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8/9/2019 Hr Empowrmnt Report
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8/9/2019 Hr Empowrmnt Report
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Empowerment
Introduction
Empowerment has become one of the most salient concepts in modern
management theory and practice. Definitions vary, but collectively empowerment
is defined as the process of providing employees with the necessary guidance and
skills, to enable autonomous decision making (including accountability and the
responsibility) for making these decisions within acceptable parameters, that are
part of an organizational culture.
From a service perspective, empowerment gives employees theauthority to make decisions concerning customer service. True empowerment
means that employees can bend and break rules to do whatever is necessary (within
reason) to take care of the customer. In other words, empowerment is the wisdom
to know what to do, the will to do what needs to be done, and the wherewithal to
do it. It involves the expressions and avenues through which the non-managerial
staff members are conditioned to be able to make certain important company
decisions, with the support and backing of a well planned empowerment program.
Employee empowerment training actually culminates in the whole set-up
becoming an empowerment model.
Employee empowerment can be attempted via dedicated virtual
courses, special employee empowerment workshops by management gurus,
dedicated books and articles and even software packages. There are a myriad of
dedicated magazines that companies can subscribe to and convert effectively to
employee driven decision-making. The basic concept behind the employee
empowerment program is to give power to the individual, which in turn gives the
company happier employees, who feel important. The delegated choice and
participation and subsequently responsibility makes the employees feel like
firsthand representatives of the business.
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Need for Empowerment
y Every person has different reasons for working. The reasons for working
are as individual as the person. But, we all work because we obtainsomething that we need from work. The something we obtain from work
impacts our morale and motivation and the quality of our lives. If we
provide a fair wage to our employees, we can then work on motivational
issues.
y Employee involvement is not the goal nor is it a tool, as practiced in
many organizations. Rather, it is a management and leadership
philosophy about how people are most enabled to contribute to
continuous improvement and the ongoing success of their workorganization. This involvement increases ownership and commitment,
retains your best employees, and fosters an environment in which people
choose to be motivated and contributing.
y Employee empowerment changes the managers' mind-set and leaves
them with more time to engage in broad-based thinking. This intelligent
and productive division of duties between visionary leaders, focusing on
emerging opportunities, and empowered employees, provides for a well-managed enterprise with strong growth potential.
Empowerment is the process of enabling or authorizing an individual to think,
behaves, take action, and control work and decision making in autonomous ways.
It is the state of feeling self-empowered to take control of one's own destiny. It is
not something that can be delegated or somebody can bestow because it comes
from Individual and self direction The basic purpose of empowerment is lost in
majority of organization because employees expect it as a delegation process
instead of a initiating and ongoing process in which an individual enabling himselfto take action and control work and decision making in autonomous ways which
comes from the individual.Organization has the responsibility to remove barriersthat limit the ability of staff to act in empowered ways.
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Importance of Empowerment
y Knowledge workers are not prepared to accept the old command and
control systems. They want such job environment which provides them
opportunities for exercising control over work related decisions.Organizations which fail to provide such opportunities continuously lose
their best employees.
y In order to grow and survive in a competitive era, organizations must
meet the needs of customers more effectively. For this purpose, cross
functional working and close cooperation is required. Empowerment can
provide such cooperation.
y Growing turbulence of environment requires quick response which is not
possible under the old command and control model of organizational
functioning. Empowerment encourages innovation and creativity on the
part of staff.
y Economic liberalization and globalization are leading to downsizing,
delayering and decentralization. In order to achieve coordination and
control in the new economy, staff must exercise much greater
responsibility.
Lack of Empowerment results in-
An empowered employee can adapt to each customer in real time (this is a crucial
area), and carry through their job with less time wasted, less hassle, and less
frustration for the customer.
A totally un-empowered employee is in a troublesome situation due to lack of self-
confidence and frustration, so it results as
y The customer feels undervalued and receives poorer service.
y
The management has time taken up by queries, and is likely to have lessmotivated staff, and poorer sales or performance results.
y The employee feels under-valued and stressed, particularly if there are
problems that they can see but have no power to change.
y Situations where management accuse employees of not doing their job, but
at the same time will not give them the empowerment needed to do it are
very common.
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Effective Empowerment
In the present day competitive world, no progressive organization can
overlook empowerment. Empowered employees are, after all, moreinnovative, creative, and resourceful. They are free from the shackles of
management, so they are happy and motivated at work and willing to take on
new responsibilities. The organization has the responsibility to create a work
environment which helps foster the ability and desire of employees to act in
empowered ways.
The question is not whether to empower or not but question is how to make
empowerment effective. So following are some methods to make
empowerment effective-
yGroup mentoring affords an organization the opportunity to extend its
mentoring efforts and reach more people in a time-efficient manner.
y Corporate team building or planning events are, at best, a short term
boost to employee enthusiasm and positive morale. If they are planned
and executed well, people feel good about themselves and about each
other.
y Management must provide personal attention to each and every
employee so as to secure a long term commitment from employees
y Top management must support the entire empowerment process so as
to make it more effectivey The right employee training, development and education, at the right
time, provides big payoffs for the employer in increased productivity,
knowledge, loyalty, and contribution.
y Prioritize employee recognition and you can ensure a positive,
productive, innovative organizational climate and this will make the
organization successful.
Barriers of Empowerment
Managers need to provide growth and challenge opportunities and goals that
employees can aim for and achieve. Failure to provide a strategic framework, in
which decisions have a compass and success measurements, imperils the
opportunity for empowered behavior. Employees need direction to know how to
practice empowerment.
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If managers fail to provide the information and access to information, training, and
learning opportunities needed for staff to make good decisions, the employee
empowerment efforts will surely fall short of. The organization has the
responsibility to create a work environment that helps foster the ability and desire
of employees to act in empowered ways. Information is the key to successful
employee empowerment.
Here are some key points related to the barriers of empowerment:
y Managers give decision making authority to employee, but do not really
believe in its power.
y Managers dont really understand what employee empowerment means
y Managers fail to establish boundaries for employee empowerment.
y Managers have defined the decision making authority and boundaries with
staff, but then micromanage the work of employees.y Failure to provide a strategic framework, in which decisions have a compass
and success measurements, imperils the opportunity for empowered
behavior.
y When employees feel under-compensated, under-titled for the
responsibilities they take on, under-noticed, under-praised, and under-
appreciated
Suggestion System of Empowerment
Three stages of suggestion system:
1) Encouragement: In the first stage, management should make every effort
to help the workers provide suggestions, no matter how primitive, for the
betterment of the worker's job and the workshop. This will help the
workers look at the way they are doing their jobs.2) Education: In the second stage, management should stress employee
education so that employees can provide better suggestions. In order for
the workers to provide better suggestions, they should be equipped toanalyze problems and the environment. This requires education
3) Efficiency: Only in the third stage, after the workers are both interested
and educated, should management be concerned with the economic
impact of the suggestions.
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Participation
Introduction
Participative management has become a key word in empowerment. Research has
shown that there is a positive link between participation and satisfaction,
motivation and performance. The self-managed work team is a new way of
viewing the relationship of the worker-management-organization. An employee
involvement team, which consists of small groups of employees who work on
solving specific problems related to quality and productivity, represent one way of
participative management. Such teams have proved effective in resolving problems
related to productivity and quality, as well as improved employee morale and jobsatisfaction.
Participative management is a method, which gives employees responsibility,
accountability, and authority over their work. The method provides simple tools for
employees to improve their work performance and positively impact the bottom
line. The process provides an environment to make employee needs known and
creates a vehicle for improved communication between all areas of the
organization.
What differentiates this work is that people's recommendations are actuallyimplemented and acted upon. People solve their own issues and feel empowered
within the process of doing so. Executives and employees learn to redesign their
workplace to be participative and self-managing. This does not mean you do away
with management. People are not asked to do things that they are not capable of
accomplishing. There may be training involved to improve skill sets. This does not
resemble laissez-faire management in any way. Managers and employees look at a
piece of work and ask what roles and responsibilities need to be placed within the
boundaries of the work in order to achieve individual and organization goals. The
idea is to allow as much responsibility, accountability and reasonable authority topeople actually doing the work.
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Skills Required for Participative Management
y
Interest and concern- Some people prefer to be told what to do.y Recognize and enhance talents in others- Some people fear they will lose
power if they build others.
y Recognize and work around weaknesses in others- Some people are soirritated by deficiencies of others that they cant they cant recognize and
work with their strengths.
y Communication- Particularly listening. We often would rather inform than
become informed.
y Conflict resolution- It is easier to create a conflict than to resolve one. It
usually requires forgiving other, something most people dont do well.y Self-control- Getting the best out of others requires controlling our selves.
our habits, anger, self-serving tendencies.
y Negotiation- It can seem difficult to negotiate when we already have the
power to simply decide and act.
y Compromise- We often must compromise short-term personal or
departmental goal to achieve a company goal or help another achieve a
personal goal.
y Teach ability. When the team answer is different than our preconceived
desire we must learn from the team.y Flexibility.We must learn from others and then implement the better
alternatives.
y Correction. The PM process constantly makes it clear that, .I was mistaken.
.I didnt think of everything,. .I wasnt considering anothers viewpoint, Etc.
Most people dont like this process.
Benefits ofParticipative Management
A participative management style offers various benefits at all levels of the
organization. By creating a sense of ownership in the company, participative
management instills a sense of pride and motivates employees to increase
productivity in order to achieve their goals. Employees who participate in the
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decisions of the company feel like they are a part of a team with a common goal,
and find their sense of self-esteem and creative fulfillment heightened.
Here are some key points:
y
Participation helps employees gain a wider view of the organization.
Through training, development opportunities, and information sharing,
employees can acquire the conceptual skills needed to become effective
managers or top executives.
y Participation keeps employees informed of upcoming events so they will be
aware of potential changes.
y Generally, employer and employees doubt the integrity of each other due to
ignorance of each others problems.P
articipation brings the two partiescloser and makes them aware of each others problems.
y Co-operation between managers and employees helps to increase production
and profits of industry
y Employees participation in management helps to reduce industrial disputes
and to improve workers loyalty
Forms ofParticipation
Suggestion scheme: Under this system workers are invited and
encouraged to offer suggestions for improving the working of the
enterprise. A suggestion box is installed. Any worker can write his
suggestions and put it into the box. Periodically all the suggestions are
scrutinized by the suggestion committee. Good suggestions are
implemented and suitable rewards are given.
Works committee: Under the Industrial Dispute Act, 1947 every
establishment employing 100 or more workers is required to
constitute a works committee. Such a committee consists of equal no.
of representatives of employers and workers. The main purpose of this
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committee is to provide measures for securing and preserving amity
and good relations between the employer and employees.
Worker Directors: Under this method, one or two representatives of
workers are nominated or elected on the Board of Directors. This is a
fully fledged and highest form of workers participation in
management.
Co-Partnership: In this method, workers are made shareholders in the
company in which they are employed. As partners they can take part
in management of enterprise. They also share the companys profit in
form of dividend.
Barriers ofParticipative Management
y Employers feel that workers are not competent enough to take decisions.
There is no clear evidence to convince managers that participative
management will really lead to higher productivity
y Majority of the lower level employees are not motivated enough to assume
decision making responsibility either directly or through their
representatives
y Workers representatives who participate in management have to perform the
dual role of workers spokesperson and co-managers. Very few
representatives are competent enough to assume the two incompatible roles.
y Generally trade union leaders who represent workers are also active
members of political parties. While participating in management they give
priority to political interests rather than interest of workers
y
Schemes of workers participation have been initiated and sponsored by theGovt. There has been lack of initiative on the part of both employers and
employees.
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Case Study
BMW Group Plant Oxford's 'The New Oxford Way' (NOW)Program: From Culture Clash to Performance Culture
In 2000, the Germany-based BMWGroup (BMW) sold off The RoverGroup
(RoverGroup) that it had acquired in 1994, but it retained its iconic MINI brand.
As part of the changes initiated, BMW shifted production from Long bridge to
Cowley (in Oxford), the plant which had rolled out the originalMini. BMW
wanted to come out with a new MINI. However, the management at the new plantfaced challenges in upgrading the site and processes and in preparing for the
launch of the new vehicle. It also had to face the huge challenge of integrating the
erstwhile Rover and BMW cultures, which differed vastly from each other.
Besides, there was a strong feeling of 'us' and 'them' among the employees.
The massive layoffs that accompanied the production shift from Longbridge to
Cowley complicated matters further. This prompted BMW to launch 'The New
Oxford Way' (NOW) program which was aimed at integrating the erstwhile Rover
and BMW cultures, improving productivity, and decreasing costs by empowering
the workers.
As part of the initiative, huge investments were made to refurbish the Oxford plant
as it prepared to come out with a new generation MINI. A key component of the
NOW was the Working in Groups (WINGS) project that was aimed at increasing
the involvement of the workers by empowering them. The initiative soon started
showing results, leading to better employee morale, reduced costs, and increased
productivity.
In 2002, the production target (100,000 units) was exceeded by 60 percent. BMWwas also credited with handling its production strategy well in keeping with the
high demand for the MINIs in the subsequent years. In 2004, the Oxford plant
rolled out the 500,000th MINI in August 2004, two years ahead of schedule, and in
the following year, production for the year crossed the 200,000 mark. The
company was credited with transforming the culture of the Oxford plant from a
culture marked by confrontation and negativism to that of a performance culture.
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Issues:
Study the production strategy adopted by the BMWGroup pertaining to MINI.
Understand the issues and challenges in job design and team working.
Understand issues and challenges in employee empowerment.
Understand how the culture of the BMWGroup Oxford Plant was changed from
that of confrontation and negativism to a performance culture.
Analyze 'The New Oxford Way' (NOW) program and the 'Working in Groups'
initiative.
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