A topic that’s been coming up a lot in my discussions with twenty and thirty-something employees is empowerment.  Today’s younger workers want to come into a job and have the autonomy to take hold of projects and run with them self-sufficiently.  However, their baby boomer managers, more often than not, hold them back in some capacity.  When a twenty-something is right out of college and doesn’t have enough experience or knowledge to complete projects without close supervision, the manager’s reticence is understandable.  But too often, I hear of bosses micromanaging very competent employees because they’re uncomfortable delegating, want to have their hands in everything all the time, or are just obsessed with their own position of seniority. 

Here are some of the problems with this epidemic of under-empowerment.  1) Having the reins clipped on tightly and needing to go to the boss for approval on every step of a project is demoralizing to younger employees.  This leads to job dissatisfaction and high turnover.  2) Today’s managers are extremely busy folks, and whether they want to or not, it’s simply not possible for them to be involved in every task assigned to every employee.  If they set up a system where they are the bottleneck to achieving results, then something important is likely to fall through the cracks.  And no proud, independent employee wants to be responsible for a failed project, whether it’s her boss’ fault or not.

Some of the worst situations I’ve heard about pertain to middle managers who are under-empowered.  Middle managers typically have the skill set to run initiatives without daily input from their bosses, but some senior executives still insist on closely scrutinizing any and all output.  Middle managers who are expected to perform critical functions for the company like launching products or generating sales revenue, but are not permitted to make decisions about their initiatives, are in a no-win situation. And not only are their own careers and self-respect in jeopardy, but they constantly have to explain to their frustrated junior-level employees why their hands are tied.

So what do you do if you’re an under-empowered employee?  There’s no easy solution to this, but a colleague recently suggested to me that the answer lies in assertiveness.  Taking the attitude of pleasing the boss at all costs won’t work with a micromanager.  Instead, perhaps you have a frank sit-down in which you explain why you need to work more autonomously in order to do your job effectively, and why it’s costing the company time, money, and resources to do otherwise.

What are your thoughts?  Has anyone successfully navigated an under-empowerment situation?