Is there already an established empowerment culture in your company?
Most leaders would answer, “without a doubt”, yet many still can’t and even those that believe there is maybe missing critical challenges throughout their organisation.
Establishing an empowerment culture provides enormous advantages, such as increased growth, inventiveness, trust, and general employee contentment.
However, building an empowerment culture in your organisation is easy to talk about but challenging to implement. You need to consider many factors to establish and develop it. So, here are the 9 ways to establish an empowerment culture in your workplace:
1. Build a strong connection with your team
It’s critical to recognise that people nowadays have many work opportunities. They want to be successful, but they also want to be in a great work environment.
The problem with most companies is the lack of communication or relationship-building to improve the overall satisfaction of their employees.
Building solid professional connections with your team built on mutual trust is essential for an empowerment culture. This ensures that everyone is involved and committed to the organisation’s mission.
As a leader, it is your role to establish a connection with your team and guarantee that they are happy in their jobs, productive, feel appreciated, and committed in the workplace.
With this kind of relationship, you won’t have to worry about your employees leaving because you’ve created a great work atmosphere that encourages a productive culture.
2. Set clear expectations and boundaries
Things can go wrong if your team doesn’t understand what you expect of them and you are not clear on their duties and responsibilities. Many companies are still hesitant to empower their team because it may appear like they are giving them full reign to do anything they want.
However, how will your team know whether they are performing well or not?
To avoid this, make sure that project goals and the outcomes you anticipate from your team are well defined.
Everyone in the company must be on the same page for it to succeed. It’s your role as a leader to provide your team with clear guidance and create boundaries for things like required behaviour and task scope.
It’s not about being a dictator; it’s about providing the direction your team requires to succeed, which will help you reinforce high-quality standards at work.
3. Delegate tasks effectively
Some leaders genuinely believe they are delegating when they assign tasks to their team. This may cause confusion and frustration among their team, who may think they’re dumping their own job responsibilities on them.
Real delegation entails assigning accountability for outcomes and the power to do whatever is necessary to achieve the intended objectives.
Delegation isn’t about adding to your team’s workload; it’s about distributing it more effectively to allocate jobs according to talents and capacity. If team members are aware of this, they will gladly contribute to the team effort.
According to a Gallup study, CEOs that are good at delegating make 33% higher revenue.
If you delegate the tasks effectively, it will give your team more control, and you can foster trust and aid with their professional development. It also helps you recognise who is best prepared to take on specific jobs, projects and responsibilities.
Delegating is a skill that requires practice and refinement over time. However, the better you get at matching the appropriate individuals to the correct duties and responsibilities, the more effective you’ll be at managing. This will empower them to achieve outstanding business outcomes.
4. Allow employees to make their own decisions by providing them with resources, tools, and technology
Most business failures happen when their employees are not well-equipped with the right resources, tools, and technology they need to be able to make decisions.
Allowing employees to make their own decisions is vital for businesses to develop an empowerment culture.
“Employee empowerment is a management philosophy that emphasises the importance of allowing employees to make independent decisions and act on them. Employee empowerment is the direct opposite of micromanagement.” – BambooHR
Provide resources and tools for your team to utilise whenever they need them and show them how to use them well.
You should also constantly promote open communication and make yourself accessible for brainstorming sessions with your team to establish a productive work culture.
5. Listen to your employees
According to a study conducted by SmallBusiness, more than one-third of the workplace believes that their employers tend to not listen to their suggestions or ideas for improvement.
To create an empowerment culture within your organisation, you must listen to your people and take action to empower them.
Here are some tips on how to listen to your team effectively:
- Prioritise ‘listening’
- Pay attention to what your team says
- Prepare to hear both the positive and negative aspects of the situation
- Pay attention to nonverbal cues
- Implement polls and surveys
- Make participation a part of the process
- Inquire about innovation
Employee engagement can be improved through listening to your team and encouraging people to provide ideas. It promotes a positive workplace change and has a comparable positive impact on your company’s performance.
6. Recognise your team’s excellence
Recognition is about bringing out the best in people, not just launching employee programs or handing out expensive presents.
A survey found that 79% of people who left their employment cite “lack of appreciation” as the reason for their resignations.
Your team also expects a productive, engaging, and enjoyable experience from your work environment.
Recognition works best when it is given regularly and shared in the moment.
Your team will feel empowered because they are recognised for accomplishments achieved with little or no oversight.
7. Involve your team in the decision-making process
Some leaders may be concerned that including their team in every decision may slow down productivity.
However, involving your team in decision-making may benefit your whole company. Because you’ll have the correct balance of talents and knowledge at the table, the quality of your decisions will increase, and you’ll also have the people in place who are ready to execute and in sync with the action to take.
Provide your team with decision-making authority and the capacity to make suggestions in areas within their control.
In doing so, you can make your team more invested in your company.
8. Provide your team with opportunities for cross-training and learning
Professional growth should not come to a halt just because someone is established in a role. People want to feel as though they are progressing in their professions – continually growing.
Professional development programs are becoming increasingly important as the global business landscape changes in response to technology and greater competition.
You need to encourage your team to explore learning and development and take an active role in this with them. This allows them to refine their abilities while also providing you with versatile team members ready to put their skills to work.
Allow your team to have time and resources for growth to empower them.
9. Give your team a sense of trust and empowerment
In-person teams and remote employees both require trust.
Any employee who does not have it is likely to be less motivated and productive.
According to a study, employees in high-trust companies report 74% less stress, 50% more productivity, and 40% less burnout.
If you want your company to succeed, your next step should be to build mutual trust among all your team members. Working in an atmosphere where your team feels accountable and empowered is far more pleasurable and effective.
Trusting your team to adapt to the work culture and giving them freedom will increase their performance while also improving the empowerment culture that you have in your organisation.
Ready to establish an empowerment culture in your organisation?
Remember that an empowerment culture does not emerge overnight. To truly cement a self-sustaining team requires time and trust. It also needs a little confidence on your side, but these practices will yield tremendous results.
Schedule a FREE 30-minute consultation with me if you need some help in establishing your own empowerment culture or want to learn more about how to take your business to the next level. I’d be delighted to assist you in achieving your objectives.
