Empowerment and Organizational Effectiveness - Essay Example

The concept of empowerment has gathered a lot of attention in management during the last few decades. It incorporates various psychological aspects, such as, impact, competency, choice, and meaning. Technological development, rapidly changing circumstances, overt and covert competition has stressed the need for empowering employees even more. Empowerment has direct influence on better development and organizational effectiveness. Effectiveness is the degree or extent at which an organization achieves its goals (Dizgah, et al., 2011). The present research paper tries to investigate whether empowerment is a valuable tool for increasing efficiency and effectiveness in today's organization. According to Kondalkar (2009 cited in Dizgah, et al., 2011) organizations' effectiveness is dependent on individual and group contributions. Organization is considered effective when individual performance is greater than the sum of individual contributions. Effectiveness is defined as the degree at which organization achieves its goals (Daft, 1995 cited in Dizgah, et al., 2011). Growing concerns for increased organizational excellence is leading management to install latest technology and modern processes for to get growth objectives. Organizations with experienced, skilled, and committed employees are more likely to survive. In order to survive, organizations have to empower employees (Kondalkar, 2009 cited in Dizgah, et al., 2011). Ziyakashany (2009 cited in Dizgah, et al., 2011) also argues that empowerment is a great tool for increasing human resource quality and resulting effectiveness of organization. Moreover, human capital offerings in the form of their qualifications, skills, and experiences enhance organizational outcomes (Hitt, et al., 2001 cited in Dizgah, et al., 2011). Therefore, employee training, skill enhancement, and other expertise are given priority in strategic activities. With such level of commitment from organization, employees become even more committed and help organization to achieve its objective that results in an effective organization (Acquaah anad Tukamushaba, 2009 cited in Dizgah, et al., 2011). Competitive markets reveal that all components of effectiveness are efficient in organization (Farris, 1998 cited in Dizgah, et al., 2011). Organization's excellence depends on its capability in achieving objectives by optimal use of its human resource, technology, and equipment (Eqbal-Farzaqi, 2005 cited in Dizgah, et al., 2011). Experts believe that if empowerment results in better job satisfaction, it will also enhance employees' relationship with customers, suppliers, management, supervisor, and other colleagues (Littrel, 2007 cited in Dizgah, et al., 2011).Therefore, empowerment directly influences organization's performance and effectiveness. There is a diverse body of literature on empowerment and its influence on organizational and individual performance. The paper explores empowerment background, the concept of empowerment, its strength, and reviews the works of some prominent scholars. Within a decade of its arrival, the trend of employee empowerment has reached to the status of a movement, but some consider it a fad depending on their approach (Abrahamson, 1996; Block 1987 cited in Seibert, Silver, & Randolph, 2004, p.332). The core idea behind empowerment is the increased individual employee's motivation through giving authority to the lowest level of organization where an efficient decision can be made (Conger & Kanungo, 1988; Thomas & Velthouse, 1990 cited in Seibert, Silver, & Randolph, 2004, p.332). The concept of empowerment has its roots in consistent motivation, participative decision making, job design, self-management, and social learning theory (Liden & Tewksbury, 1995). The literature on empowerment has both macro and micro perspective. Macro perspective concentrates on organization's structure and policies, on the other hand, micro perspective deals with empowerment as an intrinsic motivation. Academics and practitioners have extensively discussed the role of organizational structure, policies, and practices in order to create high levels of intrinsic motivation (Bennis & Nanus, 1985; Block, 1987; Conger & Kanungo, 1988; Lawler, Mohrman, & Ledford, 1995; Liden & Tewksbury, 1995; Randolph, 1995; Spreitzer, 1996; Thomas & Velthouse, 1990 cited in Seibert, Silver, & Randolph, 2004, p.332). Empowerment is the process that gives authority required for taking decisions and contributes to devising plans associated with the particular position in order to use that individual's expertise and qualification for enhancing the performance of organization (Effendi, 2003 cited in Areiqat and Zamil, 2011). It is a strategy that focuses on releasing individual potential and incorporates that in organizational building. The efficiency of an organization depends on the harmonization of individual needs and potential with organization's vision and goals (Brown and Harvery, 2006 cited in Areiqat and Zamil, 2011). According to Carroll (2011, p.3) empowerment is referred as a shared perception between management and employees that employees are equally valued partner of the organization. Due to the fact that employees are in much better position to take responsibility for individual and group performance, their actions can support organization's goals better. Managers work as trainers, they keep workforce aligned, provide a trusted environment, and remain open for feedback. An empowered employee is more credible since he feels himself as part of the organization. He offers commitment to work, assumes his role for decision-making, and takes responsibility of its consequences (Al-Ma‘ani, 2008 cited in Areiqat and Zamil, 2011).The process of empowerment becomes even more strong when organization provides them with the circumstances that make employees work on their own proficiency. It induces the spirit of taking initiative among employees and inspires them to perform well (Cook and Hunsaker, 2001 cited in Areiqat and Zamil, 2011) The process of orienting and training employees to think, act, and behave in an autonomous manger is called empowerment. It enables workers to own their achievements and take responsibility of their results. Technological advancement and automation has made organizations more dependent on high level of creativity and learning ability that empowers them to take risk (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1991 cited in Sahoo, Behera, and Tripathy, 2010). Performance results of empowerment process are greater productivity levels, proactive behaviours, and superior customer service. Behavioural benefits are job satisfaction, and individual, team and organizational commitment (Kirkman and Rosen, 1999 cited in Sahoo, Behera, and Tripathy, 2010). Here, a question arises that in the presence of cut-throat competition, why is it important to focus on something as soft as empowerment? According to Carroll (1994) many surveys, training programs, and reports of struggling organizations reveal that most often, employees find themselves powerless for achieving the goal management ask them to do. Low levels of commitment and self esteem among employees lead to negative financial impact on organization. This scenario established a direct link between empowerment and profitability. Mullins and Peacock (1991) also stress that empowered employees are more satisfied with the job; they are motivated, and express more loyalty for organization. A satisfied and committed customer is a precious asset for organization. He is proud of his attachment to the organization and, therefore, less likely to leave (Kuo, Ho,Lin and Lai, 2009 cited in Sahoo, Behera, and Tripathy, 2010). Considering all these benefits, an HR department must concentrate on developing competencies and influence employees for more satisfaction and achievement of organizational goals (Sahoo, Behera, and Tripathy, 2010). In order to establish a direct link between employees' empowerment and resulting effectiveness of organization, Dizgah, et al. (2011) investigate the relationship between employee empowerment and organization's effectiveness in 88 manufacturing companies of Guilan province. They identified a direct relationship between empowerment and organization's efficiency due to positive correlation coefficients. It implies that by increasing empowerment, organizational efficiency will also increase. Moreover, employees' trust, impact, competence, choice, purposeful jobs, and competency also increase organizational effectiveness. By covering 50 years history of empowerment and its implementation, Yukl and Becker (2006) conclude that empowerment is still an elusive concept, and a perception! Insufficient results from empowerment are due to the fact that initiatives taken in the name of empowerment are not actually empowering. Most widespread definition of psychological empowerment incorporates four factors: competence, meaningfulness, choice, and impact. However, management practices and results require more precision and clarity. Most often, empowerment practices are considered to be a simple way to motivate employees to deliver more. However, empowerment initiatives should be crafted by two-fold objective of enhancing organizational effectiveness and improving the quality of employees' work life. Areiqat and Zamil (2011) investigated the role of empowerment in the management of organizational crisis. They identify that for effective empowerment of employees, there has to be a flexible organizational structure that delegates power. This dissemination of power to workers leads to effective participation and timely decision making to deal with the crisis. Dealing the concept of empowerment subjectively, they conclude that empowerment is given by making employees a part of decision making through their opinion, giving them confidence and listening to their issues and ideas. Empowerment prepares employees for crisis management once it happens and inspires them to take pre-emptive action in order to avoid the crisis before it happens. In their systematic review of previous research, Sahoo, Behera, and Tripathy (2010) found that empowerment initiatives and participative management is positively associated with employee participation and job satisfaction, high levels of motivation, better performance, individual commitment, and organizational effectiveness and success. Workplace commitment constitutes both individual's and organization's commitment. By establishing a direct link between individual commitment and organization's excellence, they identify recognition, autonomy, rewards, support and encouragement, and individual participation as core features of an empowering organization. Employee empowerment also has a positive relationship with ability utilization, job influence, and commitment, as investigate by Elloy (2012).He suggests that management must invest on empowerment in order to reap its benefits. While studying empowerment environment, Seibert, Silver, and Randolph (2004) identified that psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between empowerment climate and employee's performance and job satisfaction. However, the study didn't establish a direct relationship between empowerment climate and job performance of individuals. The impact of empowerment on employee performance is better if other factors (ability and opportunity) are also considered. The study is limited because it considers the subjective nature of empowerment climate. In a study examining employee deviance and employee engagement, Johnson (2011) finds a direct correlation between the two. When it comes to employee engagement, it has three aspects: emotional, cognitive, and physical. When it comes to ethical behaviour, skill is considered to be an ethical issue because it supports individual's self esteem and encourages ethical behaviour. Through empowerment, employees consider themselves competent enough for the job. It eliminates fear and negative motivation which are associated with the lack of authority. Therefore, empowerment is also crucial for promoting ethical behaviour and avoiding deviance in organization. Most scholars and academics consider that process of empowerment as improvement in employees' intrinsic motivation that stems from changes in organizational structure, policies, and practices. However, this perception into the multiple-level nature of empowerment is neither theoretically explicit nor empirically tested (Seibert, Silver, & Randolph, 2004). Empowerment is referred as a shared perception that employees are equally valued partner of the organization. The major objective of the study is to identify the role of empowerment on organization's efficiency and effectiveness. Organizations with experienced, skilled, and committed employees are more likely to survive. In order to survive, organizations have to empower employees.Organization is considered effective when individual performance is greater than the sum of individual contributions. Effectiveness is defined as the degree at which organization achieves its goals. Organization's excellence depends on its capability in achieving objectives by optimal use of its human resource, technology, and equipment. Most widespread definition of psychological empowerment incorporates four factors: competence, meaningfulness, choice, and impact. However, management practices and results require more precision and clarity. This dissemination of power to workers leads to effective participation and timely decision making to deal with the crisis. It is widely accepted that recognition, autonomy, rewards, support and encouragement and individual participation as core features of an empowering organization The core idea behind empowerment is the increased individual employee's motivation through giving authority to the lowest level of organization where an efficient decision can be made.An empowered employee is more credible since he feels himself as part of the organization. He offers commitment to work, assumes his role for decision-making, and takes responsibility of its consequences. Employee empowerment also has a positive relationship with ability utilization, job influence, and commitment. Moreover, psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between empowerment climate and employee's performance and job satisfaction. Through empowerment, employees consider themselves competent enough for the job. It eliminates fear and negative motivation which are associated with the lack of authority. On the other hand, low levels of commitment and self esteem among employees lead to negative financial impact on organization. Research proved that with increasing empowerment, organizational efficiency will also increase. Works Cited Areiqat, Y.M. & Zamil, A.M., 2011.The Role of Empowerment in Crisis Management in Business Organisations. Asian Journal of Business Management, 3(3), pp. 188-195. Al-Utaibi, S.M., 2004. Empowerment of Employees as a Strategy for Administrative Development. A Paper Presented to the Regional Meeting for Human Resources Management and Development. Brown, D.R. and D. Harvery, 2006. An External Approach to Organizational Development. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Carroll, A.1994. What's Behind the "E" Word: Myths About Empowerment and Why You Need it. [pdf].Interaction Design Inc. Available at: < http://www.interactiondesign.com/downloads/empwrart.pdf> [Accessed 25 September 2012]. Dizgah,M.R.,et al.,2011.Employee Empowerment and Organizational Effectiveness in the Executive Organizations. Journal of Basic and Applied Scientific Research, 1(9), pp.973-980. Elloy, D.,2012.Effects of Ability Utilization, Job Influence and Organization Commitment on Employee Empowerment: An Empirical Study. International Journal of Management, 29(2), pp. 627-632. Effendi, A., 2003. Empowerment of employees is an introduction to continuous improvement and development Cairo. Arab Organization for Administrative Development. Johnson, M., 2011.Workforce Deviance and the Business Case for Employee Engagement. The Journal for Quality & Participation, July, pp. 11-16. Sahoo, C.K., Behera, N., & Tripathy, S.K. 2010.Employee Empowerment and Individual Commitment: An Analysis from Integrative Review of Research. Employment Relations Record, 10(1), pp. 40-56. 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