This is a new way of looking at the work relationship, where the employee has more freedoms, but also more responsibilities. It is a task that must be controlled and monitored by effective leaders.
In the business environment, there is a constant search for the most appropriate strategies to increase productivity and profitability, all without affecting the quality of products or services. Sometimes, people do not consider the contribution that human talent with autonomy can make. This is a reflection that leaders, who are committed to directing their teams to achieve objectives, must make. Therefore, it is essential to incorporate empowerment into the business glossary to apply it effectively.
Empowerment : What is it?
Empowerment, known in Spanish as empowerment, is a technique, tool or strategy used in organizations to empower employees, making them feel motivated, through the delegation cp number of autonomy and responsibility , with the recognition of their work and the celebration of the results obtained as a team. What it essentially seeks is to replace the traditional vertical leadership scheme, where the boss gives orders and the others only have to follow them.
In this way, it is necessary to review what Terry Wilson explains in his book Empowerment Handbook. How to get the best out of your employees (2004), who explains that this tool “will only have a future if the organization changes its culture to eliminate all types of blockages to empowerment, and if every employee is allowed and encouraged to develop their talents to reach their potential.” In other words, it is not just any change in business management, but a new leadership style.
It is essential to study empowerment from both a process and outcome perspective. To view it as a process, it is necessary to look at the strategies that are implemented, while as an outcome, the achievements of individuals or groups in gaining power must be analyzed.
When does it originate?
The origin of empowerment dates back to the 1960s , in the work of the pedagogue Paulo Freire, published in the book Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1968). The author refers to one of the ways to resolve “the conditions of inequality and oppression” by establishing actions so that people can participate in their environment. Since then, many experts from different disciplines have adopted Freire’s guidelines to advance in the understanding and application of empowerment.
Speaking from the current business field, cultural studies expert Marc Zimmerman has made many contributions to the theory of empowerment, which is presented as a new way of conceiving work within any company. Empowerment has a value orientation, in which goals, objectives and strategies must be established to implement a change, so this theory provides the principles to organize knowledge.