Empowerment, Team Development, And Positive Change In The Workplace - Principles And Dimensions Essay.

1. Identify the meaning of empowerment in the workplace. Assess the inhibitors and dimensions of empowerment and describe how one develops empowerment

2. Examine the principles for diagnosing team development and building effective teams

3. Analyze the framework for leading positive change.  Describe in detail the effects of establishing a climate of positive change and creating readiness for change.  Briefly explain how managers cope with change in an organization.  Use examples where necessary.

Empowerment

Empowerment in a workplace entails enabling and helping employees to acquire self-confidence. Thus, overcoming a state of powerlessness having been energized to take action. An example of being energized to take action is giving employees a certain degree of responsibility in decision making regarding workplace-specific tasks. The specific tasks are, for example, giving the employees ownership of the involved processes in production where they are responsible for the products or services generated by the processes (Arogundade & Arogundade, 2015).  

There are various inhibitors of empowerment which include the following: management resistance- this is due to some reasons which include insecurity, for example, unwilling to share trade secrets with the employees with a belief that it may lead to loss of power. The Coca-Cola Company may for example not be willing to share its trade secrets especially the manufacturing formula so as to continue having dominancy in the market. Another reason under insecurity is the need to retain power and control over employees by the management with values like employees have to do what they have been instructed to. The management may also have a belief that failure to give clear directives on the employees will lead to failure on the employee’s undertaken activities thus having an extreme need to be in control. Empowering the employees who are not ready and prepared for the activities involved in a workplace can also be a setback. Thus, the employees have to be educated first before being empowered (Wahid et al., 2017).

There are five core dimensions of empowerment which are as follows: Self-efficacy which entails the beliefs on a person’s capabilities so as to produce expected level of performance which has an influence on the events affecting their lives. The beliefs under this help to determine how people feel, behave and motivate themselves like setting challenging goals and maintaining a strong commitment towards them. Thus, the strong self-efficacy enhances personal accomplishment and well-being in a variety of ways (Schwarzer, 2014). The second dimension is self-determinant which is a person’s ability and sense in having a choice to initiate and regulate actions. An example is a person having a significant choice to determine how to do a job with independence and freedom on how to perform the duty (Fernandez & Moldogaziev, 2015). The personal consequence is the other dimension which takes an effect when a person is aware that a certain action will yield to the desired result. An example of the above is foregoing some comforts like oversleeping and fully attend a job with an aim of making some achievements like investment after a period of time (Robbins, 2018). The fourth dimension is meaning which brings about a sense of value. Thus if an employee creates meaning in a job performance, the employee is enabled to have a purpose on the given job hence develop set of targets and goals to achieve (Bin, Almadhoun, & Ling, 2015). The last dimension is a trust which entails keying in the effort so as to accomplish the set goals. After an achievement, security in the job is assured, for example being appreciated for an achievement in a workplace (Ugwu, Onyishi, & Rodríguez, 2014).  

Inhibitors of Empowerment

There are various ways how one can develop empowerment which include the following: having clear goals which can be achieved through becoming more aware of one's strengths hence being equipped to deal with the weaknesses in order to achieve the set goals. Another way is being provided with support by the management like employee appraisal and encouragement. This, in turn, would allow one to take the offered opportunities so as to enhance personal growth and fulfillment of set targets and goals. Creating confidence is another way how one can acquire development where the management can create the best interest on the employees, for example, fair treatment of workers and providing safety job conditions. The above would, therefore, enhance fruitful contribution made by an individual or a team (Mone & London, 2018). Providing modeling to the employees through setting examples on how to conduct some tasks in a workplace may also help employees to acquire empowerment. Thus, the employees will demonstrate the skills acquired from the role models in order to harness job operation (Leroy, Anseel, Gardner, & Sels, 2015). The organization can provide the necessary required resources to perform various tasks. This can empower employees to perform the assigned duties with no difficulty having been provided with the appropriate and useful resources in order to accomplish the tasks.

Team development can be determined by the help of various principles which include the following: clarity of goals and purpose which entails clearly defining the objectives where an effective team has to work in a certain way in order to achieve the set organizational goals. Commitment and accountability among the team members- this entails the commitment among the team members in order to demonstrate the aspects needed to meet and achieve the goals. Effective communication- good and effective communication among the team members and the entire organization is very essential, for example, to keep the members informed and focused. The above principles can, therefore, be very helpful and essential in diagnosing whether a given team is developing or not (Shuffler, Diazgranados, Maynard, & Salas, 2018).

There are various necessary and vital ways in building an effective team which include the following: laying down the priorities and team goals- establishing the team priorities should be enhanced in order for the members to understand where and when to provide the required help. Clear team goals should also be provided out which will help the team members to understand how their personal goals will support the team goals. Employees should also be provided with a way on how supporting the team goals will also help them meet their personal goals. Selecting an appropriate team- this entails putting in place qualified and competent team members able to handle the assigned tasks. It also entails identifying members with a collectivist nature who prefers working and cooperating in a group rather than the individualists who put their personal interest first hence preferring independent tasks. Shared leadership- under this, the majority of team members may be willing to assume some leadership roles. This, in turn, creates a sense of shared responsibility hence increasing morale among team members (Murray, 2016).

Dimensions of Empowerment

There are various frameworks leading to positive change which may include the following: the Lewin’s model is the most popular model of approach which entails various stages of change which are unfreeze, making changes and refreeze. Unfreezing entails analyzing the current processes in an organization for potential improvements. This helps to eliminate any existing problems hence giving a perception to change the cause of the identified problems. This also entails creating awareness to the employees about the default with the current processes, the need to change, the suggested changes, and the benefits which the proposed change will yield. Making of changes having prepared everyone for the new change is the other step. Under this stage, various aspects like communication and training are essential so as to avoid any difficulties during the transition process. For example, training is required when an organization is switching to a new technology on how to use it. After implementing the appropriate change having considered some factors from the employees like feedback on the new change, there is a need to refreeze the new embraced change. This is important so as to ensure the old methods of doing things are completely done up with. This can be facilitated for example through rewarding those who fully adhere to the new methods of doing things so as facilitate the positive change (Hussain et al., 2016).  The discussed model is therefore very important especially when an organization needs a drastic transition so as to achieve a positive change and succeed.

The value chain framework is another model which can help an organization analyze its specific activities where the organization can create value hence leading to positive change. It includes improving and carrying out of both the primary and support activities in a unique way. Some of the primary activities include inbound logistic which entails receiving, storing, and transportation scheduling. An organization may, for example, build its warehouse to avoid renting which may be associated with heavy expenses. Outbound logistics is another activity which entails availing the finished products to the customers. Thus, an organization has to embrace the appropriate and effective distributing channels so as to effectively reach its customers. Service is another activity which helps to enhance and maintain the value of the product, for example, offering customer support on any inquiry, training, and installation of some technical products like the electronics. Some of the supporting activities include procurement, for example on the raw materials. Thus, an organization has to ensure it engages with the procurement of quality raw materials. This is to ensure that an organization will engage in the production of quality products from the quality raw materials. Another activity under this is technology development which helps in the value chain activities, for example, process automation through the use of some systems like supply chain management systems and enterprise resource planning. Human resource management is another activity which is associated with, for example, recruiting, retention and compensation of the employees. An organization has, therefore, to ensure it has the right and qualified personnel in place to help in achieving its set goals and objectives (Mudambi, & Puck, 2016). Through an appropriate use of the value chain model, an organization can, therefore, achieve its intended objectives hence leading to positive change.

How to Develop Empowerment

There are various effects as a result of establishing a climate of positive change and creating readiness for change which includes the following: the establishment of positive change comes about with various aspects, for example, having a leadership team to enhance the proposed change. If there was no established leadership, a new leadership has to be formed which consists of a dedicated team to ensure that the change really takes place. Training is the other effect which is essential for both the new leadership team and the employees in order to harness the organizational readiness for change. Some aspects also, for example, the feedback system has to be put in place for everyone involved in the positive change. The participant's opinions have to be considered in this quest of creating readiness for change in order to incorporate everyone during the critical decisions towards positive change. Some obstacles may also arise where some employees may not agree with the proposed change. The cause of this reluctance may be, for example, as a result of inadequate training on the employees in preparation of the new tasks. Another reason is the leadership put in place may not be fully effective in fostering the needed change. A strategy to measure the progress of change has to be put in place in order to create readiness for change. This is helpful in measuring whether the mechanisms put in place in order to achieve a positive change are bearing fruits or there is a need for adjustment (Shea, Jacobs, Esserman, Bruce, & Weiner, 2014).

The managers cope up with a change in an organization through the following ways: the employee involvement in the change process- the manager can cope up with a given change through the involvement of employees for a quicker and better implementation of a given target change. This is enhanced through the managers accepting the fact that they are not the only one who knows the changes about to take place. Thus, incorporating the employees who may give out their opinions and work towards accomplishing the goals of the new change. Concentrating on effective delegation is another way how managers cope up with change. For example, managers may see it of the essence to delegate some tasks to the employees especially during the new stage of change where they tend to take all the policies by themselves. This, in turn, helps to reduce the workload through the help of the employees. Another way how managers can cope up with change is through raising the level of expectation. Under this, managers are aware that the new changes require performance improvement and make the processes involved to be challenging. Managers can, therefore, for example, adhere to realistic goals and offer training platform in order to cope up with the new processes which in turn helps to eliminate failure and frustration. Managers can also expand the communication channels in order to cope up with a change in an organization. This is a result of new changes in processes which means that the previous channels of communication need to be enlarged. This is a result of the need for information and answers among everyone in the organization due to the demanding new changes. New communication systems can be put in place, for example, executive information systems, human resource management systems, group management systems, and office automation systems which may enhance effective communication in the organization thus, harnessing the new change (Cummings & Worley, 2014). After an effective performance of the above-discussed activities, the managers will therefore swiftly cope up with a change in an organization.

References

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Wahid, A., Ahmad, M. S., Talib, N. B. A., Shah, I. A., Tahir, M., Jan, F. A., & Saleem, M. Q. (2017). Barriers to empowerment: Assessment of community-led local development organizations in Pakistan. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 74, 1361-1370.