Let the power get to employees

“Don't let the power go to your head.” In one sense, that idiom warns against becoming conceited and developing an ego. However, taken in a business context, it also suggests companies shouldn't let all the power go to the top. Still, many businesses run operations from a top-down perspective, with meaningful changes coming down one way from the top.

One of the leading principles of Kaizen is the empowerment of employees – giving the power to workers at all levels and letting them take charge of their own jobs. As the Public Strategies Group notes, it takes a particular type of manager to let go of authoritarian control of his or her workers and let them take the reins, but it's something more businesses should try to foster. The more employees are engaged, the better the results of the company tend to be.

Letting personnel manage themselves

It's common to see upper management set work guidelines, whether it's schedules, review metrics or vacation policies. However, this can lead to employee resentment when they struggle to come to grips with what they view as being strict or unachievable objectives. PSG suggests executives work with employees to develop fairer standards of work as a means of making workers feel more involved.

“Employees can be allowed to set schedules for work, training, and vacations; establish worker assignments and set job performance standards; conduct employee performance appraisals and administer discipline; hire new workers; and determine sick leave, substance abuse and sexual harassment policies,” the PSG report added.

Letting employees decide policies may not seem like a good idea at first glance – it could lead to overly lenient policies. However, some organizations have noted big benefits. For example, the government of Fort Lauderdale allowed employees to weigh in on time off policies to make them fairer, and it reduced sick leave by 1,329 hours in a single year.

Rethinking ground-level processes

Executive management is frequently separated from the ground level tasks done by the majority of a company's employees. This is why many companies have developed better work processes after getting employee feedback – it enables them to take control of their everyday jobs and make meaningful changes.

A separate report from the Department of Defense highlights the importance of incorporating employee insight into the revision of work processes, as this also gives new management a different perspective.