This report on ‘Empowering the Workforce’ is relevant in the scenario of large scale emergence of firms and companies. Competition is growing at an unprecedented rate and thus, we need to look for ways to optimise our benefits in the face of this competition. To acquire a winning edge, it is proposed that a scheme for empowerment of the workforce be undertaken.
Empowerment, talked of in business or commercial terms, is the process of assigning power to the employees by making them a part of the decision making process. It is based on the argument that it increases employee satisfaction and thus gets the maximum out of them. The role of managers becomes very significant in this process. Managerial capability is what will decide on the success of the project.
Two case studies- one of a large Australia based MNC (AGI) and another of 1300 medium and small firms- have been discussed in the report. A few trends have emerged out of them-
• Human Resource Management has become the latest and the most successful strategy in firms and companies.
• A formalization and standardisation of HR management is observed with an increase in the size of firms.
Following from these observations, it is recommendable to train our employees to take up decision making responsibility. With this, we hope to maximise our profits (with a collaborative effort) and eventually, enlarge our firm.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page Number
1) Introduction 4
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2) Part I: Empowerment 5-7
3) Part II: Empowering the Workforce 8-10
4) Part III: Proposal 11-12
5) Conclusion 13
6) List of References 1
Introduction
In the present global scenario of a highly competitive business environment, this report is relevant and much needed. It has been commissioned to study, acquaint and determine ways to empower the workforce in a firm. This empowering process seeks to increase the output of each individual, which would obviously sum up to an augmentation in the total profits of the company.
The main objective of the report is to explain the concept of empowerment, especially in the realm of employment. It also intends to explain and analyse certain case studies in this field. All this research would go into recommending implementation of the report, that is, towards technique of empowerment of our own workforce.
In its Part I, the report studied various notions of empowerment and gives a comprehensive definition for it. The concept of empowerment fast entering the economic sphere is also included in this part. Part II explores various techniques for empowering employees. All the risks and benefits that would accrue from the process are clearly explained and exemplified by two Australia based case studies. All the interpretations are recommended for implementation in Part III, including suggestions for practical application of the researched methodology.
The report has been comprehensively prepared by researching the online material available. Few journal articles have been used for including a practical aspect in the report. Recently published books, giving the latest statistics and information, have been particularly useful in the compilation.
EMPOWERING THE WORKFORCE:
A PROPOSAL TOWARDS MAXIMISATION OF BENEFITS
PART I: EMPOWERMENT
(A) The Concept of Empowerment
“Power can be taken, but not given. The process of the taking is empowerment in itself.”
–Gloria Steinem (writer and activist)
Though empowerment has become a buzzword in the 21st century, there are so many muddled up variations of this concept that its real meaning is often lost out. Empowerment obviously signifies a transfer or delegation, or more appropriately realisation of power. This pinpoints that there’s a party which is in a position to ‘empower’ others; they are thus, presumably empowered (Lashley,C. 2001).
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Those who are to be empowered are supposedly the ‘powerless’. Power has to flow from the empowered to the powerless. But who determines the flow of this power, what is the limit of the power assigned and where this process does stop are some relevant questions.
This brings us to a relatively recent and more correct definition of empowerment. Empowerment is, in simple understandable terms, a delegation of authority and assignment of decision making powers to individuals; where the individuals are themselves highly motivated for their empowerment. The aim is full realisation of the potential of each individual. Stredwick (1998) suggests that this realisation of potential, if talked in terms of an organisation, adds up to better commercial success. It is so assumed that empowered individuals will contribute their utmost to the organization and will employ their talents and capabilities for the organization’s success and commendable achievement.
(B) Empowerment in Business
“Empowerment is about achieving organizational goals; it means getting everyone involved in making a success of the business. -Johnson and Redmond, 1998)
The concept of ‘Empowerment’ covers a vast landscape of meanings in spheres ranging from social to political to economic. Moving beyond the social and political realms, empowerment is now fast surging into the employment sector as well. Empowerment has become the need of the day; in the economic (read employment) realm it is largely being identified as a more democratic and participatory approach at the level of management and execution. Ossified, conventional organisations (or ‘disempowered’ organisations) are bound to give way to empowered organisations. An empowered organisation implies flexibility, a decentralisation of control and newer and more effective methods of organisation. Innovation is the key here; by and large the success of organizations is being measured in newer terms.
With the surge in economy the world over, firms of all sizes, of all kinds have been mushrooming profusely. The business environment is charged with competition. This is why devising ways of getting the maximum out of each resource (especially if they are scarce) has become highly significant. Empowerment is what is capable of giving a highly competitive edge to the organization. A congenial business environment has flexibility and motivation as its most intense components. The command-control and dictate policies are out because they bound the creative potential; they hold it from reaching the best it could.
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Now, questions may arise over the motives of empowerment. What is it that is sought from employees at the cost of empowering them? Empowerment, if successful, should make a person feel a sense of power, an ability to achieve and a freedom to use his assets to the full, as he/she wants. A firm expects commitment to the organization in return for the authority assigned to individuals. But empowerment doesn’t stop there. It is a process that goes on, it’s a long run route. Assigning the power to decide makes an individual feel worthier. It also acts as a catalyst towards the proper utilisation of his/her equipments.
This brings us to another aspect that empowerment encompasses- that of employee satisfaction. Employees are not dominated over, instead they are made confident of their own power that just needs to be realised. Owners, employees and workers share interests of the organization. The concern of empowering employees signifies a change in the perspective of the employers. Though getting the maximum out of each employee and developing him/her as a contributor to the success of the firm have been long continuing concerns, the newer demands are a reflection on favourable organization of labour. Empowerment signifies employee participation/involvement in a manner that ensures optimum profit to the firm. Different firms imply different levels of participation; the manner of this involvement also varies depending upon the structure and objectives of the firm.
PART II: EMPOWERING THE WORKFORCE
(A) Techniques for Empowering the Workforce: Risks and Benefits
Human beings are the most important asset of any organisation. Of all the resources available, humans are considered to be the most potentially productive. Human resource has been growing in importance because of the various techniques that have been explored for its optimum usage. This has come in time with the realisation of the potential of tapping of this resource. Emphasis on managerial role has augmented with this phenomenon.
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There has been intense focus on increasing employee efficiency because that is what is giving the competitive edge to companies nowadays. Planning and management can be a bone of contention where the workforce encompasses the globe. In the scenario of the shrinking global village, presence of multicultural workers has become a strong reality. Empowerment, meaning assigning of leadership to individuals by giving them power to decide, can become an impediment if not organised carefully in a multicultural workforce. Participatory procedures need to be designed keeping in mind the risks and the benefits that would accrue from them.
Moran et al. (2007) identifies motivation and collaboration for the common benefit needs to be placed in the light of varying cultures, and should be devised to take in the requirements. After all, flexibility is one of the main components of empowerment. Even a small step as sitting and talking to people from diverse backgrounds can mean a lot as a tool of empowerment. The key is acceptance and assimilation. The managerial role here becomes inflated. It assumes great importance in the face of integration of so many cultures along the lines of the organization’s profit. The manager’s role has undergone a corresponding change too. From its hard line commanding, dictating force it has morphed into a softer approach which takes care of impediments that each individual is facing in harnessing his potential.
Managerial competency is determined by the level of intellectual/information gathering competence, interpersonal/motivational competence (which would also include communicative competence), leadership competence, personal competence and result/business oriented competence. Of these intellectual and motivational competencies are the ones that can be most utilised for the tool of managing the empowerment of a multicultural workforce. Empowerment is the key to long term sustainable development and progress.
There are risks involved with the empowering process of a workforce composed of different cultural backgrounds. The biggest risk of all is the misinterpretation of the task of assimilation of workers for the common advantage. Though employees are obviously expected to adapt to the environment of the working space, they cannot be forced to adopt this new culture abandoning theirs. Here is where the real test of managerial capability lies. A good manager will be able to introduce a composite working environment without it appearing discriminating. He/she should be equipped to negotiate conflicts which are bound to arise on account of the existing differences. The only culture that should dominate is the culture of change. This risk can be easily nullified by efficient working environment. The benefits accruing from workforce empowerment have already been discussed in detail.
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(B) Case Studies of Workforce Empowerment Initiatives
(i) AGI is a large multinational Australian company having branches in Australia, South-East Asia, America and Europe. AGI makes for an important case study in the changing environment. It employs 42,000 people worldwide; its labour is distributed in its nine interlinked companies. In the recent years, considering the growing importance of empowering the workforce, AGI has started focussing on its Human Resource functioning and management. It started off by reorganising its HR professionals. AGI placed them at the chief managerial level to assign them decision making powers, which would further percolate to the lower level employees. Outside specialists were also hired and a training programme was conducted to establish the best HR practices within the organisation (Foley & Howes, 1993).
After a careful study and review the following emerged as the various counts that could measure HR effectiveness (and in turn, the empowerment indices)-
* Organisational Effectiveness
* Remuneration
* Absence and Turnover
* Transfers Promotions and Staffing
* Training and Development
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* Occupational Health and Safety
(ii) Contrasted to the study of AGI, which is a relatively large firm, a research was based on a survey of 1,330 micro, small, and medium firms on the Sunshine Coast region of Southeast Queensland (Bernice et al, 2005).
The Sunshine Coast Economic Development Board (SCEDB, 1996) maintains a database of small and medium-size firms in the region, which it updates frequently. This research concluded that with an increase in the size of firms a growing formalisation of and focus on Human Resources Management was observed. The manager’s role got amplified with the increase in the size of the firm. Another peculiarity was a greater increase between micro and small firms than between small and medium firms in the percentages of firms that implemented various formal HRM practices. At the micro and small levels the adoption of formal HRM practices at the managerial level lagged behind that at the operational level. Greater standardisation of practices in the firms was another trend following the variation in organization’s size.
PART III: PROPOSAL
A Practical Approach
As the HR director of our firm, I intend to propose and implement certain methods of empowering our team. Of course, as a team all of us have a common motive- expanding our company and making it more competitive. Following from the case studies which we just went through and keeping in mind various risks and benefits involved in the process of empowerment of the workforce, I propose some devised and designed methods for the success of the project. A step-wise approach would be the most convenient for all of us to adjust to the new environment. But once it reaches a secondary level, we all will benefit from it. Here is the proposed programme and a few points that need to be considered in this approach to empowerment-
• The most effective way to begin would be by dividing our employees into teams comprising of 8 members each. We are fortunate to have a diverse workforce at hand. So, the division should, instead of concentrating similar people in a team, take care to represent diversity in each team. Since we require a diverse leadership this step is very important.
• There are a large number of courses for training of the workforce. With the funds available, we can ask for a customised training programme for our employees. The programme should be attended by all the senior level employees and managers and directors as well. From each team, one or two leaders will emerge naturally, who will take over the task of assigning powers to their team members.
• The managers and directors should be present in the background without interfering too much. But the task of deciding on the limits of delegation of responsibility lies with them and it should be wisely performed.
• It is also highly recommended that the teams, instead of operating in isolation, interact freely. A discussion of viewpoints and active participation in decision making are the main requisites of empowerment.
• By the end of the training the basics of the new functioning would be clear to all, and we’ll begin work in a newer, more flexible and more efficient environment. Employee incentives like income appraisals, bonus etc can also be considered to augment employee satisfaction.
With the given recommendations in the proposal we hope to further enlarge our company by equipping employees to give their best in the effort. Cooperation is expected from one and all. The benefits extending from the empowerment of our workforce would be availed by the company as a whole and by all the individuals involved in it.
Conclusion
The process of empowerment of the workforce discussed in the report is a healthy proposal for our company. The original question of empowerment of the workforce has been amply addressed. Keeping in mind that it is a relatively new phenomenon, the report not only seeks to explain the existing concepts but also draws out various inferences, eventually giving a comprehensive definition. Drawing workforce from around the globe, our company is composed of multicultural employees. Empowering them is a long term task but very beneficial for the individuals and the company both. This report has been prepared in light of the need to give a competitive marketing edge to our company. The application of the findings and recommendations is included within the report. Proper training of employees is imminent for the maximisation of profits. Following are the broad conclusions drawn from various parts of the report-
• Empowerment is not only a transfer but a ‘realisation’ of power. This definition is suggestive of the participatory approach that forms the backbone of this concept.
• Empowering a multicultural workforce is a task that needs to be performed with careful and wise managerial skills. Adjustment to a cooperative and collaborative business environment will be achieved with managerial push towards employee satisfaction.
• Study of various firms in Australia suggests that for a firm to expand a formalisation of employee engagement is needed and vice versa. Taking our clue from the firms studied it is suggested that a training programme be undertaken for the purpose of maximisation of benefits and optimal usage of the resources available.
The consideration and implementation of the report is open to all. Let us begin our participatory and collaborative approach to functioning from here only.
Reference List
1. Bernice et al (2005).
Formal Human Resource Management Practices in Small Growing Firms. Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 43.
2. Carmen et al. (1993).
Transcultural Leadership: Empowering the Diverse Workforce. Gulf Professional Publishing.
3. Carolyn, F. et al. (1984).
Studies in Empowerment: Steps Toward Understanding and Action. Haworth Press.
4. Empowering the Workforce.
5. Foley, Howes, Pat & Peter ,(1993).
Strategic Human Resource Management: An Australian Case Study. Human Resource Planning, Vol. 16.
6. Iverson, Ole I. (2000).
Managing People Towards a Multicultural Workforce.
7. Lashley, Conrad. (2001).
Empowerment: HR Strategies for Service Excellence. Butterworth-Heinemann. Oxford
8. Moran et al. (2007).
Managing Cultural Differences: Global Leadership Strategies for the 21st Century. Butterworth-Heinemann
9. Potterfield, Thomas A. (1998).
The Business of Employee Empowerment: Democracy and Ideology in the Workplace. Greenwood Publishing Group.
10. Stredwick et al. (1998).
Flexible Working Practices: Techniques and Innovations. CIPD Publishing.
