And I’ll start with a quote:
“Employees are a company’s greatest asset – they’re your competitive advantage. You want to attract and retain the best; provide them with encouragement, stimulus, and make them feel that they are an integral part of the company’s mission.“ – Anne M. Mulcahy, former CEO of Xerox.
So today I want to write about empowering decisions. I feel that too many managers don’t understand how much more they can actually get from their employees.This means to consult with them, allow them to help each other, and hear their opinion every time you’re about to deliver a project.
At the same time, by showing your employees how their day-to-day efforts help drive the company’s goals, and by empowering decisions made by them, you give them a sense of how integral they actually are.
Here are three additional amazing outcomes from empowering decisions:
You maximize your employees’ minds, talents, and experience for your important tasks. Think of it as your personal version of the wisdom of crowds for everything big you do.
It gives a real chance to team members to stand out, which makes them try harder.
It motivates your employees over time. I personally learned that what usually makes employees feel better about what they do is the feeling of being part of something, with a real potential to create, make a difference, and get real credit for what they do.
Let me know what’s your opinion in the comments, whether you’re a team manager or if you have one.