Mindful Management: Empowerment and Coping with Change in Organizations

This critical essay on mindful management discusses empowerment and coping with change in organizations. It covers the inhibitors and dimensions of empowerment, ways to develop empowerment, principles for diagnosing team development, and frameworks leading to positive change. The essay also explores the effects of creating readiness for change and how managers cope with change in an organization.

Running Head: MINDFUL MANAGEMENT 1
Critical Essay: Empowerment
Student’s Name
University Affiliation

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Empowerment
Empowerment in a workplace entails enabling and helping employees to acquire self-
confidence. Thus, overcoming a state of powerlessness having been energized to take action. An
example of being energized to take action is giving employees a certain degree of responsibility
in decision making regarding workplace-specific tasks. The specific tasks are, for example,
giving the employees ownership of the involved processes in production where they are
responsible for the products or services generated by the processes (Arogundade & Arogundade,
2015).
Inhibitors of Empowerment
There are various inhibitors of empowerment which include the following: management
resistance- this is due to some reasons which include insecurity, for example, unwilling to share
trade secrets with the employees with a belief that it may lead to loss of power. The Coca-Cola
Company may for example not be willing to share its trade secrets especially the manufacturing
formula so as to continue having dominancy in the market. Another reason under insecurity is
the need to retain power and control over employees by the management with values like
employees have to do what they have been instructed to. The management may also have a belief
that failure to give clear directives on the employees will lead to failure on the employee’s
undertaken activities thus having an extreme need to be in control. Empowering the employees
who are not ready and prepared for the activities involved in a workplace can also be a setback.
Thus, the employees have to be educated first before being empowered (Wahid et al., 2017).
Dimensions of Empowerment

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There are five core dimensions of empowerment which are as follows: Self-efficacy
which entails the beliefs on a person’s capabilities so as to produce expected level of
performance which has an influence on the events affecting their lives. The beliefs under this
help to determine how people feel, behave and motivate themselves like setting challenging
goals and maintaining a strong commitment towards them. Thus, the strong self-efficacy
enhances personal accomplishment and well-being in a variety of ways (Schwarzer, 2014). The
second dimension is self-determinant which is a person’s ability and sense in having a choice to
initiate and regulate actions. An example is a person having a significant choice to determine
how to do a job with independence and freedom on how to perform the duty (Fernandez &
Moldogaziev, 2015). The personal consequence is the other dimension which takes an effect
when a person is aware that a certain action will yield to the desired result. An example of the
above is foregoing some comforts like oversleeping and fully attend a job with an aim of making
some achievements like investment after a period of time (Robbins, 2018). The fourth dimension
is meaning which brings about a sense of value. Thus if an employee creates meaning in a job
performance, the employee is enabled to have a purpose on the given job hence develop set of
targets and goals to achieve (Bin, Almadhoun, & Ling, 2015). The last dimension is a trust which
entails keying in the effort so as to accomplish the set goals. After an achievement, security in
the job is assured, for example being appreciated for an achievement in a workplace (Ugwu,
Onyishi, & Rodríguez, 2014).
How to Develop Empowerment
There are various ways how one can develop empowerment which include the following:
having clear goals which can be achieved through becoming more aware of one's strengths hence
being equipped to deal with the weaknesses in order to achieve the set goals. Another way is

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being provided with support by the management like employee appraisal and encouragement.
This, in turn, would allow one to take the offered opportunities so as to enhance personal growth
and fulfillment of set targets and goals. Creating confidence is another way how one can acquire
development where the management can create the best interest on the employees, for example,
fair treatment of workers and providing safety job conditions. The above would, therefore,
enhance fruitful contribution made by an individual or a team (Mone & London, 2018).
Providing modeling to the employees through setting examples on how to conduct some tasks in
a workplace may also help employees to acquire empowerment. Thus, the employees will
demonstrate the skills acquired from the role models in order to harness job operation (Leroy,
Anseel, Gardner, & Sels, 2015). The organization can provide the necessary required resources
to perform various tasks. This can empower employees to perform the assigned duties with no
difficulty having been provided with the appropriate and useful resources in order to accomplish
the tasks.
Principles for Diagnosing team Development and Building Effective Teams
Team development can be determined by the help of various principles which include the
following: clarity of goals and purpose which entails clearly defining the objectives where an
effective team has to work in a certain way in order to achieve the set organizational goals.
Commitment and accountability among the team members- this entails the commitment among
the team members in order to demonstrate the aspects needed to meet and achieve the goals.
Effective communication- good and effective communication among the team members and the
entire organization is very essential, for example, to keep the members informed and focused.
The above principles can, therefore, be very helpful and essential in diagnosing whether a given
team is developing or not (Shuffler, Diazgranados, Maynard, & Salas, 2018).

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There are various necessary and vital ways in building an effective team which include
the following: laying down the priorities and team goals- establishing the team priorities should
be enhanced in order for the members to understand where and when to provide the required
help. Clear team goals should also be provided out which will help the team members to
understand how their personal goals will support the team goals. Employees should also be
provided with a way on how supporting the team goals will also help them meet their personal
goals. Selecting an appropriate team- this entails putting in place qualified and competent team
members able to handle the assigned tasks. It also entails identifying members with a collectivist
nature who prefers working and cooperating in a group rather than the individualists who put
their personal interest first hence preferring independent tasks. Shared leadership- under this, the
majority of team members may be willing to assume some leadership roles. This, in turn, creates
a sense of shared responsibility hence increasing morale among team members (Murray, 2016).
Framework Leading to Positive Change
There are various frameworks leading to positive change which may include the
following: the Lewin’s model is the most popular model of approach which entails various stages
of change which are unfreeze, making changes and refreeze. Unfreezing entails analyzing the
current processes in an organization for potential improvements. This helps to eliminate any
existing problems hence giving a perception to change the cause of the identified problems. This
also entails creating awareness to the employees about the default with the current processes, the
need to change, the suggested changes, and the benefits which the proposed change will yield.
Making of changes having prepared everyone for the new change is the other step. Under this
stage, various aspects like communication and training are essential so as to avoid any
difficulties during the transition process. For example, training is required when an organization

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is switching to a new technology on how to use it. After implementing the appropriate change
having considered some factors from the employees like feedback on the new change, there is a
need to refreeze the new embraced change. This is important so as to ensure the old methods of
doing things are completely done up with. This can be facilitated for example through rewarding
those who fully adhere to the new methods of doing things so as facilitate the positive change
(Hussain et al., 2016). The discussed model is therefore very important especially when an
organization needs a drastic transition so as to achieve a positive change and succeed.
The value chain framework is another model which can help an organization analyze its
specific activities where the organization can create value hence leading to positive change. It
includes improving and carrying out of both the primary and support activities in a unique way.
Some of the primary activities include inbound logistic which entails receiving, storing, and
transportation scheduling. An organization may, for example, build its warehouse to avoid
renting which may be associated with heavy expenses. Outbound logistics is another activity
which entails availing the finished products to the customers. Thus, an organization has to
embrace the appropriate and effective distributing channels so as to effectively reach its
customers. Service is another activity which helps to enhance and maintain the value of the
product, for example, offering customer support on any inquiry, training, and installation of
some technical products like the electronics. Some of the supporting activities include
procurement, for example on the raw materials. Thus, an organization has to ensure it engages
with the procurement of quality raw materials. This is to ensure that an organization will engage
in the production of quality products from the quality raw materials. Another activity under this
is technology development which helps in the value chain activities, for example, process
automation through the use of some systems like supply chain management systems and

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enterprise resource planning. Human resource management is another activity which is
associated with, for example, recruiting, retention and compensation of the employees. An
organization has, therefore, to ensure it has the right and qualified personnel in place to help in
achieving its set goals and objectives (Mudambi, & Puck, 2016). Through an appropriate use of
the value chain model, an organization can, therefore, achieve its intended objectives hence
leading to positive change.
Effects of Establishing and Creating Readiness for Change
There are various effects as a result of establishing a climate of positive change and
creating readiness for change which includes the following: the establishment of positive change
comes about with various aspects, for example, having a leadership team to enhance the
proposed change. If there was no established leadership, a new leadership has to be formed
which consists of a dedicated team to ensure that the change really takes place. Training is the
other effect which is essential for both the new leadership team and the employees in order to
harness the organizational readiness for change. Some aspects also, for example, the feedback
system has to be put in place for everyone involved in the positive change. The participant's
opinions have to be considered in this quest of creating readiness for change in order to
incorporate everyone during the critical decisions towards positive change. Some obstacles may
also arise where some employees may not agree with the proposed change. The cause of this
reluctance may be, for example, as a result of inadequate training on the employees in
preparation of the new tasks. Another reason is the leadership put in place may not be fully
effective in fostering the needed change. A strategy to measure the progress of change has to be
put in place in order to create readiness for change. This is helpful in measuring whether the

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mechanisms put in place in order to achieve a positive change are bearing fruits or there is a need
for adjustment (Shea, Jacobs, Esserman, Bruce, & Weiner, 2014).
How Managers cope up with Change in an Organization
The managers cope up with a change in an organization through the following ways: the
employee involvement in the change process- the manager can cope up with a given change
through the involvement of employees for a quicker and better implementation of a given target
change. This is enhanced through the managers accepting the fact that they are not the only one
who knows the changes about to take place. Thus, incorporating the employees who may give
out their opinions and work towards accomplishing the goals of the new change. Concentrating
on effective delegation is another way how managers cope up with change. For example,
managers may see it of the essence to delegate some tasks to the employees especially during the
new stage of change where they tend to take all the policies by themselves. This, in turn, helps to
reduce the workload through the help of the employees. Another way how managers can cope up
with change is through raising the level of expectation. Under this, managers are aware that the
new changes require performance improvement and make the processes involved to be
challenging. Managers can, therefore, for example, adhere to realistic goals and offer training
platform in order to cope up with the new processes which in turn helps to eliminate failure and
frustration. Managers can also expand the communication channels in order to cope up with a
change in an organization. This is a result of new changes in processes which means that the
previous channels of communication need to be enlarged. This is a result of the need for
information and answers among everyone in the organization due to the demanding new
changes. New communication systems can be put in place, for example, executive information
systems, human resource management systems, group management systems, and office

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automation systems which may enhance effective communication in the organization thus,
harnessing the new change (Cummings & Worley, 2014). After an effective performance of the
above-discussed activities, the managers will therefore swiftly cope up with a change in an
organization.

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