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                                                                                                                                                          What makes an individual employee feel satisfied on the job? What makes an employee increase in productivity and creativity? It’s called Empowerment. The employee becomes satisfied in the workplace when they are empowered and given the opportunity to have ownership over their projects and careers. When you empower an individual employee, you, the manager, relinquish control over the situation. Empowerment allows the individual control over their own fate. Empowerment gives an individual control over not only their work assignments, projects or assigned tasking, but it gives control over their destiny.
When employers delegate authority and responsibility over to their employees, this not only increases job enrichment, along with job satisfaction and the decreased turnover within the organization, but it develops the individual employee for future jobs within the organization. This assures that the organization maintains its competitive edge amongst their industry (Lepak & Gowan, 2016).
When reflecting on my own experience as a team leader, I emphasize to each member to have a sense of ownership when it comes to their assigned work- in other words, become responsible for the task you were given. This ownership gives the team member a sense of empowerment, making their part in whatever project or task essential and it puts them on notice to achieve beyond expectations.
As a leader, I follow five principles that empower my team members;
Trust in individuals- Each member of the team has talents and abilities. When joined with other talented individuals, you have collective abilities and knowledge that can accomplish results in their own ways. Give them the autonomy to take charge of the situation or task. Have faith in your people.
Equip individuals with the necessary tools of success- give them the latitude to connect with others within the company and outside the company such as vendors, customer and potential future customers.
Acknowledge achievements- My organization has monthly gatherings for hail and farewells, but also to recognize the professional achievements of teams and individuals.
Decentralize Decision Making –As a team leader, my supervisor gives me the latitude in charting the course for my team. I also encourage my members to collaborate not only with each other, but with other teams within the organization. This assures individual growth, encourages creativity, and increases productivity and job satisfaction within the individual and the collective team.
Encourages Collaboration – The workplace should be viewed as a collective and cooperative effort and not an environment of hard labor at the hands of the task master. As mentioned, my team work with other teams within the organization, being isolated and forbidden to speak with others inhibits growth and creativity for individuals and the organization. Remember, one does not succeed alone.
To conclude, empowerment of individuals assures individual success and organizational success. This translates into the organization as a whole having a competitive advantage amongst its industry. This also enhances the workplace culture within the organization. Remember whatever leadership role you play in the organization, if you allow people the opportunity to be creative and become responsible for themselves, they will grow and make your job easy. As Leaders, think of yourself as a servant and not the task Master.

Reference:
Lepak. D & Gowan, M. (2016). Human Resource Management: Managing Employees for Competitive Advantage (2nd ed). Chicago Business Press

As a manager of a large product manufacturing plant, you are reviewing the cost of operating all departments under your responsibility in order to efficiently maintain your product line. At the conclusion of your review, you discover one department is lagging behind the other departments under your control. Furthermore, the supervisor has been one of your top achievers in years past. As you review all of the workers within the departments, you discover that the performance of one particular worker (let’s call him “Homer”) has been very poor compared with that of his peers. You wondered if this worker is receiving the proper training. Is it lack of skills or lack of motivation? You don’t know, but you will soon pay a visit to Homer’s supervisor.
The following week, you pay a visit to the supervisor of the underperforming department. During casual conversation with the supervisor, you mention that the production line is not operating at the capacity of efficiency that you are used to seeing. The supervisor mentions that he has an employee who is not pulling his weight in his department. His name is Homer. The supervisor proceeds to accuse Homer of being uninterested and unmotivated, and his co-workers agree that his behavior is not energetic and is lazy. The supervisor is visibly spewing emotionally heralding negative comments about the employee. The supervisor then suggests that Homer should be fired.
You reply to the supervisor that, in your research of the employees under his supervision, you learned that Homer had an exceptional record upon being hired; he tested higher than anyone in the present department, and the interviewer remembers him as being highly intelligent, motivated, and passionate about starting work. You tell the supervisor that his interpretation of Homer is wrong; that Homer needs to be challenged, motivated, and inspired. Homer has not been motivated and not challenged, and, as a result, he seems no longer enthusiastic about the job.
Although many speak about motivating someone, only a few really know how to engage someone to perform and challenge themselves in performing the task at hand. How do you get that individual to take ownership of the task and do so without using negative comments from the supervisor and co-workers?
For those who find themselves in this scenario, here are a few suggestions:
Communicate with your employees at all times. Tell them what you have noticed about them and ask how you can help them to further their careers. When you ask a question as such, be prepared to listen.
Role model the behavior you want your employees to display on the job. Be that example your employees can model.
Give employees challenging assignments or projects; don’t give them busy work.
When you give out assignments or projects to your employee, explain their importance, encourage them to perform their best and tell them how critical the assignment or project is to the job .
Remember, when employees appear less proficient on the job and less productive, perhaps the manager or supervisor needs to further examine areas of motivation and their leadership style in order to model motivation.