BUS603: Managing People

In "Beyond Engagement," Allison describes empowerment as a state in which employees have "access to all the information, training, tools, and connections to people and others teams that they need to do their best work, as well as a safe environment in which to do that work so they feel comfortable making their own decisions". In other words, empowerment is enablement with the opportunity for associates to act using their own best judgment as it relates to shared understanding of team and organizational guidelines and objectives.

"Empowerment" is the best strategy when objectives and methods for achieving them are unclear and creative flexibility is necessary for defining them. Often this work is focused on activities where problem definition and possible solutions (i.e. investigation, planning, and execution) are not well-defined.