Posted On: Saturday, 16 October 2010 by Rajiv Popat

As a consultant I’ve been on-boarded into multiple organizations during my career. The best on-boarding is not when the HR takes you around the office on your first day showing you toys like Gyms and swimming pools. The best on boarding is when the HR shows you how the organization you are going to work for is going to empower you as an employee.

A beautiful tool for empowerment was a capped corporate credit card which we were handed on the day we joined work. File office expenses directly to this card and you do not have to worry about getting them reimbursed. This is what I call Hassel free empowerment that comes with a lot of responsibility.

Another beautiful empowerment tool was cell phones. Of course you carried your own cell phones to work, but when we joined we were handed a cell phone that was directly billed to the company.  “You can use these to make any phone calls” – we were told.

Of course it meant work related phone calls but that part wasn’t stated explicitly which made it all the more empowering.

Work from home. Casual dress code accepted widely within the organization. Open internet access.

This was one organization that was serious about empowering employees.

Look around you. How many of your office facilities are nice toys to have versus how many empower you? Having a gym is one thing. Letting your employees take an hour off during the afternoon if they want to and work out is another.

When you are surrounded by policies you can smell that. When you are empowered you can feel the empowerment. Toys are nice to have, but if you do not have empowerment in your workplace the toys mean nothing.

Don’t just give your teams and employees toys to flirt and show off.

Empower them.

I wish you good luck.


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