If organisations don’t survive how can HR?

The competitive nature of the global market place and business environment has made innovation and creativity a strategic issue for #HR.

There is a growing realisation that traditional hierarchical ‘command and control’ organisations are struggling in order to meet the increasing demands for speed, flexibility and quality to meet customer needs.

As competition grows, market requires more and more innovative and creative people. For HR, recruiting employees who have the potential to be creative and innovative is no longer just desirable, but absolutely crucial.

The challenge is not just about product innovation. Competitive organisations are desperately seeking people who can be innovative with regards to ways and methods of doing tasks and communicating with customers. One of the ways organisations are doing this is by #empowering employees.

My research findings reveal that employee empowerment is positively related to innovation and creativity (Huq, 2010) and it is also viewed as being motivational, ‘innovative work practices can increase motivation by providing more interesting work, increasing flexibility and improving individual and organisational performance’ (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2000; 342).

On a positive note, encouraging people to be innovative has positive psychological benefits, resulting in more self-esteem and self-worth. 

The psychological implications of #employee empowerment are often ignored, but is significant and can lead to personal development by enhancing an individual’s self-esteem and self-actualisation leading to self-confidence and vice-versa.

One leader in my workshop shared his experience of working in a previous organisation which did not believe in his talents and did not encourage innovation, which made him feel discouraged and disempowered and ultimately affected his well-being.  He now works for another organisation where he is happy and has the freedom to be innovative and grow his capabilities without fear. The important thing in this organisation he felt was that there was an opportunity to be listened to and communication was good and it made him feel ‘psychologically empowered’.

I listened to what people said in my research interviews and came up with Huq’s Model D, a model to help organisations create a culture of ‘employee empowerment’ (Huq, 2010: 212).

If HR can work towards creating a culture of empowerment, then there is potential to retain talent.

They say that one person with a positive belief and who is psychologically empowered can change things for the better. If you have a person in your organisation who fits this criteria, think of the benefit to your organisation. And, if you have more than one, then it’s your call to calculate!

Psychologically empowered employees can enable organisations to fight back and survive in the competitive world. If organisations don’t survive what will happen to HR?

References

Huq, Rozana A. (2015).  The Psychology of Employee Empowerment.  Concepts, Critical Themes and a Framework for Implementation.  Gower Publishing Ltd., UK.

Marchington, M. and Wilkinson, A. (2000); Direct Participation.  In Bach, S. and Sisson, K. (Editors), Personnel Management, 3rd Edition, Oxford, Blackwell.

Thank you for reading, until the next Huq Post …

 © Dr Rozana Huq, March 2016.

http://www.rozanahuq.com

Need a #Conference and Seminar Speaker?  Ask Dr Rozana Huq

 Book:  “The Psychology of Employee Empowerment.  Concepts, Critical Themes and a Framework for Implementation”, (2015).  Gower Publishing Ltd., UK.

Read the review for the above book: 

Understanding, and effectively managing, the relationship between Empowerment and Leadership is one of the central issues of our time. Dr Huq’s research and analysis not only makes an important scholarly contribution to the theory of the subject but, in her well-presented and readable book, she makes invaluable suggestions on the critical area of the practice of employee empowerment. All individuals with leadership roles urgently need to rethink their ideas, roles and behaviours within Dr Huq’s insightful “Framework for Implementing Employee Empowerment Model”.  

Professor Bruce Lloyd, London South Bank University, UK.