Empowerment is a topic frequently discussed when analyzing strong organizations with effective employees.
One study showed that when employees feel empowered at work, they tend to have stronger job performance, higher job satisfaction and greater commitment to the organization, while other research has demonstrated a clear correlation between empowerment and employee engagement levels.
Wiley regularly conducts workforce surveys, and when we ask leaders and employees where managers most need development, empowerment consistently ranks at or near the top of the list of responses.
However, unlike employee feedback or conflict resolution, which most people can imagine in practice, empowerment is more nebulous. We may talk about it often, but how do you make it happen?
For our purposes, empowerment means equipping employees to act independently, use their judgment and take ownership — effectively. That last word is key. It’s one thing to hand someone the reins; it’s another to make sure they can steer the carriage in the right direction.
When a company gets empowerment right, the organization benefits through stronger innovation, problem-solving, agility and a deeper leadership pipeline; managers benefit by freeing up time for higher-level work, improving team results and advancing their own careers; and employees benefit by finding meaning, autonomy and growth in their work.
The challenge is that empowerment doesn’t happen automatically. It must be intentionally developed. Cultural norms, power dynamics and interpersonal habits can all work against it. That’s why it needs to be treated as a core leadership skill.
4 Elements of Empowerment
From my research and professional experience, I’ve found that truly empowered employees have access to four essential elements:
- Authority: Legitimate decision-making power and the backing to use it
- Connections: Access to the right relationships and networks to get things done
- Guidance: Support, feedback and encouragement to build skills and confidence
- Clarity: A clear understanding of goals, expectations, resources and systems
Remove any one of these elements, and empowerment is incomplete. An employee may feel confident but lack the influence to make change. Or they may have authority on paper but no clarity on priorities. So, effective managers intentionally build all four elements.
But those elements can be evasive. A recent Wiley Workplace Intelligence survey found that 77% of respondents said they feel empowered at work. That’s a pretty good number. However, in the same survey, 42% of employees said they feel empowered but don’t act on it. That’s a big disconnect.
To benefit from empowered employees, organizations must go beyond simply building feelings of autonomy. They must develop a system and culture that encourage people to take action.
Manager Defaults: Strengths and Blind Spots
So, how do you accomplish that? Almost every manager naturally gravitates toward one or two of the four elements. Some instinctively grant authority, others focus on building connections, providing guidance or ensuring clarity. The flip side is that most also have elements they tend to overlook.
For example, a results-driven manager might be quick to authorize decisions but neglect ongoing guidance, while a highly social manager might open doors through connections but rush past details and processes.
Self-awareness is step one. Managers who understand their own tendencies can better identify where they might unintentionally limit someone’s empowerment.
How to Empower Employees
Once leaders have a sense of what an employee needs to be truly empowered, they can use any number of tactics to help make it a reality, including:
- Authority — Giving people legitimate decision-making power: You can publicly endorse their expertise, delegate high-impact projects to them, back them up in front of others and involve them in strategic discussions.
- Connections — Expanding their network and influence: You can personally introduce them to key stakeholders, invite them to cross-functional meetings where decisions and collaborations happen, and share “insider knowledge” with them about how influence works in your organization, including unwritten rules.
- Guidance — Providing support, feedback and encouragement: You can check in regularly with them on their progress, share your own learning experiences so they see mistakes as part of growth rather than failure, affirm their progress out loud and help them reflect on decisions after the fact.
- Clarity — Ensuring goals, expectations and processes are understood: You can explain the “why” behind decisions and goals so tasks connect to a bigger picture, set explicit expectations for outcomes and quality standards, map out resources and support they can draw on, encourage them to ask questions and normalize clarifying discussions, and highlight potential roadblocks and how to navigate them before they cause delays.
Ultimately, the work of empowerment comes down to two ongoing responsibilities: elevating employees — making them feel confident and capable — and stretching them —helping them build capability in the elements they tend to overlook. Feeling empowered is important, but it’s not enough. People also need to be effective at acting on that empowerment.
The balance between elevating and stretching will vary by individual. Some may already have strong networks but need more clarity; others may have clarity but little influence.
The Payoff of Empowerment
Empowerment isn’t about letting go of control entirely; it’s about distributing it wisely so your team can do their best work.
When employees have the authority to make decisions, the connections to navigate the organization, the guidance to build confidence, and the clarity to act with purpose, they don’t just feel empowered, they are empowered.
Managers who empower their employees will see stronger performance, greater engagement and a deeper bench of future leaders. In a world where work is increasingly complex and evolving, that’s a leadership essential.
