Employee Empowerment

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• Publisher: Triarchy Press
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9780956537966
• eBook ISBN: 9781908009401
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Human Resource Management
• Index: Business

Employee empowerment is thought to be both a solution to the problems associated with outdated 'command and control' workplaces and a way to stimulate creativity and innovation in organizations. Valuing people's dignity is at the heart of Dr. Huq's work and this led to her interest in conducting in-depth research into both the academic understanding of employee empowerment and what happens in practice. Divided into clearly defined sections are: a clear navigation of the management literature and explanation of the controversies surrounding employee empowerment.the key concepts that must be addressed and where the problems in interpretation arise.two live case studies (one large organisation with over 2000 employees and one small with 54 employees). an outline of the research methodology and sample questions. direct feedback from boardroom members to frontline operatives about their experiences of empowerment, revealing the pitfalls that may be common to many organisations.an overview of the findings with suggestions on what needs to be considered before implementing an employee empowerment programme. extensive bibliography providing an excellent reference resource. Referring also to the philosophy of Total Quality Management (TQM) and guidelines given by European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), this neat little book is a valuable resource, not only to researchers and academics, but also to practitioners in large and small organisations who are considering an empowerment programme or who want to understand and improve their current policies. Employee empowerment is thought to be both a solution to the problems associated with outdated 'command and control' workplaces and a way to stimulate creativity and innovation in organizations. Valuing people's dignity is at the heart of Dr. Huq's work and this led to her interest in conducting in-depth research into both the academic understanding of employee empowerment and what happens in practice. Divided into clearly defined sections are: a clear navigation of the management literature and explanation of the controversies surrounding employee empowerment.the key concepts that must be addressed and where the problems in interpretation arise.two live case studies (one large organisation with over 2000 employees and one small with 54 employees). an outline of the research methodology and sample questions. direct feedback from boardroom members to frontline operatives about their experiences of empowerment, revealing the pitfalls that may be common to many organisations.an overview of the findings with suggestions on what needs to be considered before implementing an employee empowerment programme. extensive bibliography providing an excellent reference resource. Referring also to the philosophy of Total Quality Management (TQM) and guidelines given by European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), this neat little book is a valuable resource, not only to researchers and academics, but also

Part One

Setting the Scene

Introduction

This book is drawn from some of the key aspects of the greater findings of my PhD Thesis entitled, ‘An Investigation of What Employee Empowerment Means in Theory and in Practice’.

My research was conducted in the United Kingdom and involved two case organisations, one large (over 2,000 employees) and the other small (54 employees). The details of the research methodology and the case organisations can be found in Part Three, Case Studies.

In this section, I provide an insight into the historical context of employee empowerment and outline some of the key problems facing it, such as:

• confusion with other management initiatives;
• problems in implementation;
• lack of research.

Employee empowerment in the historical context

There are several articles and books available on employee empowerment, but very few explain the historical context. Employee empowerment is a relatively new concept in management. However, it has been widely used in other disciplines, such as social work, where empowerment is an important construct for helping individuals improve their personal and working lives. The concept of empowerment in social work comes from the traditional activities of mutual aid and self-help going back to mid-Victorian times (Adams, 1996). The goal of this collective benefit of self-help was to build a healthy community that would help people to have control over their own lives thus also improving participation in the local community.

In management literature, several authors report that employee empowerment came to prominence in the 1980s as a response to rapid economic and technological change.

The term employee empowerment has also been widely associated with initiatives such as (TQM) Total Quality Management and (BPR) Business Process Re-engineering.

The quality movement was also influential during this period. While its principles had been developed by Japanese companies in the late 1950s and 1960s, interest in the West peaked in the 1980s, and there appeared to be a strong message of empowerment (Wilkinson et al, 1992). Under TQM, continuous improvement is undertaken by those involved in a process and this introduces bottom-up issue identification and problem-solving. As a result TQM may empower employees by delegating functions that were previously the preserve of more senior organisational members…
(Wilkinson, 1998:43)

A major catalyst for the popularity of employee empowerment has been the need to comply with quality standards and award criteria and, in particular, Total Quality Management (TQM).

TQM stipulates that continuous improvement should be undertaken by all those involved in a process.

Everyone in an organisation from top to bottom, from offices to technical service, from headquarters to local sites must be involved. People are the source of ideas and innovation and their expertise, experience, knowledge and co-operation have to be harnessed to get these ideas implemented.
(Oakland, 1989, cited in Wilkinson and Brown, 2003:181)

It also requires a change in management style in order to achieve the aims of TQM:

Quality management implies an open management style, with a devolution of responsibility. The aim is to develop a ‘quality culture’, whereby everyone in the organisation shares a commitment to continuous improvement aimed at customer satisfaction.
(Wilkinson and Brown, 2003:184)

Morrell and Wilkinson (2002:120) also note that employee empowerment is associated with ‘the “excellence” movement, where the customer is “king”. In this sense, empowerment should enable organisations to be more immediately responsive to their customers, as decision-making is devolved’.

‘Productivity through people’, ‘…autonomy and entrepreneurship’ summed up the new philosophy which when combined with ‘the customer is king’ provided the context for current empowerment ideas.
(Wilkinson, 1998:42)

Thus, employee empowerment is seen ‘in many respects as a rejection of the traditional classical model of management associated with Taylor and Ford where standardised products were made through economies of scale and the division of labour, and workers carried out fragmented and repetitive jobs’ (Wilkinson, 1998:44).

Confusion with other management initiatives – vagueness and ambiguity

Despite strong arguments in its favour, the ambiguity and confusion within management literature on the subject of employee empowerment creates misunderstandings and makes it a complex issue for organisations. As Cunningham and Hyman (1999:193) reveal: ‘There is no single nor simple definition of empowerment. Equally, its prescriptive dimensions cannot be directly traced to any dominant theoretical construction’. Similarly, Lashley (2001:9) observes ‘…a critical analysis of the literature on empowerment does communicate an array of meanings…’. This vagueness and ambiguity has been criticised by a number of authors and the considerable inconsistency with regards to what actually constitutes employee empowerment leaves it open to a variety of interpretations.

Empowerment initiatives have become popular in recent years in programmes of organisational change, but their impact as a practical managerial policy remains shrouded in ambiguities.
(Ogden et al, 2006:521)

Employee empowerment may take different forms in organisations and therefore reflect different managerial strategies. Obviously, if management do not understand the purpose of employee empowerment or what it means, it can be difficult for them to communicate to employees what they are trying to implement, and with much of the literature open to interpretation, one can easily understand the difficulties faced by organisations. The danger is that employees can then formulate their own definitions, which in turn, will influence their expectations. Hence, Burdett (1991:23) states that his concern is not so much about the concept of employee empowerment but more about how people perceive it, ‘when we talk about empowerment do we all mean the same thing?’.

…it is almost impossible to gain any kind of rational consensus as to exactly what it [empowerment] is. In visiting companies around the world, I have encountered organisations that perceive empowerment to be a total dismantling of the managerial structure in favour of a semi-egalitarian ideal; companies that consider empowerment to be little more than delegation; and others that see it simply as an element of some other change programme, such as total quality management.
(Clutterbuck and Kernaghan,1995:7)

Clearly, there is a lack of clarity in the definition of the term employee empowerment. Furthermore, it can also be confused with other management practices, such as employee involvement or employee participation. Lashley (2001:49) argues, as do other authors, that it is unwise to use these terms ‘interchangeably’ as it creates confusion and can lead to the failure of employee empowerment initiatives.

Some authors maintain that it is power-sharing which differentiates employee empowerment from other such management initiatives. Other authors, such as Psoinos and Smithson, argue that the main difference is to do with the ‘transfer’ of decision-making authority.

Whereas in both involvement and participation, management retains control, in empowerment employees have – at least to some degree – authority to make and implement their own decisions.
(Psoinos and Smithson, 2002:134)

Undoubtedly, there are significant concerns in the management literature with regards to the lack of clarity about what constitutes employee empowerment and the differences between this and other management initiatives.

Problems in implementation

Increasing market competition and the need to comply with quality standards and award criteria have forced organisations to think of ways to meet these demands. One of the ways many organisations are choosing to do this is through the employee empowerment route. However, some of these organisations are trying to introduce employee empowerment without fully understanding what it means, or its purpose, and are consequently faced with another problem – how to implement it.

Pastor (1996:7) states that organisations do not ‘understand what empowerment is or exactly what it entails’.

Wilkinson (1998) points out that there is hardly any information on issues that may arise when implementing employee empowerment or the conditions that are necessary for such an approach to be successful. Similarly, Pearson and Chatterjee (1996:17) highlight: ‘Overall, a great deal of interest has been shown for how empowerment works rather than how to make it work’. Furthermore, management has not paid attention to the impact that a radical change such as employee empowerment might have on employees and the organisation. In practice: ‘…its application in organisational settings is fraught with misunderstanding and tension’ (Denham Lincoln et al, 2002:271), leading to a frustration amongst managers (Ford and Fottler, 1995:22).

Lack of research

Clearly, there is a lot of discussion about employee empowerment in the management literature; however, several authors are concerned about the paucity of research, both at the theoretical and practical levels. Conger and Kanungo (1988:480) state: ‘Although empowerment has been discussed by several management scholars, little empirical work has been performed’ and Hales (2000:151) states that the lack of research on employee empowerment has resulted in ‘…the divergence between the widespread rhetoric of empowerment and limited reality of empowerment programmes’.

Despite the virtues extolled for employee empowerment and the perceived need to implement it in the work place, the lack of published research findings, both at the theoretical and practical levels, has led to significant weaknesses and gaps in the existing body of knowledge. Indeed, Morrell and Wilkinson (2002:121) caution that: ‘The term [empowerment] is complex and subject to different interpretations. The implications of this are that it will not be perceived in the same way by different organisations, nor will people within the same organisation think of empowerment in the same way’. Thus, our understanding of employee empowerment is restricted in terms of both theory and practice.

This research study, in essence, is a response to these concerns, and in particular to the lack of research and knowledge about employee empowerment at both the conceptual and practice levels.

Summary

This section provides an insight into the historical context of employee empowerment and discusses some of the key problems, ambiguities and concerns regarding employee empowerment in the management literature.

In practice, it seems employee empowerment could be anything, from employee suggestion schemes to the restructurin...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four
• Part Five
• Part Six
• Part Seven
• Part Eight
• Appendix 1
• Appendix 2
• Index
• Acknowledgements
• Back Cover