Reflection On Empowerment

Empowerment is the authorization of decision making responsibility by a leader to his follower. It can be achieved through encouraging active participation and sharing the process of decision making. To me, empowerment means sense of belongings and sense of meaning. From the perspective of a staff member in an organization, it helps me to explore my potential to the fullest extent and build my self confidence. It also helps to create a positive and dynamic working environment.

I experienced good empowerment when I worked as an intern in Johnson and Johnson. My supervisor showed recognition and reward of my efforts consistently. For instance, I was granted a paid holiday after working overtime till midnight for a full week. A good morale was also built among the team as we usually had lunch with the whole team regardless of our position. Interns got chance to chat with the Group Brand Manager and Marketing Director of the company. It was actually a very good chance of team building that we could get to know our teammates not only as a colleague but as a friend. Building a good team helps to build our sense of belonging to the company and sense of meaning to work. I also felt trusted as I had a high level of task ownership. I was allowed to take part in decision making and contribute significantly to a job task. I felt that I was growing professionally with the company.

I am currently working in a consulting firm at a part-time basis, where I experienced bad empowerment. The supervisor is usually very busy that he does not have time to make his requirements for a task clear enough. As a result, employees are often confused about what they have to do and they do not even have the chance to clarify their duties with the supervisor ...

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...solely on high flyers and fallen stars. If the middle stars are coached well, they would very well have the chance to become the next super star. Vice versa, if they are not guided effectively, they may eventually fall back. When I was spending my exchange semester in Finland, I found that Finland adopts a very special strategy in their education. The teachers do not aim at producing elites. On the contrary, they try to make sure everyone in the class understands the lecture material. If a student performs far better than his classmates, the teacher would give him extra readings after class instead of praising him in front of the entire class to put other students under pressure. This is a good example of how to take care of team members of different performances effectively. I believe this is one of the reason why Finland has the best education system in the world.