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Run and Check syndrome This is where a front-line employee has no authority to make any decisions. They constantly have to bother the management each time an offer or decision is needed.
I used the electrical store example as it very close to my heart, I used to be that salesperson, with run and check syndrome on my shoulders everyday. So I know what effect it has!
I know that customers feel undervalued, as the person who serves them has no authority to help them to the full extent of their needs. I know how stressful it is for both employees and management to waste time checking things time after time. I know how undervalued employees feel because they don’t have the power to fully complete their job, which leads to further pressure from unsatisfied customers.
Many times I was told by a member of management to stop pestering them!
But with no empowerment, an employee has NO choice.
The answer is simple.
If you know certain decisions must be made every day, allow the smaller ones to be made by the employee. Give them appropriate boundaries and examples of reasonable circumstances.
I.e.: The 10% discount or replacement option.
This saves time and effort on all sides, and allows quicker and better customer service.
Not only that the employee feels more highly valued as they are being given responsibility.
No power = No win
An empowered employee can adapt to each customer in real time (this is a crucial area), and carry through their job with less time wasted, less hassle, and less frustration for the customer.
A totally un-empowered employee creates a no win situation for everybody.
The customer feels undervalued and receives poorer service.
The management has time taken up by queries, and is likely to have less motivated staff, and poorer sales or performance results.
The employee feels under-valued and stressed, particularly if there are problems that they can see but have no power to change.
Situations where management accuse employees of not doing their job, but at the same time will not give them the empowerment needed to do it are very common.
What is needed?
When you set a task for an employee, try to make sure that they have the necessary authority to carry it through to finish. This may mean taking a risk on the judgement of your employees, but in the majority of cases, empowered employees will perform better and learn more.
In many cases, not all authority can or should be given to an employee. Delegate the authority you believe is relevant and is needed to each employee.
Just remember, the more empowerment you give to an employee, the more trusted and valued they feel, and the harder they are likely to work.
Fear
The management of some businesses fear that by giving employees some decision making authority they will cost the company money, they will become power hungry, or will abuse the power.
This is a very negative view of employees. If these feelings were expressed to employees by management, they could in itself be responsible for negative feeling amongst workers.
What these fears fail to address is the costs of not giving employees the relevant authority. Cost of lost time Unsatisfied customers, leading to lost customers Lower productivity from employees feeling undervalued
If management cannot trust employees to do their job it points to a very large flaw in the company’s recruitment policy!
Motivation & Trust
The many theories of motivation offer significantly different opinions on how to encourage workers. One thing however is clear; a worker who feels undervalued will not be motivated.
A key benefit of empowerment is improving motivation, and therefore productivity. By allowing employees some authority and responsibility you help to make them feel needed and valued.
The respected theorist Maslow believed that feeling secure in your job is the first important factor in motivation. Showing an employee they are valued is a great way to demonstrate this.
Trust
Make an employee feel trusted, and in most cases, they will work harder to ensure that trust remains. (Don’t pile on many difficult tasks; this is poor management not trust!)
Do however; try to set achievable goals. Few things feel more rewarding than completing a difficult task effectively. If you show an employee that you trust them to do a difficult job, on most occasions they will put in a lot of effort to make you feel they deserved that trust.
Combine trust and the power to complete a job, and employees will (in almost all cases) respond positively.
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