Disadvantages of Employee Empowerment:-Employee empowerment entails giving employees the authority to make critical business decisions on their own with little to no supervision. When done right, having empowered employees can be great. However, when done wrong, it can be devastating for both the business and its workforce. Before making the decision to empower employees, businesses should first weigh the advantages and disadvantages.=Increased Arrogance:-When employees are empowered, their confidence levels tend to increase. This additional confidence is a good thing because it creates happier workers and productivity levels soar. However, in some situations, confidence levels can be taken too far and end up crossing the line into arrogance. Arrogant employees are difficult to deal with, don't take direction well and can become insubordinate. Working in this type of work environment takes its toll on employees and they once again become dissatisfied with their job and productivity levels decrease.=Confidentiality and Security Risks:-One way that employers empower their employees is by sharing important information with them. This free exchange of ideas and information makes the employees feel appreciated and important, which ends up empowering them. However, when information is freely exchanged with people throughout the company, there is an increased risk of confidential and security-related data being leaked to parties that shouldn't have access to that type of information. For competitive businesses, these potential leaks could prove devastating to their operations.=Lack of Experience:-A benefit of having empowered employees is that they take on more responsibility within the company. As they take on more responsibility, they begin working independently with little to no supervision. Businesses like this because it saves them money by decreasing their managerial workforce. However, unlike managers and supervisors who are educated and trained in making sound decisions, empowered employees often lack this type of experience. This lack of experience lends to an increase in mistakes and unnecessary company risks.

=Interpersonal Relations Suffer:-Some employees confuse empowerment and being able to make their own decisions with having the authority to do whatever they want. As employees are allowed to take on additional responsibilities, some may end up taking things too far. If this happens, interpersonal relations within the company will suffer and incidents involving conflict will rise. Over time, tensions increase and a hostile work environment may surface. This type of situation is bad for both the business and the workforce.http://smallbusiness.chron.com/negative-effects-employee-empowerment-18691.html=Abuse of Power:-Empowered employees are able to make more decisions on their own, but there's a possibility of the employees taking advantage of the empowerment for personal gain. This also means employees may become less responsible or efficient based on decisions they've made. For example, an employee may take to spending more time on non-work-related activities such as long breaks or employee committee meetings as a result of his empowerment.=Interpersonal Relations:-Implementing employee empowerment may bring about misunderstanding between managers and employees. In an organizational culture with a rigid hierarchy, managers may have a difficult time accepting a new culture of employee empowerment. These conflicts can result to an environment in which the management and employees can't have productive working relations. While empowerment may provide subordinate employees with job satisfaction, it might deprive managers of the same job satisfaction.=Additional Training Costs:-Empowerment of employees may require a training program to educate employees about leadership skills, assertiveness and group dynamics. Even though this training may be beneficial, extra costs and time have to be incurred by the business to make it happen. Additionally, no training program can guarantee that employee empowerment will yield positive results.=Insufficient Knowledge:-While the capacity to make more decisions is laudable, it can also have negative effects. Employees who don't have sufficient knowledge about various business decisions can undermine the company's success or cause interrelation conflicts. Insufficient knowledge may be as a result of lack of training or a simply that an employee isn't competent at a task he's been assigned. For example, a team leader in charge of sales who feels the need to contribute to how the IT department operates may make poor decisions in that arena. This sales team leader may also conflict with the IT department employees. http://www.ehow.com/info_8464969_disadvantages-empowering-employees.html#ixzz2Rs0asI4x

How to increase Employee Empowerment:-1- Prepare the employee's current performance metrics and compare their actual performance to the desired results. Identify the employees strengths and weaknesses, and prepare a plan to help the employee improve upon his weaknesses. The plan needs to consist of actionable and measurable tasks.2- Schedule an appointment time with your employee and make sure the time allows full focus without interruptions for both of you. Have the employee give you a few meeting times that would be ideal for her, and schedule the meeting with one of those times.3- Meet with the employee during the set time. Go over employee results and talk about areas that need improvement. Ask the employee how he will achieve the said tasks. This step is crucial. Employees will take ownership and feel empowered when they have created their own action plan. Ask open-ended questions that require thought and response from your employee. Offer suggestions to enhance the employee's plan. A good example of an open-ended question might be "How would you feel if you were able to make critical decisions on your own?" Or, "What impact would doing task ABC have on our team and the company?" Questions like these allow an open dialogue and foster a team environment. Build on the answers the employee provides and ask how he feels about your suggestions.4- Reiterate the employee's plan and ask if it sounds workable, or if anything needs to be added or omitted. This allows you get her commitment a second time, with her acknowledging her plan out loud. Also, set a time frame for the completion of the plan; or if the plan is an ongoing change such as the empowerment of decision-making, set a followup meeting time. Ask the employee when she feels the followup meeting should take place and set the time accordingly, for example two weeks from the initial planning session. The followup meeting should entail coaching the employee through motivation and feedback.5- Monitor the employees progress and offer encouragement and recognition along the way. Employees feel empowered when they are given room to correct their own deficiencies but still need to be monitored and mentored. Offer weekly progress sessions; this session should be short and informal. Your employee will respect you knowing you are invested in his success.6- Meet with the employee to review the outcome of her plan at the time designated in the first meeting. This time should include recognition of the employees plan success, along with constructive suggestions for improvement. All meeting sessions need to remain positive to foster a friendly and empowering culture.

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These are the ten most important principles for managing people in a way that reinforces employee empowerment, accomplishment, and contribution. These management actions enable both the people who work with you and the people who report to you to soar.1-Demonstrate That You Value People:-Your regard for people shines through in all of your actions and words. Your facial expression, your body language, and your words express what you are thinking about the people who report to you. Your goal is to demonstrate your appreciation for each person's unique value. No matter how an employee is performing on his or her current task, your value for the employeeas a human being should never falter and always be visible.2. Share Leadership Vision:-Help people feel that they are part of something bigger than themselves and their individual job. Do this by making sure they know and have access to the organization's overallmission,vision, and strategic plans.3. Share Goals and Direction:-Share the most importantgoalsand direction for your group. Where possible, either make progress on goals measurable and observable, or ascertain that you have shared your picture of a positive outcome with the people responsible for accomplishing the results. If you share a picture and share meaning, you have agreed upon what constitutes a successful and acceptable deliverable. Empowered employees can then chart their course without close supervision.4. Trust People:-Trustthe intentions of people to do the right thing, make the right decision, and make choices that, while maybe not exactly what you would decide, still work. When employees receiveclear expectationsfrom their manager, they relax and trust you. They focus their energy on accomplishing, not on wondering, worrying, and second-guessing.5. Provide Information for Decision Making:-Make certain that you have given people, or made sure that they have access to, all of the information they need to make thoughtful decisions.6. Delegate Authority and Impact Opportunities, Not Just More Work:-Don't just delegate the drudge work; delegate some of the fun stuff, too. You know, delegate the important meetings, the committee memberships that influence product development and decision making, and the projects that people and customers notice. The employee will grow and develop new skills. Your plate will be less full so you can concentrate on contribution. Your reporting staff will gratefully shine - and so will you.7. Provide Frequent Feedback:-Provide frequent feedback so that people know how they are doing. Sometimes, the purpose of feedback is reward and recognition as well as improvement coaching. People deserve your constructive feedback, too, so they can continue to develop their knowledge and skills.8. Solve Problems: Don't Pinpoint Problem People:-When a problem occurs, ask what is wrong with the work system that caused the people to fail, not what is wrong with the people. Worst case response to problems? Seek to identify and punish the guilty.

9. Listen to Learn and Ask Questions to Provide Guidance:-Provide a space in which people will communicate by listening to them and asking them questions. Guide by asking questions, not by telling grown up people what to do. People generally know the right answers if they have the opportunity to produce them. When an employee brings you a problem to solve, ask, "what do you think you should do to solve this problem?" Or, ask, "what action steps do you recommend?" Employees can demonstrate what they know and grow in the process. Eventually, you will feel comfortable telling the employee that he or she need not ask you about similar situations. You trust their judgment.10. Help Employees Feel Rewarded and Recognized for Empowered Behavior:-When employees feel under-compensated, under-titled for the responsibilities they take on, under-noticed, under-praised, and under-appreciated, dont expect results fromemployee empowerment. The basic needs of employees must feel met for employees to give you their discretionary energy, that extra effort that people voluntarily invest in work. For successful employee empowerment, recognition plays a significant role.http://humanresources.about.com/od/managementandleadership/tp/empowerment.htm