Employee Empowerment Training for the Workplace

1. Use Personal Behavioral Styles (DISC) to self-assess, read others, and adapt to their communication and motivational needs

2. Establish goals, responsibilities, and performance expectations

3. Give positive feedback when expectations are met

4. Be emotionally intelligent in coaching and empowering team members

5. Create a psychological safety net to enable team members to change

6. Use "adult" type responses when dealing with conflict and irrational behavior

Empowerment knowledge, skills and abilities for managers, supervisors and leaders:

• Describe the benefits, challenges and setbacks of employee empowerment.
• Brief associates on the business acumen factors that empowerment affects.
• Determine when an employee would rather not be empowered.
• Articulate the behavior attributes associated with sharing power.
• Behave as a good follower when appropriate.
• Use the Employee Performance Expectations Worksheet to establish the employee empowerment relationship.
• Apply the Coaching Model, Performance Improvement Process and Training Model as tools to support full employee empowerment.
• Guide employees in decision making based on: risk assessment, unintended consequence, cost and timeliness.
• Seek feedback to ensure actions coincide with employee empowerment expectations.
  

With flatter, leaner organizational structures the need for employee empowerment training in the workplace at the closest point to the customer is necessary to achieve organic growth while neutralizing competitive thrusts. This workplace empowerment of employees must be top down articulated and demonstrated to convince employees that they are empowered. The challenge for managers, supervisors and leaders is to avoid historical top-down, autocratic "check with me first" management style and embrace a style reflective of good coaches, advisors, mentors and facilitators. Good coaches are expected to support the workplace empowerment of employees by encouraging, instructing, guiding and giving them advice. The power that managers have (the capacity that managers have to influence the behavior of employees) and work responsibilities, must be now shared with employees through the creation of trust, assurance, motivation, and support.

The Everest Training & Consulting approach is to conduct an evaluation of the organizational culture and prescribe actions to take to effect employee empowerment training skills to the workplace. We take into account:

• Commitment by all levels in the organization is mandatory.
• Assessment of the organization - is it ready for empowerment?
• Empowerment and accountability: can't have one without the other.
• Behaviors of leaders, managers, supervisors and workers that reflect an empowered organization.
• What if they don't want to be empowered?
• Financial benefits of an empowered workforce