Employee empowerment is a skill that every leader should possess. This entails giving individual contributors enough autonomy to be able to achieve both their personal goals and the company's.
Inc. shared six ways on how to turn employees into business owners. With the homeowners vs. renters analogy, homeowners look after their property because they know how it will benefit them unlike those who merely rent the place.
In the same way, your employees don't care about the company unless you make them feel that they are invested in the business. They may do what they're told but they won't see the bigger picture until you explain to them your business plans and let them in on the different processes of operation, among others.
According to Fox News, employee empowerment is "treating each person as a trusted individual who enjoys ownership of his or her tasks." Independent workers actually are more productive when they are granted autonomy over their tasks.
1. Key Performance Indicators (KPI) needs to be clarified and explained. These serve as targets that all employees must meet.
2. Consistently meet with your staff and go over the current figures. Use this time to explain what the numbers mean and also to expound on where your company is going.
3. In line with meeting with your staff regularly, make sure that these meetings are efficient and effective. The publication noted that business owners can spend 20 percent of the time to discuss what's happening with the company and 80 percent talking about what the staff can do to improve the figures.
4. Delegate. Allow your employees to take ownership of one part of business. This will make them invested in the company.
5. Plan together. Managers need to listen to their employees, especially when it comes to improving customer service. This is because individual contributors are normally the front-liners of the business so they would know what is lacking on the company's end.
6. Reward hard work. Provide incentives for employees every time they reach a milestone. This may entail investment in the business owner's part but will definitely have a huge pay off later.