7 Ways to Empower Employees to Make Decisions

“Leaders who empower others often receive more creativity, productivity, and innovation in return,” says Harvard Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter. To empower employees, you’ll need to give them the guidance, tools, and encouragement to go on their path and do great things.  

#1: Identify who will be making the decisions. 

Think about the roles and responsibilities of each employee on your team. Write down the decisions you’re responsible for and delegate the decisions based on business sensitivity. If the decision making has more implications and direct impact on the business, retain those.  
 

#2: Give them the tools they need to succeed. 

To empower employees to make effective and timely decisions, give them access to the right information at the right time. Share documented processes and procedures within a workflow or any information critical to making a good decision.  
 

#3: Coach employees as they prepare to make decisions. 

Spend quality time with teams to determine employee motivation. Once there’s a strong rapport, share leadership strategies to guide them in their decision making. Encourage your team to digest information, analyze it, actively listen, and exercise careful judgment when making a decision.  
 

#4: Empower employees with a clear framework for decision making. 

In order to create employee autonomy, give employees a set of decision principles to serve as boundaries when thinking through next steps. Invite employees into critical meetings so they can observe. Naturally, employees will grow confident in sharing their perspectives.  
 

#5: Support employees in their daily pursuits. 

While employees are implementing leadership strategies and ways to feel more empowered in their decision making, give them your full support. If they come to you for guidance, show them the ropes on what has helped you develop employee autonomy. 
 

#6: Reward and acknowledge their success and efforts. 

When an employee proves themselves capable of decision making that improves the organization, acknowledge them for their hard work! Call out their name in an email or even reward your team with a nice outing if the accomplishment is significant.  

#7: Inspire your team with new opportunities. 

To boost employee motivation and empower employees, highlight new opportunities where they can maximize their talent. Upskill an entire department or spend time with an employee to understand their short-term and long-term goals.  

Strong Employees, Stronger Organization 

You not only feel good when you build your skills, but the skills of employees around you! Empower employees when you trust them with decision-making that helps the organization become more successful. Leaders aren’t born overnight, but with consistency, hope, and determination. 

Ready for the next step in your career? Search for leadership opportunities here. 
 
Don’t stop with this article, keep building your skills! Get inspired with these reads: Why Ego is the Enemy of Good Leadership, What’s Your Leadership Style?, and Root Cause Analysis: How to Identify Workplace Problems.