1.
Agenda
● Benefits of Empowered Employees
● Management Challenges
● What Employees Want
● Elements of a Toxic Workplace
● Do’s & Don’ts when creating an empowering
workplace culture

2.
Poll:
What’s your position?
a.CEO/Founder
b.HR
Director/Professional
c.Operations
d.Founder
e.Other

3.
Poll:
What’s your industry?
a.Manufacturing
b.Technology
c.Healthcare
d.Retail
e.Other

4.
Poll:
How many employees do
you have?
a.0-25
b.25-50
c.75-150
d.200-500
e.500+

5.
What Is Employee Empowerment?
A powerful management tool that increases the
confidence an employee has in their own abilities.
Managers do this by trusting their employees,
providing resources and support, giving them
autonomy to manage or lead their own projects/tasks
and make decision, and being accountable for the
outcomes.

6.
7 out of 10 employees view
empowerment as an
important element of
engagement!

7.
What’re The Benefits
● Increased self-esteem = works more autonomously
and effectively
● Greater creativity = Innovative thinking
● More productive = increases company’s bottom line
● Happier, energetic, passionate and loyal = reduced
absenteeism, burnout and turnover which reduces the
money spent on hiring
● Improved customer/client experience = competitive
advantage, strong reputation, loyal clients

8.
What is your biggest
workplace challenge
when it comes to
empowering your
employees?

9.
Challenges Workplaces Face
● Talent mobility barriers
● Keeping employees out of the loop; leadership
making changes without their buy-in
● Disengaged employees
● Poor onboarding/lack of training
● Unclear expectations
● Worker inequality (favoritism, nepotism)
● Lack of mental health resources
● Outdated benefits

10.
Companies spend more
than $750 million a year in
an attempt to empower
their employees

11.
Yet…
Just one in three US
workers are engaged
costing companies ~$550
billion in lost productivity
annually!

12.
What Employees Want
● Transparency
● Communication
● Involved/consulted on strategic decisions
● Heard
● A sense of autonomy and responsibility
● Trusted
● Recognized
● Supported and developed
● Challenged/Upskilled

13.
What comes to mind when
you think of a toxic
workplace?

14.
Elements Of A Toxic Workplace
● Micromanagement
● Not listening to employee concerns or gaining input
● Poor communication
● Culture is an afterthought
● Burnout is overlooked in favor of work deadlines
● No accountability; Always placing blame
● Dysfunctional workplace/behaviors
● High turnover

15.
Questions?

16.
Do’s
● Assign projects that
challenge them
● Praise their work &
recognize efforts
● Provide support, clear
expectations & tools to
succeed
● Customize
developmental needs
● Impossible, unrealistic,
setting them up to fail
● Generic, inauthentic
● Expect them to seek help
when they need or figure
it out on their own
● Assume they want to
climb the ladder or are
okay staying in their
position
Don’ts

17.
Do’s
● Seek their feedback
● Cultivate a safe,
respectful & inclusive
culture
● Generate frequent &
ongoing communication
● Acknowledge company’s
shortcomings (hire an
unbiased 3rd party to fix)
● Assume they have
nothing of value to offer
or don’t care
● Overlook toxic behaviors
& hold leadership to a
lower standard
● Culture is an
afterthought
● Profit > People
Don’ts