Transcript Session7

MGT 674
Employee Relations Management
Ajaya Mishra
Employee Relations
Session 7
Employee Empowerment …
Employee Empowerment Defined…
• Employee involvement appears to be a strong
enabler of Employee Empowerment. (Bowen & Lawler,
1995; Spreitzer, 1995)
• It could also be defined as controlled transfer of
authority to make decisions and take actions.
• Empowerment: Giving Power to Employees
– The freedom and the ability of employees to
make decisions and commitments.
Employee Involvement …
• Describes the prescription of an employee
regarding his identity or importance in the
group work. (Bandura, 1982)
• Is often considered process oriented, although
it can be a motivational system. (Leonard & Schooll,
1995)
• It consists of four separate process knowledge,
information, power and rewards. (Lawl, 1986;
Scarselletha, 1999)
Participation …
• … ‘a process of employee involvement designed to
provide employees with the opportunity to influence
and where appropriate, take part in decision making on
matters which affect them’.
• Employee participation is a pluralist/collective
approach with a continuum from ‘no involvement’ to
‘employee control’ (Blyton & Turnbull, 1998). Employee
involvement, in contrast, is more individualistic and
unitarist. It aims to harness commitment to
organizational objectives and relies on the
maintenance of management control.
Forms of Employee Participation
• Employee Participation comprises material and
immaterial participation.
• Material participation includes all financial (monetary)
participation of employees in the company (Schaschl,
2000) such as a participation in the organization’s
capital, profit or gain or in others forms, e.g. stock
options (Backes-Gellner, Kay, Schröer & Wolf, 2002).
• Immaterial participation has employees involved in
information, coordination, and decision processes
within the company (Scholand, 2001; Schaschl, 2000; BackesGellner et al., 2002).
Types of Employee Participation
Employee
Participation
Material
Share
Ownership
Profit Sharing
Immaterial
Others
Stock Option
Legal CoDetermination
Voluntary
Participation
Immaterial
Participation
Legal CoDetermination
At Board Level
Committees
Voluntary
Participation
Indirect
participation
Direct
participation
Like Round Table
Discussions
(Goal Setting,
Delegation, Circle
work, Suggestion
Scheme, Employee
Survey, semi
autonomous
workgroups)
Differences in Key Terms …
• The major differences between involvement,
participation and empowerment is related to
the transfer of decision making authority.
Whereas in both, involvement and
participation, management retains control, in
empowerment employee have at least some
degree of authority to make and implement
their own decision. (Psoins & Smithson, 2002)
• What is needed?
– Successful implementation of empowerment
requires change in corporate culture.
• Empowerment involves actively soliciting
input from those closest to the work and
giving careful thought to that input.
Types of Empowerment …
• Psychological Empowerment
– A process of enhancing feelings of self efficacy
among organizational member through the
identification of conditions that foster
powerlessness and their removal .. (Cogner & Kanningo,
1988)
• Structural Empowerment
– Defined as a particular set of strategies and
practices to shape the workplace by managers of
the organization. (Eylon & Bamberser, 2000)
Rationale for Empowerment …
• An aspect of Working Smart
• Empowerment is the key to motivation &
Productivity.
• It enables a person to develop personally
& professionally.
Key differences between traditional and
empowered organization …
Element
Traditional Org.
Empowered Org.
Organization Structure
Layered
Flat / team
Job Design
Narrow, Single task
Whole Process /
Multiple Task
Management Role
Direct / Control
Coach / Facilitates
Leadership
Top down
Shared with Team
Information Flow
Controlled / limited
Open /Shared
Rewards
Individual / Seniority
Team / Skill Based
Job Process
Managers Plan, Control
and Improve
Teams Plan, Control and
Improve
Inhibitors of Empowerment
• Resistance from Employees & Unions
• Resistance from Management
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Insecurity
Personal Values
Ego
Management Training
Personality Characteristics of Managers
Exclusion of Managers
• Workforce Readiness
• Organizational Structure & Management Practices
Degrees of Empowerment
• Job content
– Tasks and procedures necessary for carrying out a
particular job.
• Job context
– Reason for the job and the setting in which it is
done.
• Includes organization’s structure, culture, and reward
systems.
Characteristics of Empowered People
• Sense of self-determination
– Employees are free to choose how to do their work; they are not
micromanaged.
• Sense of meaning
– Employees feel that their work is important to them; they care about what
they are doing.
• Sense of competence
– Employees are confident about their ability to do their work well; they
know they can perform.
• Sense of impact
– Employees believe they can have influence on their work unit; others
listen to their ideas.
More or less stress
• What are the effects of empowerment on
stress?
• What are the effects of empowerment on
performance?
• What are the effects of empowerment on job
satisfaction?
Stages of Empowerment
• No Discretion
– The employee is assigned the task, given no
discretion, and most likely monitored by a
supervisor.
• Typical assembly-line job—highly routine and
repetitive.
• Can lead to lowered satisfaction and productivity.
Stages of Empowerment
• Participatory Empowerment
– Autonomous work groups that are given some
decision-making authority over both job content
and job context.
• Some evidence of higher job satisfaction and
productivity in such groups.
Stages of Empowerment
• Self-Management
– Employees have total decision-making power for
both job content and job context.
• Generally reserved for those in top management,
although it is also sometimes granted to high-level
salespeople.
• Very rewarding to those who hold it.
Conditions for True Empowerment
• There must be a clear definition of the values and
mission of the company.
• Company must help employees acquire the relevant
skills.
• Employees need to be supported in their decision
making, and not criticized when they try to do something
extraordinary.
• Employees need to be recognized for their efforts.
Management’s Role in Empowerment &
Implementing Empowerment
• Management’s Role:
– Commitment
– Leadership
– Facilitation
• Implementing Empowerment:
– Development of Suggestion Systems (Fig 8.3)
– Considering the Employees Point of View
– Putting Vehicles in Place
•
•
•
•
•
Brainstorming
Nominal Group Technique (fig 8.4)
Quality Circles
Suggestion Boxes
Walking & Talking
• Management’s Role:
– Establishing Policy
– Setting Up the System
– Promoting the Suggestion System
– Evaluating & Implementing suggestions
– Rewarding employees
• Improving the system..
– Improving Suggestion Processing
– Improving Individual Suggestions
• Problem Identification
• Research
• Idea Development
• Evaluating Suggestions
– Though Employees make suggestions, final analysis is
still to be made by manager.
– Thus, Establish a formal rating system for evaluating
suggestion systems.
• Handling Poor Suggestions
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Listen Carefully
Express Appreciation
Carefully explain your position
Encourage feedback
Look for Compromise
Achieving Full Participation
• Removing Hidden Barriers
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–
–
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Negative Behavior
Poor Writing Skills
Fear of Rejection
Inconvenience
• Encouraging new Employees
• Coaching Reluctant Employees
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Assess
Investigate
Match
Choose
Manage
How to Recognize Empowered
Employees
• Taking Initiative
• Identifying Opportunities
• Thinking Critically
• Building Consensus
Some Research Findings and Models of
Employee Empowerment
Choice
Meaning
Competence
Employee
Involvement
Impact
Employee
Empowerment
Information
Knowledge
Power
Rewards
Employee
Satisfaction
Employee
Involvement
Employee
Empowerment
Power
Quality Circles, Job enrichment, self managed
team.
Information
Customer feedback, Unit performance data,
Competence Data
Knowledge
Skills to analyze business strategy, Important
process skills.
Rewards
Pay tied up with service quality, Individual and
Group pay system
Employee
Satisfaction
Employee
Empowerment
r = .46
Training
Mgmt. Support
Rewards
Team
Involvement
r = .47
Employee
Involvement
P < .001
(Cotton, 1993)
Employee
Satisfaction
Knowledge
r = .572
Information
Rewards
Power
r = .721
Employee
Involvement
r = .812
Employee
Empowerment
P < .01
(Joel N Light, 2004)
Ph.D. Dissertation