This blog
is to compare and contrast the different concepts between the article “Empowerment:
Rejuvenating a potent idea” by Russ Forrester (Forrester,
2000) and the writings of Whetten and Cameron on empowering and delegating (2011). Both pieces of literature talk about
empowerment and why companies began to incorporate empowerment strategies with
their employees. Forrester specifically
addresses why empowerment efforts fail and how to make them successful while
Whetten and Cameron give us an overall view of empowerment, its definition,
history, different dimensions of empowerment, and ways to develop it.
Forrester begins his article
by outlining what he calls the “six short circuits to empowerment”
(2000).
These are explained as six common mistakes
that are made when companies try to empower their employees.
The first mistake is that they precipitously
try to implement power changes.
Power is
handed down to subordinates too quickly which can cause upper-management to
feel that they are losing control causing a sense of powerlessness.
Also, employees who adopt this new power, may
not be prepared to accept it or may not have the proper training needed to
manage it and therefore they also experience the same sensation of
powerlessness.
The end result is an
overall sense of loss of control on both sides .
Whetten and Cameron (2011) also address the
need for sensitivity and patience when adopting new power changes because
mangers who have a high need for power may feel a loss of power or credit for
their success if power is taken from them abruptly.
They explain that you can incorporate
empowerment strategies within a company without great amounts of self-sacrifice
and where managers also feel they still are in control and working effectively.
The
second mistake in trying to adopt new power changes is what Forrester calls
“overreliance on a narrow psychological concept” (2000).
The most important concept here is to
understand that there are many psychological factors involved when trying to
empower employees.
Sometimes a company
“narrows and oversimplifies the motivations involved”
(Forrester, 2000, p. 3).
Feelings of self-efficacy and intrinsic task
motivation are not enough.
You also have
to consider how employees perceive their own power and learn how to alter the
belief systems of employees so they can embrace their power.
Also, Forrester explains that the “by-product
of the focus of empowerment as a psychological variable has been that real
power gets short shrift” meaning that some organizations use tactics that focus
more on convincing employees of the power they have then actually giving it to
them.
These types of psychological
tricks cause trust issues. Whetten and Cameron address this issue in there text
by explaining that employees feel empowered when they have a sense of
self-efficacy and confidence (2011).
Organizations can help alter their employee’s belief systems by adopting
methods that help employees feel confident, competent and self-determined.
Also they discuss the consequences of not
following through with promised power changes and how this causes trust and
confidence issues that in the long run will hurt the morale of the employees
and the company as well.
Another
common error in empowerment endeavors is what Forrester describes as “negligence
of the needs of power sharers” by the company (2000). Companies need to keep in mind that power
cannot be passed down without first reflecting on how this will affect the
upper-management who will be losing some of these controls. Managers feel that the security of their positions
are threatened. He also explains what he
calls “subjective attributions” or preconceived expectations of other people’s
abilities (2000). Most managers will feel that in order to get the best job
done, they have to do it themselves. Whetten and Cameron (2011) also reflect
this same concept of managers unwilling to pass on the responsibility to their
employees because they feel that employees lack the training or determination
to complete the task properly. They
consider this one of the inhibitors of empowerment (2011).
One
of the last issues that Forrester discusses in his article is the distortions
of accountability (2000). He explains
“the more power an employee has, the more accountability focuses unforgivingly
on results produced. The less the power,
the more the emphasis tends to be on process and effort with forgiveness”
(Forrester, 2000). If power is shifted
to subordinates then accountability should be shifted as well. Whetten and Cameron talk about the ten proven
principles of successful delegation.
They describe one of the oldest and most general rules of delegation
which is to “match the amount of responsibility with the amount of authority
provided” (2011, p. 468). Power holders
do not like being accountable for results when they don’t hold the control.
This is a type of paternalistic management where upper management does not
believe that employees have the strength or ability to deal with this type of
responsibility. This reinforces a powerless image of the employee and therefore
is not an effective form of empowerment.
Another
aspect of Forrester’s article covers what he calls “6 channels to higher
voltage empowerment” (2000). In this
portion of his writing he explains how to incorporate empowerment strategies
effectively. One parallel concept he
shares with the writings of Whetten and Cameron is the importance of investing
in employees by building their expertise and knowledge through training,
education, mentoring, seminars, providing resources, and such things as
allowing them to have opportunities to build better relationships with upper
management, peers and clients (Forrester, 2000). Whetten and Cameron describe some of these as
the nine prescriptions for fostering empowerment such as fostering personal
mastery experiences, modeling (role models and mentoring), providing support,
providing information, providing resources and connecting to outcomes (2011). These
parallel concepts describe the importance of giving employees more access and
control of resources and funding, extending more decision making power and
providing them with the necessary tools to succeed.
Another
key for successful empowerment strategies is to provide an environment where
subordinates can succeed. Forrester talks about building up their own power
slowly by creating individually tailored processes (2000). This idea comes from the fact that
empowerment strategies must be matched to the individual and not just a
“one-size fits all” concept. Whetten and Cameron describe this as the small
wins strategy, where upper-management provides small decision-making
opportunities first, incrementing the job responsibilities and thus allowing
employees to experience small accomplishments first. This creates a sense of movement and success
for the employee and also allows the management to still have a sense of
control.
There
are many other parallel views between Forrester’s article and our readings from
the textbook of Whetten and Cameron.
Conceptually they share the same perspectives on how to make empowerment
work effectively within an organization.
References
