Motivated and enthusiastic staff is the best thing an entrepreneur can imagine. Employees are full of positive energy and are willing to encourage each other to be their best selves. Usually this kind of an atmosphere leads to having satisfied customers and a successful company. Who wouldn't like it?
”If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
This quote has made me think about the relation between responsibility and authority. I have come up with the result that If you really want to go together, responsibilities and authority have to be evenly dispersed throughout the workforce - instead of only tossing tasks.
When you give a responsibility to your employee you authorize her at the same time. It is almost impossible to share responsibilities without sharing authority. Without authorizing her, she will ask your opinion on every single decision, ask for your view for small details and expect responsibility for the whole project.
Dividing responsibilities and authority requires solid trust. You need to be completely sure that the task will be accomplished in a good way to be able to loose control. When you trust your people and let them decide how to perform their tasks you are able to loose control and responsibility. This leads to a mental growth of your staff and the whole company strengthens.
I’ve noticed many times here in ZEF how authorizing someone gives them great energy and confidence. They immediately start looking for information on how to complete the given responsibility in the best way. They look for research, ask advice from the best people in that field and figure out how to get the best possible results. The need for study wakes up in them.
”We have noticed that the more we let our staff decide on how to complete their own work the better it works.”
- Mikko Kuitunen, Vincit
Internal motivation
Internal motivation has been researched quite a lot. Three biggest things on internal motivation are mastery, social support and autonomy.
When an employee gets an authority to do things the way he wants his motivation goes up. I would say that micro management only takes down the results if the employee is not asking for help. Still, everybody needs to be supported, complimented and congratulated.
So, divide responsibility and authority the right way and support your employees to do their best. This will make things easier for you and get your organization further ahead. Dividing responsibilities will help your employees grow mentally and helps your company to become strong and successful.
Download a free guide on how to measure the level of your employees enthusiasm.
Tuomas Haapsaari / CMO