A company's competitive edge often lies in the intellectual capital of its staff. Businesses that encourage their employees to be resourceful, exercise creative decision making and take appropriate risks are more likely to achieve future success. One of the most efficient ways to increase the performance of your staff, and your company, is to empower your employees.

Empowerment gives decision-making power to front-line workers who might otherwise feel frustrated at their lack of authority. Taking advantage of the following strategies can significantly increase employee productivity and satisfaction in your office:

Encourage Creative Decision Making
Allow employees ample flexibility in how they achieve company objectives. While the entire company shares a common goal, the road to accomplishing it may not be the same for everyone. Recognizing this allows you to capitalize on the creativity of your workforce. Specific training on problem solving, time management and decision making can help prepare your staff for increased responsibility.

Provide Necessary Information
Providing employees the information necessary to make informed decisions is crucial. Communicate openly about your company's big picture. Let workers know how the business is doing and how their actions affect the bottom line. Provide key facts — such as long-term business strategy, competitor activities, production rates, market share data and year-to-date financial results — on a regular basis.

Don't forget that exchange of information should work both ways. Encourage workers to share their observations, concerns and ideas with upper management and provide a convenient forum for communication. Regular meetings between employees and management, staff surveys and even a traditional suggestion box can be effective. Be sure to respond swiftly to input from employees, since lengthy silence can lead to discouragement.

Allow Room for Error
When people are challenged to become more creative, resourceful and responsible — which inevitably entails risk taking — a certain amount of error will occur. Rather than giving up on empowerment strategies, learn from mistakes, carefully consider why the mistake occurred and how it could have been prevented. Did the employee have the information necessary to render a good decision? Use your findings to develop a sturdier empowerment framework that can continually be built upon.

Empowering your team, while providing maximum flexibility, communication and support, can result in increased worker productivity and corporate prosperity.