authority to carry out their decisions. In
order for an employee to be fully empow-
ered, he or she needs access to the infor-
mation required to make decisions;
rewards for acting in appropriate, respon-
sible ways; and authority to make the nec-
essary decisions. Empowerment means that
employees understand how their jobs fit
into the organization and that they are able
to make decisions regarding job action in
light of the organization’s purpose and mis-
sion. Managers at Montague, PEI-based
Durabelt recognize that to be empowered,
employees need to have the appropriate
skills to handle their jobs. The company
sells customized conveyor belts used to
harvest some vegetable and fruit crops.
Employees need to be responsive to cus-
tomer concerns when manufacturing the
belts. In order to empower employees to manage customer relations successfully,
Durabelt created Duraschool, an ongoing training program that provides employees
with the skills they need to be more effective.^29Empowerment in the Workplace
The concept of empowerment has caused much cynicism
in many workplaces. Employees are told that they are
empowered and yet they do not feel that they have the
authority to act, or they feel that their managers still micro-
manage their performance. Some managers are reluctant to
empower their employees because this means sharing or
even relinquishing their own power. Other managers worry
that empowered employees may decide to work on goals
and jobs that are not as closely aligned to organizational goals. Some managers, of
course, do not fully understand how to go about empowering their employees.
In some cases, employees do not want to be empowered, and having more power can
even make them ill. A study carried out by Professor Jia Lin Xie, of the University of
Toronto’s Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, and colleagues found that when peo-
ple are put in charge at work but don’t have the confidence to handle their responsi-
bilities, they can become ill.^30 Specifically, people who blame themselves when things
go wrong are more likely to suffer colds and infections if they have high levels of con-
trol at work. This finding by Professor Xie and her colleagues was somewhat unex-
pected, as some have hypothesized that greater control at work would lead to less stress.
The study showed, instead, that the impact of empowerment depended on personality
and job factors. Those who had control, but did not blame themselves when things
went wrong, suffered less stress, even if the job was demanding. The study’s findings
suggest the importance of choosing carefully which employees to empower when doing
so. These findings are also consistent with the Hackman-Oldham job characteristics
model presented in Chapter 4.^31 Empowerment will be positive if a person has high
growth-needs strengths (see Exhibit 4-13 on page 134) but those with low growth-
needs strengths may be more likely to experience stress when empowered.
When employees are empowered, it means that they are expected to act, at least in a
small way, as owners of the company, rather than just as employees. Ownership is not230 Part 3Interacting Effectively
Empowered employees, whether they work individually or in teams like this one at
Carbon Five, need the tools and training to take responsibility for their work. Teams at
Carbon Five have a great deal of freedom to make decisions, while their managers act as
advisers and coaches.
Do workplaces*empower people?
Joseph L. Rotman School of
Management, University of
Toronto
http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca