H hIntroduction

Introduce the topic

In view of rapidly changing business environment, companies must devote greater effort to

enhance their capabilities and it must not be forgotten that the success and competing power

of the organization depend on committed, highly motivated, satisfied and innovative human

resources. While discussion of employee empowerment has been prevalent in the popular

literature for many years, however, this concept needs to be an ongoing study by researchers

due to rapidly changing business environment.

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between employee empowerment

and job satisfaction by reviewing and determining all factors which affect on this relation.

Empowerment is mainly concerned with establishing and building trust between management

and employees, and motivating their participation. It is one of the modern concepts which is

believed able to improve the human element in the modern organisations to achieve high

levels of cooperation, team spirit, self-confidence, innovation, independent thinking and

entrepreneurship.

The study also reviewed advantages & disadvantage of employee empowerment, Why

Employee Empowerment Fails and Empowerment practices at some modern organizations.

And there is really a need for employee empowerment because it is one of the key factors for job
satisfaction.We will look and find out about the effects of employee empowerment and how it should be
done.There are a lots of advantages and minimal disadvantages.

As we can see, firms like to concentrate on gaining a competitive advantage in the market.

The advance equipments, new technology, good marketing strategic, excellent customer

services and many other elements can be the factors to build up for the advantages. However,

human resource is the most important assets of an enterprise and its success or failure
depends on their qualifications and performance .The employees are the repository of

knowledge, skills and abilities that can’t be imitated by the competitors. Technologies,

products and processes are easily imitated by the competitors; however, at the end of the day,

employees are the most strategic resource of the company.

A new way of management is employee empowerment or participative management

Involving the people responsible for the work processes-the people who know the processes

best is where quality starts. Some think that employees work only for financial return. If they

are incapable to be an integral part of the organization, this may be true. Allowing employees

to have independence and feedback within the organization is what makes the empowerment

process successful.

Employee empowerment does not mean that management abandon from its responsibility of

performance or for leading the organization. Rather, in an employee empowered

organization, management's responsibility comes to create and foster an environment in

which it is apparent that employee input is desired and cultivated. The management must

trust and communicate with employees.

Background

When employees are empowered, their confidence degree and self-reliance will increase.

This extra confidence is a good thing because it creates job satisfaction and high levels of

productivity. However, in some cases , confidence levels can be taken too far and end up

crossing the line into arrogance. Arrogant employees are difficult to deal with, don't take

direction well and can become insubordinate. Working in this type of work environment

takes its toll on employees and they once again become dissatisfied with their job and

productivity levels decrease.

Empowering employees is the ongoing process of providing the tools, training, resources,
encouragement and motivation your workers need to perform at the optimum level. If your organization
is looking for a way to speed processes and still produce quality materials and services, focus on
employee empowerment. When you show an employee you trust her, and give her timely information
and the authority to find solutions, she will be able to solve problems and provide solutions more rapidly
than something without that empowerment.

Assert the thesis

I will encourage employee empowerment because it is of great value and very important.It is helpful in
the part of the company,so it is good for them to have this kind of way of how they should empower the
employee.It has positive impact and I am in favor of this employee empowerment.One of the main
reason is that since they are encouraged and trained they will turn into a well rounded and fully
committed and skiled individual which will satisfy their part on the job.They will not be ignorant because
they know anything.

Counter Argument

Summary of counterclaims

Employee empowerment entails giving employees the authority to make critical business decisions on
their own with little to no supervision. When done right, having empowered employees can be great.
However, when done wrong, it can be devastating for both the business and its workforce. Before
making the decision to empower employees, businesses should first weigh the advantages and
disadvantages. It’ s a disadvantage if they are doing it the wrong way. They have the tendency to abuse
the authority given to them.

Supporting information for counterclaims

When employees are empowered, their confidence levels tend to increase. This additional confidence is
a good thing because it creates happier workers and productivity levels soar. However, in some
situations, confidence levels can be taken too far and end up crossing the line into arrogance. Arrogant
employees are difficult to deal with, don't take direction well and can become insubordinate. Working in
this type of work environment takes its toll on employees and they once again become dissatisfied with
their job and productivity levels decrease.

One way that employers empower their employees is by sharing important information with them. This
free exchange of ideas and information makes the employees feel appreciated and important, which
ends up empowering them. However, when information is freely exchanged with people throughout the
company, there is an increased risk of confidential and security-related data being leaked to parties that
shouldn't have access to that type of information. For competitive businesses, these potential leaks
could prove devastating to their operations.
Refuting the counterclaims

Being a leader in a business requires helping employees to do the job without constant
micromanagement from the leader.When employees can work independently, the time of the leader
freed up to do other necessary business tasks. Doing the job independently and being empowered, are
similar but slightly different. When you empower employees, you give them the ability to make certain
decisions, rather than employees who only follow the standard procedures when working
independently. This has huge benefits for the employee, your team and the company bottom line.

When you empower an employee to make decisions and to get things done with reasonable judgment,
you are telling him that you trust him, and that you feel he is intelligent and can handle things. An
employee becomes more accountable, knowing that the boss has confidence in his ability to perform.
That confidence means he will get the job done and that he will do the job to the best of his ability.

Evidence

Empowered employees often have higher job satisfaction because they know that the boss values and
trusts them. Imagine an employee who helped an unhappy customer get the resolution that customer
had desired, and then even sold them a second product by thinking outside of the normal company
protocol. This employee will feel great about the accomplishment. Many times, situations like this build
employee confidence helping to mold junior talent into senior management over time.

Empowered employees are allowed to question things and look at every aspect of the job from their
perspective. If an employee isn't empowered, he simply punches in, forces the round peg in the square
hole all day until it's time to punch out. He never questions the process. An empowered employee sees a
better way, makes the adjustments to change the pegs and makes the entire system better. Empowered
employees know that managers respect new ideas that make things better.

Your argument

Assert point # 1 of your claims

Giving the chance and opportunity for an employee to know about some information on the
management is of great help in order for them not to be surprised of what is really happening inside the
organization.It will be an avenue for them to think outside the box.And they will be given the right and
freedom to give their opinion.And one advantage is that there will be a chance for the employee to
showcase his ability because he is already confident enough. And he is given the right to do decision
making, it’s a practice and training as well for that person to be independent although there is a need for
cooperation. For instance the manager is not around the good thing is that there is someone who knows
how to handle everything, that person will be the one responsible enough to do the duty.

Customer service associates operate more efficiently when they have a comprehensive understanding of
company guidelines and the authority they have as individual representatives. The company can improve
customer service effectiveness by empowering service associates to make on-the-spot decisions, rather
than having every decision go through management. An example of this is allowing each representative a
dollar amount that he is authorized to refund customers to solve a customer service issue. These
decisions should be monitored and reviewed to make sure that the representatives are making choices
that help the company, rather than always benefiting the customers

The one person that understands the most effective way to do a job is the experienced employee who
has been doing that job for years. The company can benefit from allowing experienced employees to
alter job duties that make the company more productive. For example, an employee may notice that
doing basic maintenance on a particular machine once a week, as opposed to once a month, improves
the output of that machine and extends equipment life. The employee then consults management and
alters the job duties of his position to include weekly maintenance on the machine instead of monthly.
Empowered employees help to evolve job descriptions to make them more relevant to future employees
and the company's success.

Assert point #2

Since the employee will be authorized to do some of the task of the manager, if he already knows
everything about the confidential information of the company there is an instance that the person will
use it against the company.And the employee will have the tendency to do it in the wrong decisions.
Some employees confuse empowerment and being able to make their own decisions with having the
authority to do whatever they want. As employees are allowed to take on additional responsibilities,
some may end up taking things too far. If this happens, interpersonal relations within the company will
suffer and incidents involving conflict will rise. Over time, tensions increase and a hostile work
environment may surface. This type of situation is bad for both the business and the workforce.

There are times when empowering someone who is not ready for it can backfire. Positive empowerment
can quickly turn to the negative. There are many reasons: the newly empowered employee may not be
able to handle the increased responsibility, stress or work. They may not be good at making decisions.
They may make really bad ones and not disclose the outcome until it is too late to be fixed. Another
byproduct of negative empowerment is abuse. Everything you as a leader are striving to do may
inevitably be erased by empowering those who cannot handle it or do not deserve it.