The lecturer session at SBM ITB is incomplete without the presence of guest lecturers. Therefore, on Tuesday (11/7/2022), SBM ITB invited Irwan Dewanto, the Vice President of Corporate HR at TACO Group, to share knowledge about delegation and human empowerment in the corporate environment. The lecture session was attended by approximately 140 Bachelor of Management students in Psychological and Organizational Behavior courses.
Empowerment consists of efforts to enhance employee performance, well-being, and positive attitude. In comparison, delegation trusts subordinates to have their work done to increase productivity. It’s just the distribution of work or responsibilities, “Just because you’ve delegated doesn’t mean you’ve empowered,” explained Irwan.
In the lecture session, Irwan explained that in empowerment, managers focus more on directing employees and being their coach. There will be more room for employee development compared to delegation through empowerment. Therefore, a manager needs to be able to provide delegation, which at the same time can empower its employees.
“Empowerment is a win-win-win for employees, customers, and organizations. The first win, employees become more satisfied and smarter. The second win is that the organization’s work is completed faster and profit increasing. ‘Autonomy makes teams happier’: organizations are more satisfied and motivated at work. The last win is customers being happy because problems they face are resolved faster” said Irwan.
However, Irwan also explained that delegation and empowerment are equally important. Both are situational, depending on how critical the decision is, the competence and motivation of the employee or team, and how much time is available. “Delegation is needed at the beginning. We also must first know the team, concerning their competence and commitment. Only then can we take steps,” said Irwan.
Not only explaining the theory, but at the end of the session, Irwan also shared his related experiences in the TACO Group. For example, an example of a delegation occurs at the beginning of the year. TACO Group’s CEO circulated a letter to ensure the organization had a well-defined and widely understood strategy and to ensure employees had clear roles and responsibilities.
Then an example of empowerment is when leaders spend time for regular training and improving employee skills based on the employee development plan previously made with the 70-20-10 principle. 70% is direct work experience, 20% is informal learning, and 10% is formal learning.
