Enron Case

Introduction

One of the most studied and researched areas of modern management technique includes staff or employee empowerment which duly allows the employees to take on independent tasks and stand by their decisions, though the same may call for a certain set of guidelines, as also the subject of the following paper. Various researches and studies have found that employee empowerment leads to a truly nurturing environment where the employees can 'learn, grow, improve and enhance their functioning or performance abilities. Staff or employee empowerment also provides for a creating an environment of trust, importance in the eyes of the employers, and since it enhances the capability of the respective employee; the same also leads to the creation of a positive work environment within the organizational set up.

In the different researches and studies of employee empowerment, such as one carried out by Erickson et al, revealed that employee empowerment is said to occur when the management and employers pursue goals of both personal as well as professional growth for their employees. For example the senior managers and leaders within the organizations can assist their employees in enhancing their capabilities, in turn enhancing their potential to fully utilize their capabilities.

The following paper takes on the example of the employee empowerment in an health care setting where employees at all the levels are put through a number of processes and operations, resulting in the creation and conversion of the same staff into one that was more committed and was observed to use his or her full capabilities within the same settings. The employee empowerment also resulted in the provision of an enhanced nature of services for the clients/patients, as well as make better use of the functional system provided thereon.

The Different Methods Applied to Enhance Staff Empowerment

Making the Employees More Responsible

One of the first aspects noted in a number of organizations was the inactive or negligible nature of employee involvement in the actual nature of the work. This non-involvement on the part of the management and senior managers not only resulted in the increased feelings of frustrations, but also lead to the rise in the stress levels of the employee's, as well as lack of productivity for the respective organization.

In allowing the employees to 'own' the problem or operation at hand, the employees were duly encouraged to not only identify the problem, but also come forward and provide his or her 'own' solution to the same problem, or set of problems. Indeed, the initiative of 'owning' on the part of the employees lead to a positive working environment, as well as the same provided for nurturing, creation, maintenance of a cohesive working environment. The same also lead to the reduction of the otherwise 'job-induced' stress factor which was observed amongst employees, when the same employees were restricted from directly participating in the work at hand.

The Importance of Teamwork Another important method for employee empowerment is the emphasis on teamwork. Since, this initiative also emerges on the part of the management, it is imperative that irrespective of the structure and technology of the organization, emphasis on teamwork more often leads to enhanced performance as well as an increase in the quality of the output or work of the respective organization.

A prime example of utilizing and effectively using the method of teamwork is through a workshop duly created for the purpose of enhancing skills of the employees, creating a spirit of team building, showing how to address conflict management, teaching problem solving skills, and enhancing quality management techniques. Other benefits that accrue through the participation of a teamwork includes a better understanding of the different leadership styles, as well as facilitating and empowering employees.

These are aside from the commonly observed factors of enhanced cooperation, collaboration and cohesion amongst the employees within the organization.

The Vitally Important Method of Communications As a Means of Enhancing Staff Empowerment

Communication being one of the most vital and important methods of any relationship, let alone that within an organization has been observed to lead to a truly cohesive and effective means of accomplishing the goals of any organization. One of the prime examples practiced by a number of organizations includes a morning chat, before commencing actual work. This