To what extent does team work lead to empowerment?
The term team work is often times viewed by others as a group of persons working towards achieving a common goal. This view is often echoed by employers who view team work as a group of employees working towards achieving organisational goals which would equate to increased revenues for the organisation. Empowerment on the other hand has been viewed as bestowing some level of autonomy on employees in an effort to build their self esteem whilst transferring some level of responsibility towards problem solving or trouble shooting. However, for the purpose of this assignment, team work will be viewed in relation to management control and intensification of work.
Organisations are increasingly becoming technologically driven resulting in the adaptation of new systems. This has given rise to a shift in focus on employees and strategies which can be employed to achieve maximum work output from employees. According to CLMS, 2006:M2:U4:5, team working entails giving small groups of workers a degree of autonomy over the organisation of work, or over elements of day-to-day management , or both.
The assignment will seek to explore the extent to which team work leads to empowerment. An organisation can only achieve its fullest potential if its’ employees are motivated towards doing so. Team work is an excellent s strategy which can be adopted in today’s labour market; however, this strategy can be more effective if its employees are empowered to make decisions. CLMS 2006M1:U4:6 describe empowerment as being associated with some redistribution of power. It can be argued that teamwork leads to autonomy to make decisions (excluding some corporate level decisions). This not only seeks to empower them, but it aids in developing their self-esteem.
The assignment question will review teamworking and motivation. First the paper will seek to define the key terms and introduce the topic. Secondly, a review of the different types of teamwork along with the effect of teamwork on autonomy for workers and or work intensification will be done. The paper will then explore the different types of empowerment and the extent to which they impact on the power structure of the organisation. Thirdly, the paper will then seek to discuss the effect of teamwork on autonomy for workers and or work intensification. Finally the paper will discuss the inter-relationship between teamwork and empowerment. Recommendations will be proposed and a conclusion will be drawn to support the assignment topic.
CLMS 2006 M2:U4 postulates that team working has been part of a continuous Human Resource management debate for the past twenty five years. CLMS (2006) further postulates that organisations are motivated to move away from a strict division of labour in the organisation, and close supervision of employees who are expected to show little or no initiative towards a model with less strict hierarchy, in which worker...