Very often, when we speak of
organizations, we appear to
refer to them as living, breathing entities, and one
caveat of paramount consideration is that organizations are comprised
of people. These people come to work and go about their daily lives, in
concert with other people, who arrive with different feelings, needs,
wants, and very precise goals about their contribution to the
organization. Organizational leaders are people with similar wants, goals and
expectations, related to their contributions to the organization as a
whole. These caveats may appear to be very basic but it should be noted
that when one begins any discussion related to empowerment,
people should conduct an in-depth investigation of these constructs. In
essence, the organization is made up of people and the citizens of an
organization (the people) are the greatest assets of the organization.
Power and empowerment are two very deceptively simple
constructs to examine. These constructs may very often be confused with
entities that may be given or received. If one were to examine the
constructs of power and empowerment, one may realize that someone
may be in a position of power, yet she/he does not have the power
that should accompany the position. It is of paramount consideration
for the HR manager or HRD practitioner to make a distinction
between the person who is empowered and a person in a position of power.
In essence, power may not be a construct that can be given to an
individual or group of individuals by another. It is a paramount
consideration for these constructs to be examined and operationally
defined, individually. Hopefully, this will foster some thinking and
dialog within the members of an organization. |
