Empowerment is a strong and a relevant word, both in life and business. Doesn’t everyone want to feel empowered? To achieve this state of empowerment is an on-going process, especially for organizations where people are used to following “orders” and other bureaucratic processes. Studies have also consistently highlighted the power of empowering employeeswith the help of resource management system. McKinsey reported that empowered employees are better equipped to take informed decisions and resolve problems.
While a lot of studies have explored how management styles and open communication processes can help employee empowerment, few have explored the role that technology can play. Let’s deep dive into understanding how investing in a resource management software can empower your employees and what this could mean for your business.
What is employee empowerment? According to SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) employee empowerment is a management philosophy that prioritises giving employees the autonomy, resources and support they need to act independently and be held accountable for the decisions they make.
Research has regularly demonstrated that empowering employees is directly tied to an organization’s longevity and success. Empowering your employees makes them feel invested in the work and take true ownership in their contribution to the final outcomes. This is associated with improved transparency and productivity, reduced attrition and increased job satisfaction. Empowered employees are better decision-makers, more invested in their company and able to discover their true potential. Bottom line is that empowered employees ultimately result in your projects, and therefore business, running more effectively.
So, empowered employees sounds great on paper, but how can one work towards making them a reality? The hallmark of this approach is a willingness among leaders and managers to share their vision, control and power with their teams in order to achieve better results for the company, employees, and customers. Empowerment is also generated when there is trust, transparency and clear expectations about goals and results.
A direct way to achieve this is by investing in a resource management system. Confused? Don’t worry, let us explain how exactly a resource scheduling software can empower your workforce and your business.
Clear Project Goals & Deliverables
One of the foundations of empowered teams and organizations are clear goals and expectations. What is it that the team members are expected to do from get-go? With no ambiguity around goals and set standards of performance, there is a sense of self-discipline built within the team. Furthermore, with SMART goals and deliverables, the measurable KPIs (key performance indicators) are clear for all members, giving them exactly what they need to achieve, without much interference or micro-management. Empowerment also speeds up decision making as the foundation is clear on roles and responsibilities.
A resource management system helps establish these smart project goals and trackable KPIs. The visual dashboard holds real-time project performance metrics like project timeline, budget, resource utilization and resource capacity. An overarching project goal like software development for a client is broken down into manageable and distinguished tasks, planned for via workflow progress and assigned to a component resource based on profiling. The employees can be tracked via timesheets through the system too without the need for multiple check-in calls or micromanagement of day-to-day activities.
Visual Accountability
When we refer to visibility, it’s often associated with one project, one task, or one employee. However, in reality, visibility and bottom line success is not limited to one employee or one business process or one single task. Visibility, therefore, is about bringing all things, across projects and departments, positive and negative, that happen within an organization to the forefront and displaying how it can affect the performance of a resource or a unit and the final goal.
With an employee management software that facilitates communication via a visual workflow, team members can feel the direct impact of their work and understand how it makes a difference, across projects and independent silos. A resource management system keeps all stakeholders abreast of developments - employees can see who is waiting on their assignment to be completed, a manager can keep tabs on employee performances across projects, an HR manager can track leave schedules and even prepare for future requirements – all through a standarised and centralised system .
With a single and secure source of data running through the organization that is constantly updated with relevant information, employees are also empowered to be more autonomous with their decision making. For example, they can evaluate data in context via meaningful reports and insights and make choices, devise strategies, or formulate plans that benefit the organization, with improved accuracy and in a timelier manner.
Correct Match of Skillset & Tools
Engagement can be increased by giving employees roles that are the perfect match for their background. It shouldn’t be something underwhelming where they get bored or a task that is too challenging or overloaded and therefore they can’t deliver. Employees have to believe that they can manage the assignment given to them with confidence, without much hand-holding or increased stress levels.
With the right resource management system, assigning the appropriate tasks to employees won’t be left to guesswork and proximity (in-office staff getting more assignments and projects just because of the “in-sight, in-mind” phenomenon). Resource allocation will be on specific requirements and choosing the best fit in terms of availability, skill set and costing. The GANTT chart provides a quick overview of which resources are available now and across a six-month timeframe as well. Lastly, resource planning softwares have shown to speed up project completion timelines by 15-20 percent and the system’s overload indicator will prevent resources from facing burnout — two more positives that will empower employees.
resource utilization report
Let’s state the facts here - it’s impossible to have an empowered and growth oriented company without having empowered workforce. How to get your employees to feel empowered? You can achieve empowerment by equipping your workforce with the right resource management system, providing assignments that match their skillset and building a communication system that makes their voices and contributions heard. Investing in a resource management system will enable you to maintain much required balance between management, discipline and performance. A resource allocation software will help you get the right people at the right place and time which ultimately leads to better profitability, faster project completions and improved engagement.
Want to see if eResource Scheduler can be the right resource management system and engagement tool for you? Why not give our web-demo a try? Our enterprise resource management software is highly customisable and is currently being used by over 300+ companies across industries to help them manage their most precious resources better and hit their goals.
