Carrots and Sticks Don't Work: Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles of RESPECT

CHAPTER 6Empowerment

“The best executive is the one who has the sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”

—Theodore Roosevelt

Empowerment refers to providing your work-force with the training, resources, and opportunities they need to be successful. Leaders empower employees through consistent information sharing and increased decision-making responsibility and autonomy. Those who empower employees encourage them to take educated risks, seek novel solutions, and treat mistakes as learning opportunities. Supervisors also empower employees when they take down roadblocks and eliminate processes that frustrate team members and waste their time. Furthermore, ...