Benefits of Empowering Employees & 7 Ways to Boost Morale

There are so many benefits of empowering employees at work. Empowering your employees leaves a positive impact on your working environment day to day as you motivate employees, encourage employees, improve employee performance, and drive better employee engagement as well. If employees don’t feel empowered, this affects job satisfaction, employee retention, and, ultimately, the way your team performs. With the right tools and the right approach, any leader can learn to empower their team members and support employees so they feel confident and secure in their roles. 

Because empowering your employees is such an effective way to boost morale, this article will cover what employee empowerment is, the benefits of empowering employees, and some tangible ways you can empower your employees. 

• What is employee empowerment? 
• Benefits of empowering employees 
• 7 ways to empower your team members 

What is employee empowerment? 

Employee empowerment is about supporting your team members to ensure they feel capable in their skills and abilities. Empowering your employees means instilling them with confidence so they know they’re fully able to accomplish whatever they put their minds to. Ensuring that employees feel heard and seen by giving them a voice and meeting with them regularly is essential. Providing growth opportunities, recognizing employees’ efforts and accomplishments, and providing the tools, training, and any resources your employees need to succeed will make a huge difference. A supportive and empowering working environment encourages employees to do their best and results in higher productivity and efficiency. 

Benefits of empowering employees 

• Leads to fewer mistakes 
• Increases motivation
• Increases the likelihood of meeting goals and deadlines 
• Boosts employee morale 
• Improves decision making
• Fosters trust in leadership 
• Encourages new perspectives 

1Leads to fewer mistakes 

Employees are likely to make fewer mistakes when they feel empowered at work. This is because when team members feel supported, they’ll feel more comfortable to try new things and step outside of their comfort zones. When employees feel less nervous to make mistakes, they can take advantage of opportunities to continue learning and growing. Noticing fewer mistakes being made can definitely be perceived as empowering your workforce. 

2Increases motivation

Your team members will also feel much more motivated when they know that they’re capable of successfully completing their tasks and achieving their goals. It’s important for people to believe in themselves, but when a leader or manager believes in an individual and backs them, it really helps motivate the employee to continue striving towards their goals and career ambitions. Empowering employees drives motivation because they know that someone else also believes in their abilities. 

3Increases the likelihood of meeting goals and deadlines 

Your team members are more likely to hit their goals and deadlines when they feel empowered and more able to accomplish all that they need to. When you empower your employees to believe in themselves, this increased motivation will drive them towards being more efficient and productive at work. This means that employees will achieve their personal goals more quickly, and they’ll also be able to collaborate to meet company goals more effectively as well. A stronger job performance is typically a result of feeling empowered and hitting objectives. 

4Boosts employee morale 

Morale will go up when employees feel confident, capable, and secure in their ability to get the job done. Overall, your team members’ experiences at work will be more positive and more enjoyable, which will contribute to a healthy, supportive, and more enjoyable work environment. If employees feel more motivated and are hitting their goals more effectively, the whole team’s morale will be higher and you’ll be more likely to retain and grow your top talent because of an enhanced employee experience. 

5Improves decision making

Increased team morale and an empowered workforce means that employees have a better ability to make decisions. Improved decision-making surfaces as a result of feeling empowered, because employees feel less nervous and more confident in making a decision. When employees feel less stress and anxiety, they can think more clearly and work more independently. When employees aren’t doubting their every move, they’re able to make effective decisions and therefore feel more empowered. 

6Fosters trust in leadership 

Empowering employees also creates more trust in leadership from your team. A supportive environment naturally creates more trust in leadership because when employees feel supported, seen, and heard, this creates a stronger relationship with management, including more trust. Building this trust means that employees feel more comfortable communicating their honest feedback and suggestions and therefore build an honest relationship with management, founded in trust. 

7Encourages new perspectives 

When employees feel empowered, they feel more open-minded and more likely to think in alternative ways. In this sense, not only does empowering employees encourage open-mindedness, but it also supports creativity and thinking outside of the box. Business challenges and any roadblocks that arise can then be approached from new perspectives, and issues can be resolved in innovative ways. 

7 ways to empower your team members 

• Provide valuable feedback 
• Encourage ownership
• Give your team members recognition
• Show appreciation to your team members 
• Foster a positive learning environment
• Create an environment that supports professional development
• Offer learning opportunities

1Provide valuable feedback 

Providing valuable feedback to your employees is a great way to empower them. Open and honest communication fosters trust, and detailed feedback helps support employees in learning and growing in their positions so they feel more confident in their abilities. Actually showing your employees how their feedback matters is also essential in empowering them.

With a tool like Fellow, you can incorporate feedback into your team’s day-to-day experience and track progress over time. Employees who receive consistent feedback feel more fulfilled in their jobs and more empowered to complete their day-to-day tasks. Fellow makes it easy to ask for feedback about meetings, projects, and everything in between. 

2Encourage ownership

Empowering your team members means giving employees more autonomy, which in turn encourages more ownership. When employees don’t constantly feel the need to check in with their boss every time they’re making a decision or taking a particular approach to complete a task, they can take more ownership and work more independently. This independence translates into higher productivity as well, which means that you and your team are able to move towards achieving your goals more effectively. 

3Give your team members recognition

Giving your team members the recognition they deserve is a fantastic way to empower them. When you take the time to recognize their time and their efforts, it lets employees know that their efforts don’t go unnoticed. This recognition then drives motivation and also sets a good example of what kind of company culture you’re striving to implement across the organization. In episode 79 of Fellow’s Supermanagers podcast with Kevan Lee, VP of Marketing at Oyster, Lee shares: 

“Recognition is important, as well. It’s recognition of not just that you did this thing, but the way that you did the thing, I think is important to consider.”

4Show appreciation to your team members 

When you show appreciation to your employees, it shows them that you value their efforts. This also encourages them to do their best work and to strive for better. This supports employees well-being at work by creating a positive environment and positive impact. Showing gratitude to team members creates more trust, fosters better relationships, and even improves people’s moods. When people feel appreciated, they’re more engaged, more motivated, more innovative, and generally much happier at work. Showing appreciation drives morale and fosters a great company culture. 

5Foster a positive learning environment

Fostering a positive learning environment is another great way to empower your employees and boost morale. A positive learning environment means creating a professional space where management values a participatory and inclusive approach to learning and development. It’s important to create a space that fosters psychological safety for employees so people feel comfortable to participate, speak up, and engage in opportunities to further develop their skills. 

6Create an environment that supports professional development

An important complement to a positive learning environment is one that also supports professional development. Ensure that you’re having regular one-on-one meetings with your direct reports to find out which kinds of learning and professional development opportunities your employees are interested in so you can ensure they have all the tools and resources necessary for their success. Offer a wide range of internal development opportunities so there is a diversity of options for your workforce to explore within the company. 

7Offer learning opportunities

Offer attractive learning opportunities for your employees to explore. Employees should never stop learning and growing in their roles because it’s important to provide long-term engagement for them. A positive onboarding experience is the first great learning opportunity for employees, and this first impression is essential. Ensure that your workforce feels comfortable asking management for both internal and external learning opportunities. Sharing information about any great opportunities that are well suited to your employees will reaffirm that you’re looking out for their best interests. 

Parting advice

There are so many benefits of empowering employees that can be leveraged for a happier and more productive workforce. From customer service roles to tech positions, empowering employees at work will always bring about positive outcomes at the individual and organizational levels. Empowering employees is essential at every level, which means that empowering leaders is extremely important as well to ensure engagement throughout the whole organization. The benefit of empowering your workforce is more motivated, more engaged, and happier team members who feel confident and satisfied with their work.