How many managers think they empower their people?
How many employees actually feel empowered?
A recent survey of over 1000 middle managers in Management Today highlighted 2 key issues:
1. 80% of respondents cited autonomy as their most important criterion in job satisfaction
2. 43% of respondents did not feel valued
‘Empowerment’ and ‘people being the most important asset’ are routinely bandied around in
mission statements and annual reports, however the reality appears to be somewhat different
with nearly 50% of respondents to the Management Today survey feeling undervalued.
Not only does giving people autonomy increase job satisfaction and clearly demonstrate the trust
and value you place on them; it eliminates micromanagement and frees up senior managers’
time. However, empowerment does not just happen when a task is delegated. It is the result of
a combination of the right leadership behaviours and management processes.
Despite the opinion of some observers of the military as a hierarchical command and control
organisation, successful military leaders have been explicit exponents of empowerment for many
years through the concept of Mission Command; the delegation of the ‘what’ and ‘why’ but not
the ‘how’.
This concept was clearly demonstrated by Nelson, and was seen to be been formally introduced
with the Auftragstaktik command system of the Prussians in the 19th century.
This devolving of ownership and accountability is now standard military practice and underpins
much of today’s commercial approach to ‘Performance Management’.
Mission Excellence’s new ‘Empowering People’ workshop is derived from facilitators’ experience
as operational fighter pilots, taking part in complex multidisciplinary, multinational,
multicultural missions, where success is only possible through truly delegated responsibility and
authority for decision-making.
The 2-day workshop takes leaders and future leaders through the reality of empowerment via:
- multi-media case study examples of outstanding and disastrous empowerment
- an introduction to the theory of Mission Command
- self-analysis of required, and own actual, leadership behaviour
- development of the requisite management processes to empower with accountability
- formal transfer of ownership and responsibility for action to delegates.