Re‐empowering the empowered – the ultimate challenge?

Abstract

Evidence to date shows a divergence in the methods and approaches used bycompanies to introduce empowerment and indeed a wide debate as to the meaning andappropriateness of the term itself. The popularity of the concept has led many organisations to``dive in at the deep end'', wanting to experience the benefits of empowerment without perhapsstopping to consider the wider implications and consequences. This paper reports on the approachthat one hotel company adopted to re-introduce empowerment, a previous attempt having failed.It provides an insight into differing perceptions of the meaning of empowerment betweenemployees and managers; the positive and negative experiences of those working in anempowerment culture and the changes required for a renewed attempt at introducingempowerment to be successful. The authors conclude that ``quick fix'' strategies will rarely besuccessful and urge the development of a longer-term, more sustainable, approach.