Em-Power your organization

When we talk about power, it refers to brute strength but when we refer to empowerment, it means two things 1) Distribution of power and hence has a hint of democracy 2) Accountability. While power can corrupt, it is the accountability factor that keeps corruption at bay when it comes to empowerment. Hence "empowerment" is a good word in management practice. When an organization grows and needs to scale up, it needs empowerment. It has several advantages but some prerequisites as well. Empowerment cannot be given unless there is "trust" in the person being empowered. "Trust" is the basic criteria that sets the ball rolling. Thus high quality recruitment techniques, processes and practices are the sine qua non of getting trustworthy people into the organization's fold. Here it is essential for an organization to comprehend the value of "trust" while fixing the compensation structure. Quite clearly the returns for hiring a competent trustworthy person will outweigh the cost of doing so in the long run. And let us take a look at what empowerment could achieve for an organization that is on a "scale up" mode.
Empowerment will make the organization agile and responsive to the environment. Decision making at the point of customer interface is one of the critical factors of consumer delight and loyalty.
Empowerment will bring about improvement in quality. After all it is the platform where the experts have the encouragement of management to take decisions in areas that they understand best.
Empowerment plays a crucial role in improving the speed to market a product. In competitive times like these, speed to market is perhaps the most important factor to gain competitive advantage. Nokia is a good example where speed to market ensures that they are able to bring new products on to the table long before others. That is one factor that has ensured that Nokia remains at the helm as one of the most valuable brands. Reliance is another such brand which has often displayed this ability.
Empowerment inculcates a sense of accountability and ownership making the employee more responsible and result oriented. It unleashes a spirit of entrepreneurship in the employee as he is able to realize his role in the bigger scheme of things. The realization of the bigger picture draws the best out in people and makes them perform as stars. The realization of his contribution to the greater purpose of the business is a huge "turn on" and unleash the kind of productivity that one usually aspires to see.
Empowered managers are best poised to usher in a culture of innovation and change. They have the abilities to drive up an organization into an altogether different plane of achievement.
Finally if "empowerment" is not in the scheme of things, the organization should leave qualified and enthusiastic people out of their recruitment plans. For highly motivated people seek empowerment and are willing to stand accountable for their actions. However, if the organization stifles this spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation brewing in the hearts of the workforce, it can cause irreparable damage to their spirit and abilities.
If this were the case, the organization would be a lot better hiring people who are neither self motivated nor enthusiastic to usher in a spirit of change and enhancement. For these will be people who will prefer being dictated and doing exactly what has been told. They will work but will never contribute original ideas. They will surely help the organisation engine to "chugg" along but will not play a part in revving it into acceleration mode. On the contrary they will strongly anchor the organization in the "status- quo" allowing all and sundry to pass ahead as they look on.