Is Researching Employee Empowerment Still Relevant and Valuable for the Future?

I plan to research Employee Empowerment, but I am in a dilemma regarding the relevance and practicality of the topic. Kindly suggest and advise me on the relevance of the above topic in the current scenario. Would it be of any value in the future?

Regards,
Anu

Dear Anu, While management theory may suggest that you should empower your employees, practically, top management of most companies in India enjoy emasculating the employees! Therefore, you should reconsider choosing this topic.

I have seen in very large companies or public limited companies that there is no empowerment to speak of. You may find that HR enjoys mollycoddling with management jargon like talent management, competency mapping, etc., but scratch the surface and you will find a hardcore "boss is always right" culture.

Many public limited companies are family businesses. You can't expect any change there as more than talent, what matters is lineage. Other public limited companies that have come up recently were raised by MDs who were the proprietors of that company at one time. However much the enterprise might have grown, the proprietor within them has never faded and it asserts its authority at the slightest challenge.

The lack of empowerment is the bane of the Indian industry. The reason we don't have many Fortune 500 companies is due to our leadership's inability to utilize the talent of their employees. Instead of growing big, they prefer to remain small but enjoy authority over a small crowd. India was never a nation of entrepreneurs; it was a nation of traders. Our traditional businessmen, with a legacy of thousands of years in business, sold "foreign" goods earlier and now they sell Chinese goods. Why would they bother about employee empowerment, by the way?

My views may seem harsh, but in the last 4-5 years, I have interacted with a good number of MDs, and my opinions are based on those interactions.

Considering India as a whole, our management practices are still in their infancy. Hence, I recommend reviewing your decision.

Thanks,

Dinesh V Divekar

To clarify your queries on empowerment, please go through the book by Vineet Nayar, "Employees First and Customer Second."

Regards,
Bagavathi123

I did my MBA project on this topic in a reputed government bank. This is an upcoming topic, but most of the public organizations' employees are partially empowered. The topic will be very good, and the research on this will make you understand the role of employees and superiors in the organization and the necessary steps you have to take to empower your employees and make the organization successful. I am an HR fresher, and based on my knowledge, I am sharing with you as I worked on this topic for my project. All the best.

Regards

Hi Dinesh, you provided the ground reality. All this talk of empowerment remains in the boardroom. Successful MDs & CEOs of large family businesses do not favor the principle of "Empowerment and Responsibility" that makes a Manager successful. I am currently working as an HR Consultant with a listed company of repute, and my experience is the same.

We are still immature as far as professionalism is concerned in India. We need to train the MDs of family-owned businesses.

Regards,
Subrato

I am truly thankful to you for sharing your valuable views and information on the topic of concern. I regret to inform you that I had to finalize this topic for my research due to some unavoidable reasons. I am looking forward to your guidance.

Thanks and Regards,
Anu

Thank you for your best wishes and views. I would be grateful if you could shed some light on the ways and techniques adopted by public organizations to empower their employees. Looking forward to an early response.

Regards,
Anu