Advantages and Disadvantages of Employee Empowerment (Term Paper Sample)

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Advantages and Disadvantages of empowering employees
So far, employee empowerment has been one of the most efficient ways of improving an organization’s productivity. However, like any other business strategy it has had its advantages and disadvantages. One of the main advantages of empowering employees had been the sense team work where decisions are no longer unilateral but multilateral. This made it easier for a company to forge forward with a common goal and objective. The other advantage of empowering employees is that it increases their competence due to the motivating factor found in empowering. On the other hand, the decision-making process was slower as a result of having to consider every employee’s opinion (Elnaga & Amen Imran, 5). This also meant that in case of an emergency the situation ended up being compromised.
The Hawthorne studies couldn’t have come at a better time considering the alternatives used, during that time, in determining factors what would boost an employee’s productivity. The scientific methods used were harsh and inhumane because the studies conducted on subjects involved the use of rewards and punishments. However, Hawthorne studies involved altering the employee’s environment to assess the most favorable conditions for boosting the employee’s performance. It was through these studies that Hawthorne discovered that employees performed better when they worked under favorable conditions (Miller, 40). As a result, most businesses adopted the Hawthorne’s theory where managers worked towards offering their e...