Monday, April 18, 2011
Empowered Workers Are Better, More Productive Workers
A new study from the University of Iowa confirms that workers who feel empowered by their employers have higher morale and are more productive, regardless of their industry, job or even culture.
“Empowerment is an effective approach for improving employee attitudes and work behaviors in a broad range of industries, occupations and geographic regions,” said lead researcher Scott Seibert, professor of management and organizations in the Tippie College of Business.
Seibert said the study shows that when done properly, empowerment initiatives can lead to higher job satisfaction, lower turnover and reduced stress among employees. Empowered workers also are more innovative and perform better at their jobs.
Seibert and his co-authors examined more than 140 previous studies of various aspects of psychological empowerment in the workplace published since 1995 that involved thousands of workers. They then looked for similarities in those studies’ outcomes and conclusions. Although the studies don’t support the often extravagant claims made by media, they do tend to exaggerate the value -— or lack thereof -— of empowerment. Some claim it will revitalize an organization with “lightning-like” speed, while others dismissing it as a “chimera” and point to high failure rates at organizations that try it.
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