Empower your Employees
Many employers spend a lot of time looking for the right candidate to bring into the organization. Of course, there are the phone screenings, the in person interviews, the background screening and finally the hire. Often, employers have spent the time and effort to get the person they wanted, but then fall short on really getting to know their employees and what will make them long term. Many studies and Human Resources professionals have found that empowered employees make happier employees, which in turn makes more satisfied customers, not to mention an overall more pleasant workplace.
"Employees are the best ambassadors about what type of place Wegmans is," says Gerry Q. Pierce, Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Wegmans Food Markets Inc., one of the nation's major regional supermarket companies. Wegmens prides itself on employee empowerment and how this practice helps them attract and retain the best work force possible. The evidence produced by a survey the Company completed a few years ago in which 37,000 people were surveyed, received an impressive 33,000 results. In addition, the Company received 3,400 pages of written comments from employees. One of the questions was "Does management know what it is doing?" A 96% positive response rate was elicited. According to Pierce, Wegmans treats its employees like customers and spends time to finding out what employees need, and what makes them happy. "Just as we engage our customers, we want to let our employees know that they're valued" he remarks. This attitude and philosophy have, no doubt, contributed greatly to the success of Wegmens.
Two of the biggest components of employee empowerment are trust and communication. Both components must apply to employees and managers in order to be successful. Trusting frontline staff with decision making authority can increase an employee's sense of value while at the same time increasing a customer's satisfaction. Such is a practice employed by Wegmans. For example, if a customer wants an item that is not currently stocked, an employee may make steps to procure that item for the customer. The decision-making ability may exist outside of a service oriented business, and can be molded to any workplace.
Managers may show employees trust by delegation. One must be careful not to delegate only the "grunt work" or dreaded tasks that no one wants. It proves effective to delegate meaningful items which give the employee opportunities to show what they can do and flex their creative muscles to get the tasks completed. Some items that could be delegated are conducting research for a project, determining the agenda items for a meeting or deciding on the work flow for a certain project or period of time in the department. Managers should be cautious in deciding the appropriate person to delegate to, which can be a delicate balancing act. The chosen employee should be capable of performing the task. If it is completely outside of their skill set, it may result in the employee being set up for failure. The employee will be most likely upset when they cannot achieve the desired results. Also, avoid delegating everything to the top performers, as this may lead to an overloaded employee who may resent carrying more work than others.
In order for employee empowerment to survive, work, and thrive, the channels of communication must be open. Managers must set clear and honest expectations with the employees. The idea is not micromanage the items that have been delegated, rather give the employee a chance to figure things out and come up with solutions, while giving the employee the chance to be successful and flourish. Managers should be prepared to listen to the employee and provide guidance by asking questions instead of telling the employee what to do or taking the project over whenever it might hit a snag. A manager is still responsible for the final outcome of the project. With this, it is important to be involved but not cross the line of micromanaging every aspect of the task. Be sure to recognize the success of the employee when they have completed each phase of the task and especially when the task is finished successfully.
"Employees are the best ambassadors about what type of place Wegmans is," says Gerry Q. Pierce, Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Wegmans Food Markets Inc., one of the nation's major regional supermarket companies. Wegmens prides itself on employee empowerment and how this practice helps them attract and retain the best work force possible. The evidence produced by a survey the Company completed a few years ago in which 37,000 people were surveyed, received an impressive 33,000 results. In addition, the Company received 3,400 pages of written comments from employees. One of the questions was "Does management know what it is doing?" A 96% positive response rate was elicited. According to Pierce, Wegmans treats its employees like customers and spends time to finding out what employees need, and what makes them happy. "Just as we engage our customers, we want to let our employees know that they're valued" he remarks. This attitude and philosophy have, no doubt, contributed greatly to the success of Wegmens.
Two of the biggest components of employee empowerment are trust and communication. Both components must apply to employees and managers in order to be successful. Trusting frontline staff with decision making authority can increase an employee's sense of value while at the same time increasing a customer's satisfaction. Such is a practice employed by Wegmans. For example, if a customer wants an item that is not currently stocked, an employee may make steps to procure that item for the customer. The decision-making ability may exist outside of a service oriented business, and can be molded to any workplace.
Managers may show employees trust by delegation. One must be careful not to delegate only the "grunt work" or dreaded tasks that no one wants. It proves effective to delegate meaningful items which give the employee opportunities to show what they can do and flex their creative muscles to get the tasks completed. Some items that could be delegated are conducting research for a project, determining the agenda items for a meeting or deciding on the work flow for a certain project or period of time in the department. Managers should be cautious in deciding the appropriate person to delegate to, which can be a delicate balancing act. The chosen employee should be capable of performing the task. If it is completely outside of their skill set, it may result in the employee being set up for failure. The employee will be most likely upset when they cannot achieve the desired results. Also, avoid delegating everything to the top performers, as this may lead to an overloaded employee who may resent carrying more work than others.
In order for employee empowerment to survive, work, and thrive, the channels of communication must be open. Managers must set clear and honest expectations with the employees. The idea is not micromanage the items that have been delegated, rather give the employee a chance to figure things out and come up with solutions, while giving the employee the chance to be successful and flourish. Managers should be prepared to listen to the employee and provide guidance by asking questions instead of telling the employee what to do or taking the project over whenever it might hit a snag. A manager is still responsible for the final outcome of the project. With this, it is important to be involved but not cross the line of micromanaging every aspect of the task. Be sure to recognize the success of the employee when they have completed each phase of the task and especially when the task is finished successfully.
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