Empowering Passion in Your Work Force
Any company owner, President, director, or even other "higher-up" will tell you that employee engagement has been a problem for them at least several times throughout their career.
There's no denying that an organization can only function properly if everybody involved is completely engaged, but these issues seem to arise irrespective of how much effort is put into creating a positive work atmosphere.
The topic of employee empowerment is sometimes disregarded while attempting to ascertain whether or why not just a specific employee feels involved in his or her employment.
What is Employee Empowerment?
The definition of social empowerment can be viewed in a variety of ways, all of which contribute to a more productive and engaged workforce.
Employee empowerment refers to the process of employees and coworkers cooperating in a group or team context. It can take place in a physical office or over the Internet, with social intranet software facilitating the latter.
Membership management software is a set of technologies that allow employees from all over the world to communicate with one another, share files/documents, and participate in an organization's knowledge base. Employees just enter onto the social intranet and are presented with a home screen similar to those found on any popular social network. From here, people can cooperate and work together to discover solutions to whatever problems they may be facing.
As one might think, social intranet software enables creating opportunities in ways that are hard to match. Here are a few examples of how collaboration technologies make it much easier for employees to collaborate with others, even if they are in the same physical office.
Everything is in a Prime Location
It can be challenging to juggle a multitude of everyday duties and processes, especially when one's tasks and functions increase. Having a central area for file sharing, idea transmission, and planning (among many other activities) may be quite useful in terms of enabling somebody to focus on what matters most during the day, which can assist in promoting participative management in your firm.
More accountability, less pressure
Some people find it difficult to speak up in a real group situation, as pressure and worry might suffocate the ideas that one could have if they aren't feeling brave enough to take a chance. A virtual social network is perfect for these people since it tends to break down the barriers and create more open communication, which can be hard to establish in face-to-face situations. As one might think, this lack of pressure is extremely beneficial to any organization.
Information can be easily organized and accessed.
No matter what type of business one operates, the capacity to organize and access information in a timely and concise manner is essential. Staff members may simply post comments, papers, files, and more using social intranet software, which also allows them to tag every post so that it can be easily found using a search option when needed.
Business Benefits of Social Empowerment
For many managers and HR professionals, the problem of an absence of community empowerment is already painfully clear, especially when considering the impact on employee engagement.
Reduced Costs
When employees work on projects together instead of independently, they should expect to make far greater progress in a smaller duration of time than that if they worked separately. Of course, this translates to lower total costs, which can add up to a significant sum of money over time if you get a strong handle on how your staff collaborates.
Better Ideas & Solutions
The difference between a benchmark firm and one lagging behind is that great ideas and equality of opportunity can help you get there. Employees may easily interact and collaborate with one another thanks to collaboration tools, even if they aren't in the same country. As a consequence, you'll have better, more efficient ideas and solutions to help you take your company to the next level.
More productivity
It's very hard for employees to feel genuinely happy and content at work if they don't feel empowered. Community capital can assist close the gap and resolving this problem, which can become toxic if left unaddressed for too long. After all, a happy workforce is an effective staff, and this is something that should never be overlooked.
Efficient Customer Service
Customer service is right up there, with employee engagement as something that a smart CEO will emphasize above all else. Yet, so many people overlook the reality that the two actually work hand in hand. Employees that are socially empowered can use collaboration technologies to give superior customer service to customers and clients in real-time, giving the concept of consumer assistance a whole new look and feel.
Faster Onboarding
Recruiting new staff is a difficult undertaking, regardless of your company's emphasis. As a result, the earlier you can achieve a quicker training program, the better. While your social intranet can have a whole base of knowledge of information to acquire from, not to mention the help that can be supplied by community veterans, community capital with web conferencing is a great aid for hastening worker onboarding.
Tips for Streamlining & Improving Employee Empowerment
Intranet software is quite effective at increasing an organization's potential to develop social engagement; however, there are a few points to bear in mind if you want to make the most of it.
After all, collaborative software is merely a platform; it can't function at full potential without a skilled team. Luckily, getting it right isn't as difficult as it may appear, especially if you follow the advice below.
Make a policy of "open doors."
If you truly want your staff to feel empowered, make it as simple as possible for any of them to do so. Whether you work in the same work as your employees or they are spread across the world, you should always endeavor to maintain an "open door" policy that allows employees to convey their ideas and needs to you at any time. Although you will always adopt a face-to-face method if you have the opportunity, membership management software makes this easier through its message system.
Employee Achievements Should Be Recognized
There's no great way to achieve that workers feel fully motivated and engaged than to recognize them for a job well done than to give them a raise. Many people work really hard but never receive recognition for their efforts, which can build to bitterness over time. Always keep an eye on your employees' development and compensate them in whichever manner you think fit, whether it's a generate value day off or a simple handshake of appreciation.
Ideas that take risks should be encouraged.
No one likes to feel like they've made a mistake by expressing an idea or making a proposal, which is why many employees are hesitant to speak out in the first instance. Nothing is more crucial for individuals in management positions than employers and employees that hazard ideas are not only acceptable but actually encouraged. That's the only method to guarantee well-thought-out answers, as else you'll be taking a far longer road than necessary.
Define everyone's Roles
In some cases, you may need to use social intranet software to designate responsibilities within your firm. It can take the shape of giving managerial tasks to particular high-level staff or creating specific rights inside your social community. Defining positions can enable individuals who are succeeding in the organization to stand out, resulting in a more efficient and productive task force.
Allow employees to work in their own distinct style.
It's tough to maintain control after employees have gained social influence, but that's not always bad. Allowing employees to adopt their unique work style encourages them to become more self-sufficient, which leads to higher team performance. Suppose you really need a support system to keep your sense of control. In that case, you may always specify particular permissions that prevent some people from accessing certain areas of the online world.
Show your progress
It's sometimes necessary to demonstrate that their efforts are paying off to your staff. Suppose you can gather data as well as other precise facts that emphasize changes achieved more than a length of time. In that case, you may discover that your employees feel more empowered and efficient, which can have a beneficial impact on your company's future.
When attempting to embrace social empowerment, it can take a long time to gain traction. However, if you go the proper approach and use membership management technology as a vehicle, you'll have a better chance of succeeding.
How do maintain control in an empowered environment?
Any good entrepreneur understands the importance of employee empowerment in terms of productivity and morale. Empowerment may help employees feel like they're a more significant part of a team, but it can also help them come up with innovative ideas that can be used to solve problems.
Employee empowerment is nearly always a positive side effect when membership management software is implemented.
Employee empowerment to be social, like many other facets of business, maybe a double-edged sword.
While it may result in a more productive and efficient workweek, it may also lead you and your management team to lose some control. When employees have more control over their daily lives, they frequently try to take matters into their own arms in ways that would otherwise not occur. Of course, this isn't a negative thing. However, problems are bound to occur in such a situation.
Only because your workers are accustomed to being more autonomous in a social setting doesn't mean you should relax and relinquish control. There are a few things you can do to make sure you don't lose control of your team, and they aren't as difficult as you would think.
Delegate Team Leaders
You don't have to always be watching over everyone's shoulders just because you're worried about losing control in an empowered workplace.
Instead, designating a team leader for each team in your workplace might save you a lot of time. A team leader who understands what you want to achieve as a project's final result will not only keep people on the track but will also guarantee that your vision isn't warped in the process.
When appointing someone to manage one of your teams, it's critical to make sure they're the suitable manager for the job. He or she should not only be on the same page as you are in terms of process but also know how to lead a team using social intranet software. Employee performance can be tracked no matter where they are, and any concerns that arise while using the system may be addressed before they become long-term problems.
Keep things crystal clear.
If there's one issue that might arise as a result of employees being more socially empowered, it's a failure to fulfill deadlines and complete tasks effectively. There is a multitude of reasons why this could happen, but the best method to deal with it is to prevent it from happening in the first place.
Setting clear goals at the start of a project ensures that your team is held accountable for their activities and that no one wants to offend their boss.
Set Permissions
The option to define permissions can come in handy, as anyone who has worked with an intranet or collaborative platform knows. A social intranet usually consists of several different "spaces," which each serves a distinct purpose. Your company's marketing team, for example, or your company's IT department, may each have its own section on the intranet.
In some cases, permissions will need to be adjusted so that different departments may enter each other's spaces to upload papers, exchange ideas, or communicate with project status.
The majority of the time, spaces are assigned to certain employees, so setting permission can assist assure nobody has more on their plate at any given time.
After all, why allow one department to use the electronic structure of the other in the first place if it isn't necessary?
Give Real-Time Updates
Sometimes, community capital becomes an issue not because of anything your workers have done wrong but because of problems you or your management team have created.
When there is a lack of direction, it can have negative implications, especially if it has been allowed to persist. Giving your staff real-time updates on a frequent basis is one method to prevent this possible issue.
One of the key advantages of adopting social intranet software is the opportunity to engage with colleagues in real-time, and there's no excuse not to use it.
Updating staff just on the status of the project, any roadblocks that have arisen, or even emailing out congrats on a work well done could have a lot of good outcomes, especially if done on a frequent basis.
When presenting updates, try to be as transparent as possible regarding your intentions since you never want your staff to be left in the dark about what's on your mind as a manager.
Don't Hesitate
Remote employees may now collaborate with others more easily than ever before thanks to the tech-related social utilizing electronics, which is surely something to celebrate.
Keep in mind, though, that when things go wrong, nothing works better than a personalized phone call. When a problem needs to be solved right away, chat and message can only get you so far, and these technologies tend to dilute the effect of a crucial dialogue.
If you notice that the team is drifting away from the objectives you set forth at the start of the project, it's time to take up the phone and tell them exactly what's on your mind.
Your staff will not only appreciate your honesty, but they will also be considerably more likely to remedy their mistakes than if you sent them an email rather than a phone call.
All of this being stated, make absolutely sure to use phone calls carefully to avoid losing their impact. It's not about intimidation, but there's to be said for assertiveness when you feel like you're losing control of your team.
Conclusion
Don't allow employee empowerment to make you feel like you're giving up control. When you transition to unified communications software, it might be difficult to adjust, but it doesn't have to be a problem if you keep track of what's going on in your online workspace on a frequent basis.
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Written and Published By The Strategic Advisor Board Team
C. 2017-2021 Strategic Advisor Board / M&C All Rights Reserved
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