My Journey Towards Empowerment

How it all started

Within a few weeks of starting my new job as Managing Director at Swarovski Gemstones Thailand (SGT), I was introduced to the concept “Being Powerful”, by Christian Mayhofer and Julia Culen from Conscious Consulting Group.  SGT was established in August of 2001, and for the first 13 years was managed by a Thai national, who had grown the company to about 400 employees.  When he retired, I took over the management of the company.

My first taste of how to drive empowerment was when I attended a 3-day workshop facilitated by Christian and Julia, which brought together all the Managing Directors from the Asian region as well as a member of the Core Management Team (CMT) of the Swarovski Gemstones Business unit.  Throughout the 3-day workshop, we started exploring not only the People & Behavior side which would be part of the foundation of our drive, but also how they are linked to the strategic direction and financial goals of the company as well as what social technologies we could use to help drive the business.  For this we refer to the following diagram:

Start with the WHY: It is essential to first start with the Core Purpose.  Why are we here?  What drives us?  What is it that makes us tick?  Create a common purpose which ties everyone together striving to achieve the Strategic Direction and Financial Goals of the company, which shows us where we need to be.  What are our targets?  What do we need to do to achieve said targets?  What key areas of the business do we need to focus on to give us the desired results?  Who can take responsibility for what area?  Provide total transparency on the company’s expectations to all levels of the organization.

principles of Empowerment

1. Leaving our Comfort Zones

After obtaining clarity in our direction, we started exploring the core principles of empowerment.  How do we need to behave to become empowered?  First and foremost, we need to be willing and able to leave our comfort zones by being self-driven.  Leaving one’s comfort zone is difficult but also very rewarding.  For some it can be a challenge.  Doing something we have not done before, learning something new, eventually it will lead to a larger comfort zone.  The farther away you have to go from your comfort zone, the easier it can turn into a panic zone, hence the importance of doing it in small steps.  It is imperative that everyone understands why we have to start with “leaving our comfort zones”, as empowerment starts with us, the individual, so it requires us to develop ourselves by taking on something new, hence the need to be self-driven.  It starts with us, the individuals

2. Putting the company’s goals above our individual or departmental goals

Putting the company’s goals above our individual or departmental goals is our next key principle.  When the whole company is aligned through common goals, and where everyone is made accountable for achieving those goals, then it’s also in everyone’s interest to try to achieve those goals together which fosters collaboration between departments and individuals.  Act, think and behave as if you are the owner of the company. 

3. Being responsive

Only by giving and receiving clear feedback can an organization grow.  Once all stakeholders are aware of the strategic direction of the company and what the financial targets are, then we can collaborate and support each other to jointly reaching those targets.  Clear, concise, specific feedback is required to ensure all are informed about where we need to go and what we need to do to reach those goals.  Being responsive to that feedback is key.  You will have to be connected within the organization to other stakeholders for this to be successful.  Whom to contact for which project?  How can I use my connections within the organization to help drive the project.

4. Being Specific

It is not only the giving and receiving of feedback, which is important, but that feedback and all of our communication needs to be specific.  The clearer we are in our requests, the better the response will be.  Vague, ambiguous, or unrealistic requests will hinder progress.

5. being connected and flexible

When you are connected within the organization, you are giving and receiving valuable feedback, it’s of equal importance to remain flexible.  Rigidity of thoughts, structured processes, and a mind-set of “we have always done it like this” will limit growth.  Embrace change, adapt, adjust, and revise where needed, not only how to approach the project, but our thinking as well.  Consider change as a positive thing and build on that.  Be open about the changes and communicate this throughout the organization.

6. Being Entrepreneurial

Finally, its being entrepreneurial.  Explore new ways of working.  If we are expected to be self-driven in leaving our comfort zones, and when allowed to be entrepreneurial, then new ideas will spring forth.  Coming up with new ways of doing things, will be considered as adding value

key success factors of empowerment

Providing a safe space

For empowerment to truly work, one must provide a safe space for the employees.  Step away from finger pointing and blaming others.  Learn from mistakes.  What do we need to do to prevent such a mistake from happening again?  Use mistakes as opportunities for improvement and you’ll see the confidence grow.

True empowerment is a mindset, a behavior.  An attitude of how we should behave, not only as employees but as leaders.  Leaders grow more leaders, not followers.  Once you provide your teams with the confidence and security to do their jobs, often, they’ll go the extra mile.  But we must realize that empowerment is a journey.  It will take time to truly embed this mindset in an organization. 

Promote participation - Develop your leaders

As a leader, rather than trying to please everyone, provide clarity.  Why are we doing the things we are doing?  How does providing clarity help the organization?  As a leader, provide the necessary transparency on how we are performing.  Any challenges or obstacles in our way which prevent us from achieving our objectives, ensure your organization is aware of them.  Collaborate to help solve these issues

Giving space to others

A leader should never be the center of attention.  Give everyone space, confidence, and time to speak up and voice their opinions.  At the end of the day, it is them that a leader will be relying on, so providing them with space to “do their thing” will benefit not only the organization, but all the relevant stakeholders as well.  Do not micromanage.  Trust the team’s capabilities.

Waiting and complaining never helps anyone.  It promotes negativity, discontent, stress, and conflict.  A leader therefore needs to initiate problem-solving and stopping the no-go attitude.  A mindset of “yes we can” leads to further growth within the organization.  Believe in your teams, give them the confidence to grow, to explore, to try new things.

provide clarity

As a leader it is quite easy to focus solely on the results, on the numbers, on the bottom line.  But rather than putting all our energy in the result, integrate the human factor.  Without all the employees pulling together to achieve the common goals, the numbers will not be there at the end of the year.  As a leader, you must understand and realize that without your various teams working at their maximum capacity and capabilities, will you not reach your targets.  It’s the human factor which makes the difference in achieving the results.

A leader’s responsibility is to grow the organization.  To deliver the needed results.  To be profitable.  To determine what the customer needs and deliver accordingly.  But if we focus solely on the existing skills in the organization, we will not develop.  We will not learn and grown.  We will remain fixed in our ways.  However, if we focus on supporting the development of our employees, then they in turn will deliver better results, as they grow more confident.  It is imperative that we continue improving, continue developing our ways of working and continue to focus on us, the individuals.

integrate the human factor

A leader should never be the center of attention.  Give everyone space, confidence, and time to speak up and voice their opinions.  At the end of the day, it is them that a leader will be relying on, so providing them with space to “do their thing” will benefit not only the organization, but all the relevant stakeholders as well.  Do not micromanage.  Trust the team’s capabilities.

Waiting and complaining never helps anyone.  It promotes negativity, discontent, stress, and conflict.  A leader therefore needs to initiate problem-solving and stopping the no-go attitude.  A mindset of “yes we can” leads to further growth within the organization.  Believe in your teams, give them the confidence to grow, to explore, to try new things.

changing the social technology

Now that we have created an empowered organization, and have developed our leaders, we should be in a stronger position to achieve our targets.   And by bringing together key stakeholders who jointly work towards our focus areas, shall we be able to make a difference.  And this brings us to the last aspect of our empowerment drive, the social technology which will facilitate this transformation.

In our business „special projects“ will be the NEW NORMAL!   Key focus areas which drive the strategic direction and which help reach the financial targets. 

circle concept: thinking from the perspective of our customers

With the establishment of the CIRCLE concept, we introduce a new way of thinking and organizing from the clients view & perspective by:

  • Being more connected across functions and as close as possible to the customer – also in functions far away from the clients in the current structure. Circles include all relevant functions within the organization (eg: Product Development, Operations, Logistics, Customer Service, R&D, New Product Innovation,…) that can drive decisions.
  • Being faster and more responsive to client requirements (can we deliver or not, by when, etc)
  • Being flexible by taking the challenges and thinking about: How can we?
  • Being entrepreneurial by acting as innovative group, developing the business and clients on a self-organized basis – and by taking the decisions as close to the customer as possible.

 

circle concept: putting empowerment in practice, process and structure

With the establishment of the CIRCLE concept, we introduce a new way of thinking and organizing from the clients view & perspective by:

  • Being more connected across functions and as close as possible to the customer – also in functions far away from the clients in the current structure. Circles include all relevant functions within the organization (eg: Product Development, Operations, Logistics, Customer Service, R&D, New Product Innovation,…) that can drive decisions.
  • Being faster and more responsive to client requirements (can we deliver or not, by when, etc)
  • Being flexible by taking the challenges and thinking about: How can we?
  • Being entrepreneurial by acting as innovative group, developing the business and clients on a self-organized basis – and by taking the decisions as close to the customer as possible.

 

Circles take most decisions by themselves, without asking and waiting for management confirmation which truly spells Empowerment within the organization.  Examples of different Circles are: Sustainability Circle, Delivery Performance Circle, Customer XYZ Circle, New Innovations Circle, …

The need to reach the whole organization is imperative in driving empowerment so the leader has to understand that it needs his or her direct involvement, which will take time.  Invest the time during the rollout of the empowerment principles to embed them in the organization.  Live it, breathe it, exhibit it and one shall reap the benefits.

In conclusion, the only way empowerment in an organization can thrive is for the leaders to display the necessary behaviors.  One has to feel it from their leaders for it to truly work.

 

Last but not least: empowerment leading to better performance and tangible results

My journey towards empowerment has therefore enabled me to see the value it adds to an organization.  Not only in terms of having more engaged and enabled employees but also in terms of achieving key successes.  Since rolling out and driving empowerment, we have seen a vast decrease in annual employee turnover, from an average of 40% per annum to less than 3%.  Knowing it costs an average of 6-9 months to replace an employee, improving employee turnover therefore has a direct effect to the bottom line. 

Collaborating and supporting each other to reach our targets has also resulted in a positive EBIT %, even during the chaotic years 2020 and 2021 of the pandemic.  Making the leadership team accountable for their cost centers, has had a further positive effect on our bottomline by being more cost conscious as well as more aware of how various costs affect our profitability.  We showed a vast improvement in our employee engagement and enablement scores increasing from 39% engagement at the start of the empowerment drive to 98% within 5 years.

Every single stakeholder in the organization has to be aware that he or she adds value.  Having a common purpose, aligned goals and joint understanding will promote collaboration within the organization.  If all are aligned and on the same page, they will understand how they can contribute to achieving our goals.  We are all a cog in the machine that is our organization, perfectly reflected by the following diagram:

So it’s a definite YES that empowerment is key to succesfully manage an organization as long as everyone is treated as a valuable member of the company.

About the Author Hugh Van Es: 

Hugh van Es  is the Managing Director of Swarovski Gemstones Thailand, with extensive domestic and international experience in managing manufacturing operations. 

Hugh managed to implement Empowerment in a challenging personal and professional journey and lead the local Swarovski Operations into a high performing role model. More about Hugh Van Es here

More about the empowerment project

  • Swarovski Gemstones Thailand was part of a global Empowerment Project across the Swarovski Gemstones Organization. The Project was also Published as Case Study in a German Management Magazine. 
  • We have also recorded a Podcast with Hugh with him talking more about his personal Journey – still pending for approval.