...individual doing it. Empowerment can also be seen as process or style by which people manage, requiring careful preparation, guidelines and clearly defined and understood boundaries.

Definition

Empowerment is more than delegation--it is a genuine opening-up of the creative power that staff have. It is based on the belief that staff abilities are frequently under-used and--given the chance and the responsibility--people will want to make a positive contribution.

The aim is to bring staff more into the action at work and give them more power and authority to innovate, participate in problem-solving and decision-making, and work with the minimum intervention from their managers.

Empowerment is about:

* letting staff get on with the job

* allowing staff to take responsibility for customer service

* letting those closest to customers take decisions they feel are right

* stripping away unnecessary bureaucracy

* encouraging and helping staff to put their ideas for improvements at work into practice.

Advantages of empowerment

Managed effectively, empowerment can:

* improve the commitment and motivation of staff as they take

* ownership of problems and generate their own solutions

* generate ideas for improving services--staff feel their ideas count

*...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.




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