Based on our own experiences and the research that informed this model, we know every organization can benefit from a culture that empowers its employees. Still, we've also seen that when leaders are interested in creating a more empowering work culture, they often only consider one or two of the elements, leaving other equally crucial needs unmet. But just like caffeine requires carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen to come together as one perfect molecule, empowerment requires its own complete set of elements: autonomy, competence, community, and fulfillment. 

Autonomy (Au) 

If you've ever thought I'm so tired of being micromanaged, hesitated to try a new approach to a work task for fear of backlash, or wished for a seat at the table when others make big decisions about your work, you've experienced the need for greater autonomy.

According to Lammers (2016) research, at least nine studies have shown that the need for autonomy isn't about the desire to have power over others but "to be master of their own domain, to control their own fate." At the same time, Spreitzer (1995) has shown the positive relationship between autonomy and creativity, stating that, "...because empowered individuals believe they are autonomous and have an impact, they are likely to be creative; they feel less constrained than others by technical or rule-bound aspects of work." 

In a meta-analysis of autonomy research, Spector (1986) found several positive outcomes related to autonomy: "For all studies combined, it was found that high levels of perceived control were associated with high levels of job satisfaction (overall and individual facets), commitment, involvement, performance and motivation, and low levels of physical symptoms, emotional distress, role stress, absenteeism, intent to turnover, and turnover."

In a culture that meets the need for autonomy, individuals have the power to make independent choices and manage both the risks and consequences of those choices in an environment that rewards experimentation, self-management, and personal accountability.

Competence (Co) 

If you've ever thought I have no idea what my supervisor thinks of my abilities, struggled to gain access to skill-building opportunities that would improve your work, or dealt with colleagues who chipped away at your confidence, you've experienced the need for competence at work. 

The research on competence paints a clear picture of what happens when this particular need goes unsatisfied. Waterschoot et al. (2020) summarize the negative impacts identified by their fellow researchers, saying, "Previous research has repeatedly shown that competence frustration relates to a host of negative outcomes including anxiety (Niemann et al. 2014), reduced interest in the task at hand (Mabbe et al. 2018) and eventual disengagement from the activity (Anderson and Rodin 1989)." 

In their exploration of the relationship between organizational culture and competency-building, Freiling and Fichtner (2010) detail the types of organizational cultures that contribute to employees' ability and willingness to learn. These include cultures with a flat hierarchy and "leaders with a high willingness to let people discuss and question internal issues" because they enable a greater diversity of ideas to emerge. 

Another crucial cultural norm the researchers identify is cross-functional collaboration, stating: "The willingness to interact in a cross-functional context mitigates coordination conflicts and creates a personal internal network that increases reliability of the division of labor while at the same time this reliability can foster innovative thinking and creativity."

It's also important to note that because competence is so closely tied to learning, an enormous body of research on workplace learning not cited here contributes to our understanding of how individuals and groups are nurtured and developed through formal and informal processes. 

A culture that fulfills peoples' need for competence actively fosters continuous learning by promoting the sharing of diverse ideas, rewarding individual and group reflection, and providing relevant knowledge and skill-building opportunities so individuals can grow in their confidence and capacity to contribute creatively to the organization.

Community (Cm) 

If you've ever thought, I wish I could connect with more people at work, felt isolated from your colleagues, or wished the people you worked with trusted each other more, you've experienced the need for community.

Community-building is one of the things we think about most around here, and there's a lot of research that backs up the importance of that focus. 

In much of the literature on this subject, the word "relatedness" is substituted for community, and researchers speak to the connection between relatedness and motivation from the classroom to the workplace and beyond. 

Wang's (2009) study on classroom motivation found that "relatedness was among the strongest predictors of autonomous motivation in the classroom." Sheldon and Bettencourt (2002) compliment those findings with their results indicating the need to prioritize inclusion to positively impact both employees' motivation and happiness, "For the positive affect variable, both group inclusion and relatedness were significant, and autonomy was marginally significant. Group inclusion was the only significant predictor of intrinsic motivation." 

Ryan and Deci (2000) explain the effect of relatedness on our ability to internalize new behaviors, finding that "because extrinsically motivated behaviors are not typically interesting, the primary reason people initially perform such actions is because the behaviors are prompted, modeled, or valued by significant others to whom they feel (or want to feel) attached or related. This suggests that relatedness, the need to feel belongingness and connectedness with others, is centrally important for internalization." 

Community is also a crucial component of collaboration and knowledge-sharing; as stated by Wenger et al. (2010) in their research on communities of practice, "Appreciating the collective nature of knowledge is especially important in an age when almost every field changes too much, too fast for individuals to master. Today's complex problem solving requires multiple perspectives. The days of Leonardo da Vinci are over. We need others to complement and develop our own expertise." 

Finally, Sheldon and Bettencourt (2002) note that a clear and differentiated sense of community fosters commitment, and Quested et al. (2018) share conclusions that illustrate the overlaps between community and other elements of empowerment, finding that communities function best when "members feel that the community as a whole has autonomy through collective decision-making and active engagement. 

As a group, there are the skills and resources to achieve meaningful goals, thus building capacity and competence. There is also a shared sense of connection, feelings of belonging, closeness, and relatedness among community members."  

An organization that satisfies the need for community goes beyond the focus on individual autonomy and competence to provide inclusive opportunities for colleagues to form solid and genuine connections, fostering feelings of trust and belonging and creating an environment where collaboration is the norm and commitment to the organization skyrockets.

Fulfillment (F)

If you've ever experienced having the knowledge, power, and motivation to improve your work, or if you've seen direct connections between your labor and the organization's mission, or you've felt passionate about your work, then you've had a taste of what it's like when the need for fulfillment is satisfied. 

According to Thibault-Laundry (2018), a variety of ideas present in our elements of empowerment model are correlated with employees' passion for their work: "employees' cognitive appraisals of work characteristics such as job autonomy, task variety, meaningful work, and performance expectations were positively related to basic psychological need satisfaction, which, in turn, positively impacted their work intentions, thus indicating the subjective experience of work passion." 

Lawler (1992) and Kanter (1983) add to our understanding of fulfillment via their research on the importance of information-sharing in organizations, in which they name two specific types of information as critical for empowerment: "(1) information about an organization's mission and (2) information about performance...until people feel informed about where an organization is headed overall, they won't feel capable of taking initiative." 

Freiling and Fichtner (2010) confirm that organizations need a clear mission and primary task to promote individuals' ability to find meaning through their work and their efforts to learn new information and skills, stating that "Vision and mission facilitate the process of internal sense-making and help people to create a meaning for learning outcomes."

In sum, when all four elements of empowerment come together in an organization with a clear, transparent mission and goals, individuals are more likely to find fulfillment in their work. Then, the culture can continuously sustain an environment where everyone is both equipped and motivated to create positive change.

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Sources

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