Program for leaders who want to learn the secrets to employee empowerment. Delivered to the Professional Teleservice Management Association in March 2016. For more information about my speaking programs, or for free leadership and communication tips, tools, and techniques, visit my website at www.Amy-Castro.com
1. Empowering Your Employees to
Empower Themselves
Professional Teleservice
Management Association
March 2016
Amy Castro
www.Amy-Castro.com
281-728-2248
Amy_Castro@ictstexas.com
2. Empower
(verb)
•to give power or authority
to; authorize, especially by
legal or official means.
•to enable or permit
3. Your role is to encourage and support the
decision-making environment,
and to give employees the tools and
knowledge they need to make and act upon their
own decisions.
17. Stay in Your Zone
(and help employees
stay in theirs!)
18. Responsibility is something you give.
Accountability is something you take.
–Amy Castro
Tweet it @PracticalComm
19. Benefits of Accountability
For Employees
Performance
Participation
Involvement
Commitment to work
Creativity and innovation
Morale and satisfaction
Self esteem- feeling of competency
- US Office of Personnel Management
25. If you want employees to be successful in
achieving their full potential, you have to
make it safe for them to fail.
– Amy Castro
Tweet it @PracticalComm
26. Turning Failure
into Success
1. Be sure they own it
2. Ask what they learned from it
3. Ask how they fixed it
4. Ask how they’re going to prevent it from
happening again
27. Success does not consist in never making
mistakes, but in never making the same
one a second time.
– George Bernard Shaw
30. Need more communication tools
and techniques?
Check out my book:
http://www.amy-
castro.com/books-and-products/
31. Connect with me on social media
FB: AmyPCastro
Linkedin: AmyPCastro
Twitter: @PracticalComm
Web: www.Amy-Castro.com
Hinweis der Redaktion
Number one mistake in employee empowerment- not realizing that empowerment begins in the hiring process!
Must identify what you want employee to do, decisions to make and then find a person who has the knowledge, skills, and abilities to do it.
A good plan is to come up with 4-5 questions that help flush out a candidate’s natural desire to embrace responsibility.
Ask them how they approach a new project.
Do they prefer to work directly with their manager throughout the process to ensure they are on track, or would they rather take it on themselves and deliver the finished product?
Do they prefer to work in teams or are they comfortable owning things?
Asking them if they created any processes or products at previous jobs that they are particularly proud of and what lasting benefit it had will shed light on their level of enthusiasm in adding value.
One of my favorite questions is “If you could wave a magic wand as you leave your current job and fix one issue that is creating problems with either process or people, what would it be and what would it solve?”
Most people pursuing new employment are dissatisfied on some level at their current job and can usually articulate why.
Listen to their word choices and watch their body language. Are they negative and defensive about why something is so wrong and quick to point out all the problems it creates?
Do they focus most of their answer on the problem or on the solution? Do they even offer a tangible solution?
If not, probe more by asking what, specifically they would do to improve the situation. Do they offer any thoughts on what, once solved, this improvement would have on productivity, profit or morale?
Ask them why they couldn’t solve this problem now and you will begin to hear the faint echo of exactly the type of attitude that they will ultimately bring to the table if they were on your team.
How diplomatic are they being if they share that they can’t affect change because their structure doesn’t ultimately support empowerment? If you’ve found yourself interviewing someone capable of handling this level of responsibility, if they have the experience you’re looking for, they’re the type of person you want to add to your team.
Listen well
Share context and info
Are you doing anything that would need to change in order for your people to feel more empowered?
Do you question every decision, ask to be copied on every email or insist on having final approval of most work product?
Do you spend much of your time answering questions from people who really should know the answers already?
Do you find yourself so busy helping other people do their work that you push your own deliverables to the side and often deliver product that’s less than your best work because you are rushing to meet deadlines?
Are you doing anything that would need to change in order for your people to feel more empowered? Do you question every decision, ask to be copied on every email or insist on having final approval of most work product? Do you spend much of your time answering questions from people who really should know the answers already? Do you find yourself so busy helping other people do their work that you push your own deliverables to the side and often deliver product that’s less than your best work because you are rushing to meet deadlines?