When I first started at my current job I also went through these stages, as did the staff who were already employed with the company. Having a new manager is a big change for people. They were wary of me and what ideas and procedures I would put in place. The ‘forming’ stage was quite uncomfortable but it only lasted a day or two. The ‘storming’ stage was also difficult because their last manager was the ultimate Theory X manager. Apparently they were not even allowed to do simple tasks like sweep the floor or empty the bins without his authorisation. It was like a pet that had been abused, it took a while for them to realise that I was not going to scream and shout at them for their every move. Once they realised this, they tested my boundaries and on the odd occasion we had to have a chat in my office regarding the quality or quantity of their workload. This created a bad vibe and we all felt uncomfortable but once they realised that I had set my boundaries and what I expected from them was not unreasonable, they then started to enjoy themselves. There was a good atmosphere and they starting giving me their ideas on ways to improve certain areas. I listened to them and implemented some of the ideas which made them proud and they took ownership of the ideas. This was when we arrived at the ‘norming’ stage. Since then, the relationships have got stronger and stronger, they now have the confidence to talk to me about anything and also to criticise my decisions if they believe that there is a better way of doing something. I personally believe this is a good thing; it also gives me the opportunity to explain why I have decided to take that action. We have now grown into a high ‘performing’ team that if we have any new members of staff, they simply fit into the way we work. This is because as I said earlier, not only is the environment very welcoming but because of this, the staff try to impress me and are competitive amongst themselves.
There are seven characteristics of an effective team according to a study conducted by Don Carew, Eunice Parisi-Carew and Ken Blanchard of Blanchard Training and Development. They are purpose and values, empowerment, relationships and communication, flexibility, optimal productivity, recognition and appreciation, and morale.
The first characteristics are purpose and values. Members of teams share a sense of common purpose. They are clear about what the teams “work” and why it is important. They can describe a picture of what the team intends to achieve, and the norms and values that will guide them. Purpose defines what the team is to accomplish and the values and norms define how. They have developed mutually agreed-upon and challenging goals that clearly relate to the team’s vision. Strategies for achieving goals are clear. Each member understands his or her role in realising the purpose and values. Values play a major role in leadership and teams as it provides the basis and pathway for leaders and team members on how they think, act and behave. This can also work in a negative way if the team leader has bad values i.e. Adolf Hitler who had greed, glutton and coercive power values embodied in him. Although Hitler had loyal followers to him, he would not stay on top for long as people could see through his ingenuity; they could see a gap between what he said and what he practised. The reality is people will lose respect for the team leader if they do not approve their code of conduct both professionally and privately.
The second characteristic is empowerment. Teams thrive on self-directed members who have been empowered to make decisions, troubleshoot problems, and initiate change and experiment with creative ideas. The organisation must dare to trust its employees enough to let them manage themselves in teams. Employees earn that trust by internalising the goals and mission of their company. They put their career welfare in the hands of the team. Empowered teams share in power, but also in responsibility, for results. A sense of mutual respect enables members to share responsibilities, help each other out, and take initiative to meet challenges. Members have opportunities to grow and learn new skills. There is a sense of personal as well as collective power. Team leaders and members must dare to innovate, take risks and pursue continuous training in order to ensure breakthrough performance. Daring teams never settle for mediocrity, conformity or business as usual. They break out of their self-imposed comfort zone. In order for empowerment to take root and thrive, organisations must encourage these conditions:
- Participation
- Innovation
- Access to information
- Accountability
When an organisation’s overall direction is clear and its overall structure and resource base are adequate to its needs then an empowered workforce with responsibility and authority for most day-to-day decisions can have the following advantages:
- Better customer service
- Flexibility
- Speed
- Formation of important cross-functional links
- Morale
To tell if a workforce is empowered, the crucial indicators are the way the employees interact with customers, managers and each other. Typical behaviours among employees that are evident within empowered workforces include the following.
- They show an awareness of the goals and strategy of the organisation. They take an interest beyond their functional speciality, paying attention to company publications, press reports, and financial and competitive data. They discuss their work in terms of how it fits into the company’s overall vision.
- They take personal responsibility for the outcomes of their work, showing by their behaviour that they feel responsible for the results of what they do.
- They continually monitor their own performance, looking for indications of quality and showing a concern for how they are doing on all performance without being asked to do so.
- They seek additional resources when they do not have what they need to perform well.
- They take initiatives to help people in other areas to improve their performance.
Of course there are cons to empowering your team or workforce, some of these disadvantages are:
- Potential for chaos
- Lack of clarity
- Breakdown of hierarchical control
- Demoralisation
In conclusion, the concept of ‘empowerment’ brings more human aspects into picture, which follows what is called the ‘democratic Taylorism’ model. Instead of Taylorism, these new methods and standards are determined by work teams themselves: workers are taught how to time their own jobs with a stopwatch, compare alternative procedures to determine the most effective one, document the standard procedure to ensure that everyone can understand and implement it, and identify and propose improvements in that procedure. At any given time, the task of standardised work analysis might be delegated to a team leader or a team member, but everyone understands the analysis process and can participate in it. K. Grahame Walker, as quoted in Industry Week (Nov. 18,1991), says he advocated doing away with the term empowerment in favour of another word – participation, contribution, involvement, or responsibility. Why? Because Walker says, some employees define empowerment as doing what they want, when, how, why, and if they want.
However, what I have seen in reality is that employee empowerment is a fake. People are told that they have power and responsibility, but in fact, in most of the decisions they are dependent on their boss, which eventually lowers morale, erodes leadership credibility, and creates hostility and opposition.
The underpinning argument is that today we constantly talk about downsizing, de-layering, rightsizing, flattening, business process re-engineering as cost saving devises but with our existing hierarchical and bureaucratic system, are we really achieving our cost saving targets. I feel that with the introduction of the above mentioned buzzwords in our today’s business strategy we are not doing any justification to our customers who keep complaining about the service standards due to the shortage of, and inadequately empowered staff, which hinders effective performance in a world characterised by perpetual novelty and change. Only the true application of the principles of employee empowerment can enable businesses to cope with the new environment.
