Meaning of power and why is it a great motivator
Power is the relationship between people in which some can impose their will on others; it takes place in cases where a person can purposefully influence other people to force them to do what they would not otherwise do. Power is an excellent motivator because it allows people to satisfy their innate desire to be admired and listened to and to educate and instruct others.
The role of empowerment and ways to increase them
Empowerment is giving ordinary employees the power to make important decisions usually executed by senior company officials. Empowerment helps to take away some duties from managers, diminishing their workload. More importantly, it makes all employees involved in decision-making, helping them feel influential and needed. For example, sometimes the power to make decisions is given to front-line employees, who better know the customers’ needs. Allowing employees to take decisions on some issues may be beneficial since they are likely to be more ardent in persuading customers to accept the company’s ruling if the decision is their own one.
The benefits of delegation
Delegation can be beneficial since it allows to free senior executives’ time and develops the skills of other team members. Moreover, team members see that they are trusted and are likely to do their best to live up to managers’ expectations. When managers delegate a task to others, they must clearly define the scope of authority and expected results. Moreover, they may need to plan some time for employee education and provide the level of support necessary to complete a task.
Once a senior bank manager entrusted one of his subordinates with completing a project on bank product sales in the bank’s department. The assigned person was inexperienced but willing to help. Due to his inexperience, he did a terrible job, but the senior manager was too busy to redo the project. As a result, the bank was accused of aggressive sales and had to pay a fine. The senior manager was fired. The delegation did not work out because the person chosen to do the job was inexperienced; the senior manager did not discuss intermediate results of the project and did not provide any support to his subordinate.
Why some supervisors are reluctant to delegate and why employees may not welcome the delegation?
Some supervisors may be reluctant to delegate because they do not trust their team and think no one will do a better job than them. Employees may not welcome the delegation because they do not want to have extra workload and responsibility.