Empowering employees - what counts is the perception of employees

Empowerment is seen as the key to increasing motivation, innovation and productivity. How effective can empowerment measures really be if employees perceive them as a farce? While structural measures are important, the subjective perception of employees plays an equally important role. Only when employees actually experience empowerment can companies reap the full benefits.

Real empowerment - why perception is crucial

Structural empowerment refers to the design of the framework conditions within a company that should enable employees to work independently and autonomously. The four levers - access to information, freedom of choice, resources and incentives - look at empowerment from the company's perspective. This is about creating organizational structures, conditions and forms of work that enable employees to develop.

However, the corporate perspective falls short when it comes to empowerment. Flexible and agile forms of work, for example, can be an important part of an empowering working environment, but they are only one side of the coin (Schermuly, 2019). The decisive factor is how employees perceive their working environment. Even if companies implement all four levers of structural empowerment, employees may not personally perceive this as genuine empowerment. We call this subjective experience of empowerment psychological empowerment (Spreitzer, 1995). Here, too, there are four dimensions:

1.  Meaningfulness / significance: Employees perceive their work as meaningful and significant if it is in line with their personal values and goals. For example, an employee in a non-profit organization feels that their work is particularly meaningful because it contributes to society.
2. Competence: Employees have confidence in their skills and knowledge. Regular feedback and training opportunities strengthen this trust.
3. Influence: Employees can influence decisions and processes that affect their work. A team member who is involved in decision-making processes and can implement their ideas feels more connected to the company.
4. Self-determination: Employees should have the freedom to organize their work independently. Flexible working hours and the opportunity to work from different locations can support this self-determination.

A holistic approach for successful empowerment

Empowerment is only truly effective if it is perceived as such by employees. Even the best structural empowerment can fail if the psychological needs of employees are not taken into account. Companies should therefore not only create an organizational framework, but also foster an environment that is based on trust, appreciation and individual development. A holistic empowerment approach that integrates both structural and psychological aspects is the key to a motivated and committed workforce. This is the only way for companies to sustainably increase their innovative strength and competitiveness.

This article was published on 12.9.2024 in the HR magazine Penso. It is the second article in a four-part series.