Research: Employees need empowerment to perform better

By John Mark V. Tuazon | May 25, 2009

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"The more employees feel empowered, the more productive they tend to be." This is the result of a global survey on employee flexibility and management control conducted by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and content management provider Laserfiche.

The survey, part of a research entitled Disciplined Autonomy: resolving the tension between flexibility and control, showed that employees feel that greater freedom leads to better job performance.

"As long as there's transparency into employee activities, there's often no need to impose strict processes and control, which can inhibit innovation and drive away talent," said Dan Armstrong, senior editor, EIU.

At least 68% of the respondents--composed of executives in government, education, life sciences and financial services, among others--said they increased centralization of risk control over the past five years but simultaneously increased autonomy to give employees more leg room for customer interaction and amount of work output.

The study also showed that more than half of the respondents frequently bend the rules to be more productive, while 32% did so to close a sale or retain a customer.

The survey was commissioned in the wake of an emerging gridlock between flexibility sought by workers and management control for efficiency and accountability.

"In today's business environment, managing the tension between the autonomy sought by professionals to perform their jobs effectively and centralized control required for efficiency and risk management is a challenge that all organizations face," said Nien-Ling Wacker, president and CEO, Laserfiche.

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