ecdd1160 - Empowerment

EMPOWERMENT

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCY

Client

Ethics, Professionalism and Integrity [Code of Ethics]

Leadership

Over the past two years, the RCMP has been moving towards a shared leadership, shared decision making organization. As a value-based organization, all of our decisions should reflect the values of the organization. Part of this progression has been the empowerment of front-line employees. This leads to the question "what is empowerment ?"

True empowerment means allowing employees to make routine decisions they consider necessary without always getting specific direction or approval from higher levels. It means allowing individuals to make decisions without fear of reprisal if the decision turns out to be wrong, as long as the mistake is not part of a pattern, when it is a learning experience, when it is in pursuit of the goals of the Force or within the individual's level of authority and when it is consistent with law and organizational principles.

This does not mean that management abdicates its decision making responsibility, nor does it mean that employees escape the accountability that goes along with making decisions. What it does mean is that individuals who have the knowledge and authority to act also have an obligation to make the decision.

Requirements for empowerment:

The Mission, Vision and Values of the RCMP must be lived on a daily basis through honoring the commitments to employees and communities reflected in the Shared Leadership Vision. Each employee who seeks empowerment must understand these statements and where these statements integrate into organizational activities. Only then will employees be able to make decisions that reflect these principles. This means managers and supervisors must continuously interact with their employees to ensure the Mission, Vision and Values are thoroughly explained and become principles of commitment for empowered employees.
For employees to act on their own initiatives they must have the necessary competencies. This requires technical knowledge, experience, initiative and a good understanding of the "big picture" of the RCMP. To make this happen, the Force has to view learning as an investment in the future; not as an easy target for budget reductions. If the RCMP wants to truly become a learning organization and instill innovation, initiative and competence in its members, then the organization will have to rely less on the expertise of senior members and allow a learning environment to be created. Clearly, Cadet Training, the Employee Continuous Development Program, the principle based learning development and the "Let's talk" solutions for resolving conflict as reflected in the ADR initiative, to name but a few are positive steps in this direction.
To make good decisions as a front line service provider, employees require sound local and organizational information. Employees must have a great awareness of local conditions as well as the Force's commitments in those areas in which they are responsible for making decisions. This means employees require current information systems to make sure that if they don't have the necessary details to make a decision, they can communicate immediately to get that information, regardless of their location.
Employees must feel they are trusted. They must feel assured that they will not be summarily disciplined for making errors. In turn, the Force cannot hide behind 20/20 hindsight vision after a mistake is made and always lay blame on the decision maker. This will only lead to a lack of acceptance of empowerment and an avoidance in making decisions for fear of reprisals. Trust means knowing that when you act with diligence and an error occurs, you will not be unfairly punished, jeopardize your career or lose your job.

When are mistakes okay?

When the decision is made according to the Mission, Vision and Values statements. Some people, however, make decisions based on their own value systems that do not conform with the values of the organization. Should an action reflect badly on the Force because an employee was acting on his or her own agenda, then the error cannot be excused.
When you learn from the error. When a mistake has occurred, it is important to determine what went wrong, not to lay blame, but to learn why the decision was wrong so that future mistakes can be avoided.
When the mistakes are not made continuously. If an individual continually repeats the same mistake or consistently makes errors in judgement, then additional training or an evaluation of their suitability may be required. Empowerment does not mean individuals are not accountable for their errors.
When the individual making the error does not exceed his or her level of authority. Empowered employees are responsible to ensure that they are aware and respect their individual levels of administrative,financial and legal authority.