Chapter Eight

Empowerment and Participation

Low self-efficacy:

organizations employees feel that their own efforts will have little impact on performance which contributes to the frustrating experience and creates conviction among people. Low efficacy build up for two reasons

i) They dont have adaptation quality

ii) Authoritarian leadership

Impostor phenomenon: Individuals at all levels fail to

acknowledge their own expertise and accomplishments. Instead, they feel like a fake and erroneously attribute their success to luck, charm, personal contacts, timing, or perseverance

What Is Empowerment
Empowerment is any process that provides greater autonomy to employees through the sharing of relevant information and the provision of control over factors affecting job performance.

Approaches to Empowerment
1. job mastery (proper training, coaching, and guided experience)

2. control (giving discretion over job performance and holding accountable for outcomes)
3. role models (observe successful peers)

4. social reinforcement and persuasion (giving praise, encouragement, and verbal feedback to raise selfconfidence)
5. emotional support (reduction of stress and anxiety )

Process of Empowerment

Remove Conditions Of powerlessness Changes Leadership Reward System Job

Enhance Job-related Self-efficacy Job mastery Control and Accountability Role model Reinforcement Support

Perception of Empowerment Competency Autonomy Job meaning Sense of Impact

Effectiveness

Satisfaction

What Is Participation
Participation is the mental and emotional involvement of people in group situations that encourages them to contribute to group goals and share responsibility for them. This definition entails three important ideas Involvement Contribution and Responsibility

What Is Participation
Involvement means meaningful involvement rather than mere muscular activity. A person who participates is egoinvolved instead of merely task-involved. Motivation to Contribute Employees are empowered to release their own resources of initiative and creativity toward the objectives of the organization, just as Theory Y predicts. Acceptance of Responsibility participation is a social process by which people become selfinvolved in an organizations group activities, committed to it, and want to see it work successfully.

Forces Affecting the greater use of Participation

Research Result

Productivity Improvement Pressure Utilization of Work force Diversity Employee desires For meaning Employee desires For Expectations Ethical Argument

P A R T I C I P A T I O N

Benefits of Participation
Higher quantity and a better quality of output. Improve motivation

Reduce Turnover and absences

Establishes better communication

Participative Process

Situation

Outcomes
Organizations:
Higher output Better quality Creativity Innovation

Participative Program

Involvement Mental Emotional

Employees:
Acceptance Self-efficacy Less stress Satisfaction

Prerequisites for Participation

1. Time to participate 2. Benefits of participation should be greater than the costs. 3. Relevant and interesting to the employees 4. Ability

5. mutually able to communicate

6. Neither party should feel that its position is threatened by participation

7. job freedoms within the groups area

Participation exist along a continuum

Total area of job freedom

Area of authority applied by manager Consults Sells Tells Medium

Manager present Decision subject To change; seeks Ideas; sells decision Manager Seeks ideas Before deciding Manager asks Group for Recommended Action before deciding

Joins

Withdraws

Area of employee participation in decision making High

Manager Decides with Group; one person One vote Manager Asks group To decide

Low Amount of Participation

Description Of typical action Manager Makes and Announces decision

Popular terms

Autocratic Management

Benevolent Autocracy

Consultative Management; Suggestion system

Participative committees, Such as Quality circles

Democratic Management

Consensus Decision Making, Self-managing Teams empowerment

Contingency Factors
Emotional Intelligence Emotionally intelligent leaders use their empathy, compassion, optimism, humor, integrity, caring and persuasiveness to build the kind of relationship with employees that ensures them that their talents and inputs will be used effectively for the benefit of all. Differing Employee Needs for Participation Educated and higher-level workers often seek more participation, because they feel more prepared to make useful contributions.

Under participation and Over participation

Under participation: When employees want more participation than they have, they are "participatively deprived" and there is under participation. Over participation: In the opposite situation, when they have more participation than they want, they are "participatively saturated" and there is over participation

Products of the relationship between an employees desired participation and a managers use

Amount of participation allowed by a manager

High

Over Participation 2

Appropriate Participation 3 4 Under Participation

1
Low

Appropriate Participation

High

Low

Amount of participation desired by an employee

Responsibilities of Employees and Manager

Expectations for employees Be fully responsible for their actions and their consequences

Operate within the relevant organizational policies

Be contributing team members Respect and seek to use the perspectives of others Be dependable and ethical in their empowered actions Demonstrate responsible self-leadership

Responsibilities of Employees and Manager

Expectations for Managers These responsibilities of employees provide a balance to those of the manager: Identifying the issues to be addressed Specifying the level of involvement desired Providing relevant information and training Allocating fair rewards

Participative Program

Participative Program

Suggestion Programs

Quality Circles

Total quality Management

Self Managing Team

Employee Ownership plans

PROGRAM FOR PARTICIPATION

Suggestion Programs : Suggestion programs are formal plans to invite individual employees to recommend work improvements. Quality Emphasis Quality Circles is the voluntary groups that receive training in statistical techniques and problem-solving skills and then meet to produce ideas for improving productivity and working conditions. They meet regularly often on company time and generate solutions for management to evaluate and implement.

PROGRAM FOR PARTICIPATION

Guidelines for successful Quality Circle
Use them for measurable, short-term problems.

Obtain continuous support from top management.

Apply the group's skills to problems within the circle's work area. Train supervisors in facilitation skills.

View quality circles as one starting point for other more participative approaches to be used in the future

Total Quality Management The TQM approach gets every employee involved in the process of searching for continuous improvements in their operations. In TQM Employees are provided withextensive training in problem solving,

group decision making,

and statistical methods.

Self-Managing Teams

Self-managing teams are natural work groups that are given a large degree of decision-making autonomy; they are expected to control their own behavior and results.
Employee Ownership Plans Employee ownership: Employees provide the capital to purchase control of an existing operation as well increase better management, heightened morale, and improved productivity among employees. Employee ownership has been tried in diverse industries, such as plywood, meat packing, steel, and furniture manufacturing.

Forces Affecting the Lesser use of Participation

Theory X beliefs by Manager Lack of support from higher level
D E C R E A S E D P A R T I C I P A T I O N

Managerial fear of lost Power Status Control Lack of adequate training for Managers Employees Problems encountered in early stages

Substantial efforts needed to implement

Managerial Concerns about Participation

Some managers have difficulty adjusting to their new roles in a high-involvement system. Because

they may fear losing their former status as key decision makers,
they may be concerned that they will have less power and control than previously.

Key Behaviors of Successful Leader

Key behaviors of Successful Leaders: Listen actively and empathetically.

Engage in introspection to understand better their own attitudes and feelings.

Seek to engage in dialogue to ensure understanding Affirm the participant. Build trust consistently worth and contributions of each

Willing to admit mistakes and ask for help. by articulating values and acting

End of the Chapter