Empowerment Perceptions and Conflict

Empowerment Perceptions and Conflict

Modern organizations often grow beyond executive control. As a result, management process often becomes expensive to monitor. This is based on the knowledge that quality managers are scarce. However, there is an option of building internal organization mechanism; for instance, empowerment to substitute the absenteeism of management. This study shows how empowerment is applied to provide consensus in an organization. Parameters prompting an organization to apply empowerment as management supplement are identified. The study also examines the perception of power and its importance in providing solutions in a conflict situation.

Background of Empowerment in an organization

Aamodt (2012) establishes that organizations make sufficient change because managers when done their homework in matters related to employee appraisal. Previous research examined the close relation between the complexities of organization empowerment to the general quality of employee output. Empowerment is based on the knowledge that modern day organizations are often faced with challenging labor conditions. As a result, an organization will often be confronted by the negative effects of labor mobility if their employees feel they are not empowered proactively. In any case, the empowerment equips employees to make successful autonomous decisions. This fosters efficiency in an organization and employee will feel independent and responsible. Secondly, it is prudent to understand empowerment as a channel to redistribute authority, power and communication (Daft, 2007). However, there is a close relationship between the nature and quality empowerment adopted in an organization. In peculiar situations, an ambitious empowering strategy can lead disempowerment.

Empowerment or Disempowerment impacts to different situations

Empowered employees will often take positive charge in different situations. On the other hand, disempowered employees are often relegated to critic or complaint zone. However, it is logical to reaffirm that a conflict zone requires the diligent participation of all members in an organization. In any conflict, several disparities in the decision are often created. Different employees find themselves party or party-not to the conflict. For example, organization XYZ has instituted the Research and Development department to examine whether activity ABC is profitable to the company. Empowered employees will access the technicalities involved in activity ABC while disempowered employees will often distance themselves from the virtue of collective responsibility. Essentially, the administration has blindly created a conflict since it acted on the knowledge that employees are equally empowered.

How the perception of power influences employee behavior

Perception of power carries two psychological defense mechanisms courtesy of confidence or diffidence. Chen (2008) argues that subordinates use their implicit leadership theories to identify effective and ineffective leaders. As a result, the leader's confidence levels are raised making them develop internal organization social power. Based on this, it is important to consider a successful leader as one who inspires employees positively. This leader must have developed an organizational command based on diplomacy.