5 Simple ways you can Empower Employees at the workplace!

Do you know with great leadership comes great responsibility?  Well, of course, you do!

And one of these responsibilities is giving your employees the autonomy to work, to take initiatives and encouraging them to be the best versions of themselves. We admit, being a leader is not easy, but it is your duty to help your employees without constant micromanagement. Looking beyond employee benefits, there’s a lot that the organizations can do to best support their employees at the workplace.

In rather fancier terms, Empower them! By employee empowerment, you are giving them a chance to make certain decisions on their own, giving them a chance to work independently and most of all giving them a chance to learn and grow! Bottom line is, empowering employees can have ginormous benefits not only to the team but to the company as a whole; it improves accountability, job satisfaction and helps you in finding the solution to all your problems, collectively.

Harvard Business Review conducted a meta-analysis of all available field experiments on leaders empowering subordinates – examining the results of 105 studies, which included data from more than 30,000 employees from 30 countries.

Their study showed that empowering leadership can motivate employees and also, fuels workplace creativity. Empowered employees are happy employees and happy employees are more productive.

Are you interested in the empowerment of your employees? Follow these 5 simple tips and transform your work culture:

Must Believe in Your Employees

According to Steve Jobs  – a force behind leading Apple to corporate success:

“It’s not the tools you have faith in–tools are just tools–they work, or they don’t work. It’s the people you have faith in or not.”

Building trust in your workforce is one of the key factors. Successful business relationships are founded on the sacred principles of trust, and respect.

Without this, the ability to overcome challenges and workplace issues is greatly compromised. There are many reasons why you can not afford to not trust your employees. Trust inspires confidence and confidence leads to success, which helps employees to further their own career and growth. It will make employees more inclined towards taking on new challenges and pushing themselves beyond limits to achieve the best, not only for them but for their organization.

In short, believe in your employees and encourage them to do the same, others will follow.

Inspire Creativity

Do you feel that your employees are not creative enough at work? What are you doing wrong? Business creativity starts with employee creativity! Well, that’s a given. There are many reasons why employees lose their creativity for example not enough resources, lack of autonomy, lack of recognition, so on and so forth.  Now, what you can do to stop that?

Start by accepting their ideas and inputs. Make them a part of an active decision making or even goal-setting. At first, they might face difficulty and hesitation while making a decision on behalf of your team but you learn as you live.

Additionally, it’s not just about decision making, its’ also about finding better ways to accomplishing a task and solving problems, rather than using the same age-old techniques. Encourage your employees to bring creative ideas to the table. Not only, will it help empower your employees, it can also open up doors for many new and innovative ideas that might have the power to lead your company to greatness.

Makes sense, right?

A little appreciation can go a long way!

You have to admit, that we all crave appreciation and recognition in one way or the other. Either it’s work, or not, it’s always helpful to receive some applaud.

Have you ever noticed that we human beings have a tendency to repeat behaviors, good or bad? Similarly, positive feedback reinforces a spark in employees. Showing employees the appreciation for their work well done makes it even more likely that they will continue to be creative, and innovative.

It ensures continued high-quality work in the future as well.

Whether it’s a goal they have achieved before time or a report that was presented flawlessly, let them know when they have done a good job! It doesn’t cost anything.

Autonomy, give your Employees Autonomy!

Do not let your employees view their jobs as simply ‘work for pay’, and nothing more, nothing less.

Employee autonomy is crucial for learning. As a leader, yes it is your job to manage your employees, but instead of worrying about the small details, direct your focus on the goals and strategic objectives of each individual team member. Let them exercise choice and take care of the minute details. Rather than micromanaging, communicate the end-result and then help them build on that.

Bonus: Granting autonomy to employees improves workplace retention!

Have an Open-door Policy

Well-defined open door policy is what every workplace should have and need. No, it doesn’t mean it gives employees an opportunity for continuous complaining and nagging, No.

Maintaining an open line of positive communication with your team is an important aspect of running a successful business venture. It leads to higher job satisfaction and shows employees that you care about what they think. In order to truly empower your employees, carefully listen to their opinions and let them know that they are valued. It will enable them to play an active part in your company.

A simple gesture as this can do wonders!

And the list continues…

The success of organizations depends on the success of its’ employees.

Managers need to understand that empowering employees in the workplace is crucial for companies to thrive.    

The bottom line is, empowering employees at the workplace is about accountability and trust. However, if you follow the ways outlined above, you’ll be able to achieve a healthy workplace.

What have you done in your workplace to empower your employees?