Employee Empowerment
Retail management, like management in general, has evolved from a more traditional style, to a more participative, coaching style. Traditional management creates a clear gap in authority and responsibility between a manager and his or her subordinates. This authoritarian type of leadership, popular in the early to middle 20th century, is a simple process in which a manager implements a policy or gives an employee a task to accomplish, and then ensure that this is effectively done. There is little interaction and feedback from employees. Coaching or mentoring leadership styles are beginning to dominate the cultures of today’s successful retail organizations. Formal lines of separation between managers and subordinates are being turned into overlapping roles of authority and responsibility. While managers still serve as leaders and are ultimately in control of store operations, good managers are maximizing the potential of their employees by being approachable, listening to input and feedback, and showing genuine concern for their people. Employee empowerment is becoming common in new participative management styles. By giving employees the responsibility to make higher level decisions, managers and retailers are encouraging a greater sense of ownership and a feeling of value amongst employees. Retail associates are being allowed to make customer service and operational decisions once left to managers. This authority and responsibility instills in employees the feeling that they are valuable and trusted to perform more than routine day-to-day functions. According to Susan Heathfield for About.com, “Empowerment is the process of enabling or authorizing an individual to think, behave, take action, control work, and decision making in autonomous ways. It is the state of feeling self-empowered to take control of one's own destiny. This empowerment does not just benefit retail employees. Customers benefit greatly from associates with a greater breadth of responsibility and influence. Historically, if a customer came to a retail store in need of resolution to an advanced service or product related issue, it would be necessary to find a manager for help. Customers would often hear comments like, “Sorry, you’ll have to come back, our manager isn’t hear.” This not only creates a sense of inadequacy for the employee, but is obviously not what a customer wants to hear when they have a troubling concern. Customers want immediate gratification. When they have issues or complaints, putting off resolution can only aggravate and enhance the problem. Well-trained, knowledgeable, and empowered retail associates, can resolve most customer service issues, which benefits employees, customers, and the retailer.
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