most organizational leaders sit back and do nothing and wish their workforce would just do more. Why would they? So, give them a plan, educate them and let them know they matter. Now you have empowered your employees.
Mark Smith, University of Advancing Technology
Offer Employees Genuine Feedback
The best way to empower your employees will be by providing genuine feedback. As a leader, one of your core responsibilities is allowing your teammates to do their best and original work. To make them feel motivated in their roles, deliver genuine feedback on their daily performance. Moreover, be specific and transparent while giving feedback, and make it a strong point to showcase your colleagues’ potential to uplift motivation.
A recent survey found that 67% of employees whose team leaders focused on strengths remained fully engaged at work, compared to 31% who received feedback on their weaknesses.
Caroline Lee, CocoSign
Value Employees as People
Employers should take measures to show their employees that they are valued, not just as employees but as people too. Utilizing things like employee appreciation days, outings, added benefits like gym memberships or days off for personal development or volunteering are all great examples of little extras that can help employees feel like they matter. These things may seem small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things but they can be surprisingly beneficial at boosting employee morale over time, which can lead to improved productivity.
Maegan Griffin, Skin Pharm
Invest in Further Education of Employees
Providing means for your employees to further their education is a powerful way to empower them. Some companies will offer employees a stipend or subsidy to pay for school. Not only is this a great benefit, but it also helps employees develop their career without the financial burden that comes with school. Employees know they are valued by their company when they see that their company cares about their growth and career development.
Joe Spector, Dutch
Allow Employees to Try New Things
Empowerment is not only good for employees but good for businesses by increasing productivity and job satisfaction. A great way to empower employees is by giving them ample opportunities to try new things. An employee who feels stuck in their position may not feel empowered within the company. Supporting the personal and professional development of employees by giving them the freedom to attend training courses, spend time shadowing in other departments, or take on new responsibilities can shift the overall empowerment of their workforce. At the end of the day, creating space for development will help the company succeed overall and produce employees who are driven to prosper.
Jeffrey Pitrak, Transient Specialists
Give Employees Autonomy Sometimes
Giving employees autonomy when appropriate can demonstrate trust and faith in their abilities. If you are constantly micromanaging your employees, they will likely end up feeling inadequate and frustrated. This can be hard at first, but if you slowly start to give them more and more freedom to work on their own, you will likely see that they’re capable of working without so much oversight. Ultimately, this can lead them to being more productive and helping the company grow faster.
Brett Sohns, LifeGoal Investments
Delegate Responsibilities and Tasks to Employees
Responsibilities and tasks should be delegated. Understanding that you can’t do it all is a necessary part of being an effective leader. To properly execute initiatives and projects, you must trust your team and be willing to delegate critical duties and responsibilities. When assigning to-dos, it’s vital to start with why you’re doing it. Give employees a notion of how their work fits into wider company efforts and emphasize what makes the opportunity distinctive. Providing this context can raise their passion for the activity at hand, increasing the likelihood that it will be completed properly and on schedule.
Salvador Ordorica, The Spanish Group
Encourage Collaborative Work Among Employees
Employees need to feel like they belong and they can contribute to something with a bigger picture. Independent work is effective, but after being in isolation for so long, collaboration is what creates a community. Working in teams gives every member a sense of purpose, as they have their own task to complete, they don’t want to drop the ball, and they definitely don’t want to be the reason why their team fails.
Leaders need to encourage collaborative work environments, which not only helps with unity but also improves communication skills throughout the organization. Allow workers to lead meetings and presentations, and motivate them to work with new ideas. In doing so, employees will feel empowered in their work instead of going through the motions.
Sara Adam Slywka, Nestig
Ensure Your Employees Are Happy
Ensuring your employees are happy is an important part of creating a company culture that empowers employees. Committing to work-life balance helps your employees avoid burnout by allowing them time to release stress and spend time with their families. Companies can promote work-life balance by enforcing work hours when necessary but encouraging employees not to work during their time off, including answering emails unless there is an emergency. Also, organizing team-building activities and company parties can help your employees have time to form bonds and unwind. You can try scheduling annual parties around holidays or seasons so people have something to look forward to throughout the year.
Leo Livshetz, Unhide
Involve Employees in Decision Making
Gather their input, and incorporate their suggestions into your decision-making process. One of the biggest ways to empower employees is to ensure that their opinions matter. When making decisions that impact them and their roles, gather their opinions and insights, and make sure they play a significant role. Sometimes employees will disagree with your initial opinions, and being open to changing your mind is a great way to both empower employees and make a stronger company overall.
John Jacob, Hoist
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