“When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.” Nelson Mandela

Merriam-Webster defines empowerment as “the state of being empowered to do something: the power, right, or authority to do something.”  It is a common belief that you can enable people to do more in their work by allowing them to make decisions and take steps to make the organization better.  Unfortunately, its become such a vogue catch phrase that bosses and supervisors use it to make themselves feel better about dumping work on their staff. Empowerment is more than a word!

Bosses are also known for using the term “delegating” as being synonymous with empowering.  Its not uncommon to hear a self-serving supervisor claim to be empowering their staff by delegating work to them.  It sounds so much better when you say empowering.  If this is what you mean when you say you’re empowering your staff, here’s a news flash, people don’t want your version of empowerment.  In fact, people don’t want empowerment as its meant in its current cliché form.

To Control or Not to Control?

People want control over their lives!  They want to know that they have some degree of autonomy and flexibility in managing and living their lives.  This desire extends well outside the workplace to include their personal lives as well.  As a leader, you have to remember that these two worlds are not mutually exclusive.  What goes on in one world bleeds into the other world.  When one’s “work world” is off-center you can rest assured that their “personal world” is impacted, and vice-versa.

You can wish all you want that the issues and challenges an individual faces at work stay at work, and that one’s personal life won’t show up at work.  The reality is that nobody is completely able to keep the two worlds separate.  This would be analogous to believing that the two worlds can be lived as if its as simple as going from the waiting room to the operating room.  In your daily walk its just simply not possible.

Flexibility and Control

Wanting to enable people to make decisions at work doesn’t go far enough.  Yes people want more of an influence into delivering the technical aspects of their job.  They do like the feeling of being able to solve problems without the constraints of restrictive policies or procedures, especially when those things get in the way of doing the right thing for the right reason.  They also like the feeling of knowing that their leader has truly given them the control to do their job with a degree of control and flexibility without knowing they will be second guessed and beat down when a mistake is made.

This same flexibility and control is something that employees want when comes to their work schedules.  Demanding that followers adhere to a strict stop and start time is another way to steal the energy and joy from staff members.  Life happens!  And it doesn’t typically happen on a schedule that aligns with the traditional 8 to 5 job.  An unyielding boss who doesn’t allow an employee to adjust their work schedule and/or location to allow for these “life happenings” sucks the life from their people.  Just like life doesn’t happen on an 8 to 5 schedule, many of the activities associated with the workplace don’t need to.

Not All Jobs Are The Same

Yes, some aspects of work need to be done during certain times in the day.  However, if you truly take the time to break the various parts of a job into its basic components quite a bit can be done with flexibility.  This flexibility doesn’t necessarily mean that it can be done remotely either. Some jobs and tasks do require the workforce to be physically present.  Individuals serving in law enforcement and firefighting haven’t been able to ‘figure out telework yet.  However, even within these types of occupations, leaders can find some degree of flexibility that gives their followers a feeling of control over their lives.

Gone are the days of expecting workers to be content with slicing their lives up into eight hours day they give to “the man” and using the rest of the hours as leftovers.  It’s even more than giving people “extra time” in a corporate bank that they can use when they need to take time off for personal reasons.  These “you do you” days are another form of clock-watching.  It requires people to count their time in and out.  They are still being controlled!

What It Looks Like

In a recent article at Inc.com (https://www.inc.com), author Kelly Main highlights how the concept of giving employees control over their lives has been implemented at Apple™.  Within the company a shift has occurred away from a philosophy “baby sitting” to increased autonomy based on performance.  Its still a hustle culture, but how they do it is different.  There’s not a simple formula to achieving the culture their building, but a good first step is realizing the old ways aren’t working anymore.

Additionally, the U.S. Surgeon General published a “Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being” report in which he lists five essentials of building mental health and well-being into the workplace.  One of the essentials is “work life harmony” which includes autonomy and flexibility https://www.apa.org/work-in-america/2023-workplace-health-well-being.  In the Surgeon General’s report, only 42% of respondents indicated being very satisfied with the amount of control they have over their schedules.

Leaders today are facing different challenges.  Work simply isn’t as important as it used to be, but this doesn’t automatically mean that today’s worker doesn’t want to work hard and do quality, meaningful work either.  As a leader, you have to recognize that people want control over their lives, both in and out of work.  As a leader, it is your responsibility to help your team members find that sweet spot, even if it means helping them find it with another employer.

“Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement.” Daniel H. Pink