The MD, an experienced service engineer himself, began to investigate all complaints personally and was extremely shocked at the quality of some of the workmanship of his service engineers. These days, the business is back on track with sound prospects for further development, but the costs of reaching this position have been far from insignificant. Reviewing these three experiences with the client led us to the conclusion that empowerment is an outcome, not a process. It does not occur spontaneously or quickly, and it requires a significant investment in time and resources. It also requires some process for the effective review of progress at individual as well as appropriate organisational levels.
Empowerment evolves as an outcome from a range of carefully planned and synchronised processes.
The above is an adaptation of the full article, which appeared in the September 2000 edition of Training Journal. Three client histories are studied in detail in an attempt to ascertain whether their empowered workforce was a positive or negative for the company overall. There's also an assessment of how each client adapted to improve its concept of empowerment.