What are the benefits of giving employees more autonomy and empowerment in their work?

Employee engagement is the degree to which employees feel committed, motivated, and satisfied with their work and organization. It is a key factor for organizational success, as it affects productivity, retention, innovation, and customer satisfaction. One of the ways to enhance employee engagement is to promote employee autonomy and empowerment, which means giving employees more control, choice, and responsibility over their work. In this article, we will explore what are the benefits of giving employees more autonomy and empowerment in their work, and how to implement it in your organization.

1 What is employee autonomy and empowerment?

Employee autonomy and empowerment are two related concepts that refer to the degree of freedom and influence that employees have over their work. Autonomy means that employees can decide how, when, and where to perform their tasks, without excessive supervision or interference. Empowerment means that employees have the authority, resources, and support to make decisions, solve problems, and initiate changes that affect their work outcomes. Both autonomy and empowerment imply that employees have a sense of ownership, accountability, and self-efficacy in their work.

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Scott Brown

Employee Experience Manager at ERM
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In my experience of working in a Consultancy environment. The best way for employees to have autonomy and empowerment is to give them control over how they plan their days. Billing is obviously very important in the Consultancy world, but it is not a word that employees within this sector like to be constantly reminded of. Let them be in charge of their own plans for each day and the billing numbers will progress naturally as a result.

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2 Why is employee autonomy and empowerment important for engagement?

Employee autonomy and empowerment can have a positive effect on employee engagement, as it can increase intrinsic motivation, satisfaction, and well-being. When employees have more autonomy and empowerment, they can align their work with their personal values, interests, and goals, express their creativity, skills, and talents, adapt their work to their preferences, needs, and circumstances, participate in decision-making and problem-solving, and influence their work environment and outcomes. This can lead to a greater sense of purpose and meaning, confidence and competence, work-life balance and reduced stress, involvement and contribution, and impact and recognition.

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Scott Brown

Employee Experience Manager at ERM
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The more autonomy and empowerment employees are given, the more trust they will have in their employer and manager. This in turn will lead to a substantial increase in engagement. As an example if an employee is given a particularly complex project to manage, but they feel they are being contently micromanaged by a senior project manager, their interest within the project will quickly diminish. However if the employee is left to manage the project as they see fit, with minimal intervention from a senior project manager, their engagement levels will usually increase as a result.

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3 How to assess the current level of employee autonomy and empowerment?

Before you can promote employee autonomy and empowerment in your organization, you need to assess the current level of employee autonomy and empowerment that your employees experience. To do this, you can conduct surveys, interviews, or focus groups with your employees to gain insight into their perceptions, feelings, and experiences. Additionally, you can observe and analyze the work processes, policies, and practices in your organization to identify the factors that enable or hinder employee autonomy and empowerment. Lastly, you can compare and benchmark your organization with other organizations in your industry or sector to learn from their best practices and challenges.

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Scott Brown

Employee Experience Manager at ERM
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Surveys are a great place to start to gauge autonomy and empowerment levels within a company. Partnering with an engagement platform/tool such as Glint, Peakon, Qualtrics or Culture Amp is even better as it allows you to compare your company's results against external benchmarks. Gaining 360 feedback is another invaluable method of assessing the current levels of employee autonomy and empowerment. Be sure to also get external feedback from clients etc as this will add a different perspective.

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4 How to increase employee autonomy and empowerment?

Once you have assessed the current level of employee autonomy and empowerment, you can take actions to increase it in your organization. This can be done by setting clear and realistic goals and expectations for your employees, providing them with the necessary resources and tools, and delegating tasks and decisions to them. Additionally, you should encourage your employees to propose ideas and involve them in decision-making and problem-solving processes. Furthermore, creating a culture of learning, innovation, and collaboration, and allowing your employees to experiment, learn from mistakes, and share best practices can help to further increase employee autonomy and empowerment.

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5 How to monitor and evaluate the impact of employee autonomy and empowerment?

To monitor and evaluate the impact of employee autonomy and empowerment on employee engagement and organizational performance, you should measure and track key indicators of employee engagement, such as satisfaction, retention, productivity, and innovation. Additionally, collect and analyze feedback and data from employees, customers, and stakeholders to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your initiatives. Finally, review and adjust your goals, strategies, and actions, and celebrate successes and learn from challenges.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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What are the benefits of giving employees more autonomy and empowerment in their work?

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1 What is employee autonomy and empowerment?

2 Why is employee autonomy and empowerment important for engagement?

3 How to assess the current level of employee autonomy and empowerment?

4 How to increase employee autonomy and empowerment?

5 How to monitor and evaluate the impact of employee autonomy and empowerment?

6 Here’s what else to consider

Employee Engagement

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