Page 136 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles

107
Empowerment

Empowerment on the

Playing Field

Given the benefits of having empowered employees on your
team, it is quite astonishing how unempowered most employees
are. For example, lack of training and limited opportunity for
advancement are two of the leading reasons for turnover. What
more basic way could we empower employees than to teach
them what they need to know to be successful in their jobs? Yet,
how often are employees thrown into their jobs and expected
to instantly perform at a high level? We treat employees with
respect when we set them up to succeed; in the same vein, we
disrespect employees when we expect them to succeed in the
absence of sufficient training. A friend’s son, Steven, recently
responded to a “Help Wanted” sign at a local retailer. At the end
of a five-minute interview, Steven was asked how soon he could
start. He said, “Right away,” and was handed a company shirt
and told to get out on the floor and start helping customers.
After an hour he took off the shirt and went home.
Perhaps the example of Steven is extreme; however, rarely
do employees receive initial training that prepares them even
minimally to be successful in their roles. Rather, employees are
often provided with the barest-bones training and expected to
“pick it up” as they go. Even if employees possess the techni-
cal skills from previous work experience, they certainly have
not performed their responsibilities within the context of the
new organization and possibly within the industry. Once you’ve
gone through the effort and expense of hiring a new team mem-
ber, why wouldn’t you do everything possible to make him or
her successful? The resources required to train a new employee
pale in comparison to the cost of lost productivity and expense
of refilling the position.