Business Productivity and Innovation = Employee Empowerment and Happiness | A NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER

Business Productivity and Innovation = Employee Empowerment and Happiness

by Adam J. Kovitz

I was reading the following article from Businessweek:  'Empowered' Workers More Productive, Research Shows and felt it worth reprinting here.  I find it coincidental with another article on CNN.com which I will discuss after the following article...

FRIDAY, April 22 (HealthDay News) -- Workers who feel empowered by their employers are more productive and have higher morale, a review of existing research finds. 

The findings cut across industries, jobs, gender and cultures, according to the study, which was released online in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology. 

"Empowerment is an effective approach for improving employee attitudes and work behaviors in a broad range of industries, occupations and geographic regions," lead researcher Scott Seibert, professor of management and organizations at University of Iowa's Tippie College of Business, said in a university news release. 

Workplaces that properly promote empowerment can boost job satisfaction while reducing turnover and stress among workers, Seibert noted.The researchers came to their conclusions after reviewing more than 140 studies of "psychological empowerment" at the workplace. 

According to the findings, factors that play a role in effective empowerment initiatives include: giving employees decision-making ability and having decentralized authority; good pay; valuing and recognizing the contributions of employees; support from managers; training opportunities; inspirational managers; and challenging work assignments. 

"Managers in these studies reported that empowered workers were more innovative and more willing to take the initiative to solve problems on their own," Seibert said. "Employees said they were more engaged in their work when empowered, that they felt like they had an influence and an impact on the business around them."

Interesting article, to be sure, but take the findings above and then read "Best Companies to Work For:  Happy Campers".


See any patterns?


To me, it seems that most businesses fall into the trap of boosting productivity and innovation through bottom-line approaches like financial incentives or fear-based tactics.  These two articles indicated that those effective enterprises that eliminate employee obstacles get the most out of their collective.


This also supports the concept of gamification of business (setting up incentive systems based upon game-like infrastructure) and the influx of the Millennial generation into the workplace.  I personally like the idea of gamification as it breaks down the traditional models of "ethical business behavior" and beige-colored cubicle farms and unleashes the inner child within us all.


At the end of the day, it can only do our enterprises better by allowing our employees to play a bit by giving them control over outcome and an environment in which they can thrive.


I am curious to find out which of our member companies are utilizing concepts of gamification - is it working for you?  Have there been any noticeable improvements since you have?


Please send your feedback to me at adam@tnnwc.com and your response may be featured in a future article.

All my best,

Adam

www.TNNWC.com

http://adamjkovitz.blogspot.com

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Business Productivity and Innovation = Employee Empowerment and Happiness | A NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER

GO WEST! Organizational Empowerment

Go West! with Christine West

“There's a basic philosophy here that by empowering... workers you'll make their jobs far more interesting, and they'll be able to work at a higher level than they would have without all that information just a few clicks away.”
-- Bill Gates


All people need some means to pay their bills and maintain the lifestyle they have created. For those of us who weren’t born into wealth, who haven’t won the lottery, or found a wealthy spouse for financial support, we must earn a wage and work. The question is: What motivates us to do what we do?

It is interesting to note that money is not always the prime motivator, nor is fear.

Turn over is expensive for companies, as is change in management teams and company restructuring. Everyone deals with change and transition differently. Change in life is inevitable, but how do companies manage that change? How do leaders and managers manage the cost of their decisions? Too often repeated patterns occur in the organizational life that cost the organization more because of treating symptoms and refusal to find the root cause. Proper problem solving requires establishing an identity or role in the problem. For example, if an organization has pattern of stability and 20% turnover in a month, what is the human motivation behind a group of people to join and to later leave an organization all in the same month?

The easy route is blaming the people who moved on and never taking responsibility. These actions are costly and are signs of an immature organization. These are important factors to analyze to maintain stability monetary growth and workforce development.

Psychology plays a tremendous role in the business world. Human behavior is more complex than just seeking rewards or avoiding punishments. Human motivation has a deeper cause and a more profound purpose than many in the business world think.

Most people want to discover their purpose and have their talents optimized through that purpose. When a person desires to engage her talents and realize her true potential in life, this is called self-actualization. Once a person is self-actualized, she is in a position to follow her calling. A leader needs to lead, a manager needs to manage, an engineer needs to engineer, salesperson needs to sell, a healer need to treat illness, a speaker needs to speak and narrate, a dancer needs to dance, a singer needs to sing, and a writer needs to write. If these needs are not met, the person feels on edge and lacking something.

One of the challenges in the current business world (regardless of the industry) stems from the fact that management teams are often managing employees as though the management teams are seeking rewards or avoiding punishments instead of accurately understanding the motivation are of each individual. Clearly, each person is an individual and is motivated by different incentives. However, most organizations do not create a structure to help a person to reach their peak potential.

Another challenge in many organizations is that management teams use the word “empowerment” too loosely. If an employee is empowered to do his or her job responsibilities, then that employee needs to be allowed to be creative and think out of the box and be allowed to make decisions. Many management teams do not take the time to evaluate individual behaviors, and instead, enforce an autocratic leadership style to micromanage the employee. This creates a parent-child relationship in the workplace. Most employees would be more productive if management teams managed employees as an adult to adult. Adults communicate with other adults; parents control children. When employees are treated as adults, this boosts moral and creates true empowerment.

We spend a lot of our time at work and it should be a positive experience. Some people have been living in a world that always told them what to do. This makes life easy for them. They never let themselves discover their weakness or failures, not to mention their strengths. One can learn from self-actualizing people what the ideal attitude toward work might be under the most favorable circumstances. These highly evolved individuals assimilate their work into their identity of self, where work actually becomes part of the self and part of the individual’s definition of self.

It is then easier for each of us to be who we are instead of working toward being something we are not. This is true empowerment.

Genuinely,

Christine

About the Author: Christine M. West, TheBusinessMD, 2240 E. Tudor Rd. #976, Anchorage, Alaska, USA 99507. Phone 1-907-223-8403. Email: info@thebusinessmd.net, http://www.businessmd.net/ http://thebusinessmd.blogspot.com/

Christine West is an industrial organizational psychology practitioner and is in private practice as TheBusinessMD which helps organizations and individuals overcome fear and explore the power of change. Ms. West is also a Featured Columnist for the National Networker http://www.thenationalnetworker.com/



For more information, please visit Christine's TNNW Bio.

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GO WEST! Organizational Empowerment

PEOPLE, POWER AND POSSIBILITIES: Give It Up

People, Power and Possibilities with Donna Fisher

At our "Women Who Rock" event last week, women were asked to give up the things that hold them back. Because if you're going to "rock" then you've got to give up holding back, downplaying your strengths, and doubting yourself.

Give It Up! Give up the hesitation to follow your heart. Give up the negative self-talk that is habitual useless chatter. Give up speaking words of disempowerment (to yourself and others). Give up hiding, downplaying and dismissing your magnificence!

We can only be of greatest value to one another when we truly value ourselves. When you truly value yourself, you will naturally share more of what you have to offer with others. When you truly start making powerful connections, your world will rock.

I saw this happen. As women began to "Give Up" the things holding them back and began to focus on their strengths and skills, they began to stand more erect, approach people more confidently and speak more assertively. They began to share information, ideas and resources that truly made a difference in each other's lives. They became energized and alive.

The things that get in our way are typically "habitual" thoughts and behaviors that have become so ingrained that we think those thoughts and behaviors are us! But they aren't. They are simply thoughts and behaviors. They are thoughts and behaviors that we can "Give Up"! And we can choose new, more productive, more empowering, more authentic thoughts and behaviors that have us stand tall, speak up and be powerful resources in our communities.

Being a Woman Who Rocks is about showing up and speaking up, honoring your strengths and skills, being a source of positive energy in the world.

If you're going to rock, you've got to "step up to the mic" and give it your all!



For more information, please visit Donna's TNNW Bio.

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PEOPLE, POWER AND POSSIBILITIES: Give It Up