Although a majority of employees say they feel empowered at work, 42% don’t act on it — revealing a disconnect that could detract from employee potential in the workplace, according to a July 25 report from Wiley Workplace Intelligence.
These “latent leaders” may have the mindset to lead and drive change but remain on the sidelines, so empowering employees may not be enough. Encouragement is needed to draw employees forward, Wiley researchers said.
“To truly unlock the value of empowered employees, organizations must go beyond simply fostering a sense of autonomy,” Wiley researchers wrote. “They need intentional strategies that activate this potential through clear expectations, supportive leadership and opportunities for meaningful contribution.”
In a survey of 1,500 workers, 77% said they feel empowered at work, which reflects a shift in organizational culture in recent years. Notably, 58% said they’ve been with their current manager for two years or less, which challenges the belief that trust and empowerment are a result of long-term manager-employee relationships, the report found.
Empowerment doesn’t need to be “earned” over time, Wiley researchers wrote. Instead, empowerment is an extension of collaboration and cohesion in the workplace.
For instance, remote employees reported higher levels of empowerment (54%) than office-based peers (48%). This could mean flexibility and autonomy play a greater role in empowerment for today’s workers.
At the same time, only 49% of employees said they feel empowered to take action without waiting for permission. This could indicate that workers feel true empowerment when they have decision-making authority, rather than only task-related delegation, the report found.
Micromanaging or overruling decisions can erode trust and empowerment. Likewise, workers who regularly receive “meaningful authority” and have the power to make decisions are 2.8 times more likely to take initiative, the report found. Delegating decisions instead of just tasks can signal trust, respect and an invitation to lead, the researchers said.
Along with the opportunity and authority to make their decisions, workers also seem to value transparent guidelines: 48% of workers ranked clarity as the most important factor in their sense of empowerment. Leaders who provide clear communication around expectations, goals and decision-making boundaries can also help build a sense of empowerment, researchers wrote.