Empowerment without Enablement is Entrapment: A Call to Action

Throughout my career, across boardrooms and plant floors, I've heard a consistent theme: we need to empower our front-line employees. Most leaders I've interacted with recognize it as the pivotal element in achieving Operational Excellence and overall business success. A 2020 Harvard Business Review survey backs this with a staggering 87% of organizations acknowledging that their potential success is tied to empowering front-line decision-makers. This wasn’t a revelation.

However, here’s the jaw-dropper. The same study reveals a mere 7% of these organizations actually arm their teams with the analytical tools and resources vital for autonomous decision-making. Is empowerment, then, just a buzzword? Or is there a systemic gap in its execution?

Many leaders treat empowerment like it's a magical wand – wave it, say the words, and voilà, teams will not only start making decisions but also consistently make the right ones. This perspective, though tempting, is far from reality. Drawing from my own journey managing large teams and consulting with multi-billion dollar companies, I’ve observed a pattern. Leaders genuinely wish to empower but often fall short on the execution. The intent is there, but the translation into actionable steps is amiss.

What most leaders miss is that in order to empower their teams, they have to first enable them. At the risk of overgeneralizing, this requires two key elements:

1. A Cultural Shift: Leaders need to reorient themselves from being decision-makers to mentors and coaches, guiding their teams through the decision-making process.

2. Skill & Resource Upgrading: It’s a sobering truth – many front-line employees lack formal training in decision-making processes, often not by fault of their own but because of systemic education gaps.

Empowering your employees, without first enabling them, feels a lot like entrapment from their vantage point. Imagine being a frontline employee suddenly bestowed with decision-making responsibilities but without being provided the necessary skills and tools. It's akin to being thrown into deep waters without swimming lessons. Despite official "empowerment" memos and speeches at town halls, the fear of making a misstep and the ensuing repercussions make many shy away and feel as though they have been "set up" to fail.

While there are a few companies and consultants striving to address this gap, I believe the majority are missing the point (including the HBR article referenced earlier). Here's where they falter:

1. Narrow Focus on Data Analysis: While data analytics is vital, decision-making is broader. We need a comprehensive approach that encompasses problem framing, identifying and evaluating alternatives, conducting economic analyses (at a level appropriate for a front-line employee), and effectively communicating the decision-making rationale.

2. Lack of Relatability: Many solutions do not cater to the unique challenges faced by operators and technicians in a manufacturing environment, making them less effective.

This gap and my experiences have compelled me to launch a series of articles dissecting:

- The anatomy of a robust decision-making process.

- The merits of a standardized decision-making blueprint.

- The pivotal questions at each decision-making phase.

- Tools to supercharge the process, complete with templates.

- Pitfalls and biases that can lead to bad decisions.

- Implementation strategies.

Whether you're a leader striving to truly empower your team or an individual aiming to hone your own decision-making skills, I believe this series will offer valuable insights.

If you find this topic relevant to your work, I hope you will engage with this dialogue. Follow, like, or repost this article, ensuring LinkedIn keeps you updated. And I'm not here just to preach; let's make this a collaborative platform. Share your questions, comments, or future topic suggestions.

Thank you for investing your time in this read.

Seeking to enable your team to make better decisions? Schedule a consultation with Chris. There's no cost.

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Chris Seifert is an operations leader with 25+ years of experience managing high-risk, complex manufacturing operations and advising senior executives on strategy, leadership, culture, and execution. Most recently Chris led Enviva Biomass’s manufacturing operations, first as VP HSEQ and then VP Operations, during a 6-year period in which revenue grew from $450MM to >$1B, plant production increased by >200% through commissioning new assets, integrating acquisitions, and organic growth, while reducing safety incident rates by more than 85% and growing adjusted EBITDA by >250%. As a Partner at Wilson Perumal and Company, Chris founded and grew an Operational Excellence Consulting Practice and became recognized internationally as a leading expert on Operational Excellence (OE), Operational Discipline (OD), and Operational Excellence Management Systems (OEMS). Chris has also served as a Plant Manager for Georgia Pacific and Owens-Corning and served in the US Navy Nuclear Submarine Force as a Supply Officer.