Why employee enablement matters

What is employee enablement?

Broadly speaking, you could define employee enablement as the practice of providing employees with everything they need to do their job at their full potential. This can range from providing upskill training for staff, to having a clearly defined employee progression path, or even simply improving your internal communication process. It’s a critical practice, because it helps to maintain a happy and fulfilled workforce who feel they can grow in and beyond their roles.

Having the capacity and tools to develop helps people to maximise their abilities and, as a result, produce better work. Conversely, when employees are disengaged, the brand, the customers, and the bottom line can suffer. By enabling employees and encouraging their development, there can be knock-on benefits for the business. From this perspective, employee enablement serves to improve the skills and trajectory of individuals while also benefiting the wider organisation.

The difference between employee enablement and employee engagement

Employee enablement is often confused with employee engagement. However, the two have very different meanings.

Employee engagement

Engagement is all about keeping employees on-task and maintaining productivity levels. This approach can be quite a short-term solution as ensuring continuous employee engagement is difficult – burnout sets in, and without effective future planning productivity can decline.

Employee enablement

Employee enablement, on the other hand, is more of a long-term approach to people management and improving production. Instead of setting the bar based on the tools and resources your employees have to hand, you set the bar based on their knowledge and abilities – and work to provide the resources they need to measure up accordingly. Enablement focuses on supercharging employees’ efforts and ramping up productivity on an ongoing basis.

The importance of employee enablement

Employee enablement is vital to fostering a happy environment and, in turn, a more productive workplace. When you enable and empower your employees to grow, improve their skills, and maximise their potential, the individual feels better about their career prospects and more secure in their role. By satisfying your employee’s needs, your business can then flourish. Take a look at the latest trends and see how employee enablement can have a positive impact on the following aspects of your organisation:

1. Employee performance

In 2022, Indian employees’ top three priorities were excellent compensation and benefits, potential for career growth within the company, and opportunities to learn new, highly desired skills. This data highlights employees’ desire to grow their skill set, to learn, and as a result, improve their performance.

Whatever industry you’re in, LinkedIn Learning can provide your employees with informative courses that will allow them to improve their skills, build their knowledge, and grow within their roles.

2. Employee retention

It’s vital to stay on top of trends in order to maintain and retain a happy workforce. In India, remote-job postings on LinkedIn increased 1% since September 2021, while applications to remote jobs surged over 7% in the same time period.

Consider trends like this and how they may contribute to your employee enablement strategies. By facilitating people’s desire to, for example, work from home, it could free up more time for them to engage in trainings or be better rested to carry out their role to the fullest.

3. Improved business performance

When employees are given the autonomy to make decisions that influence meaningful business outcomes, they will produce higher-quality work. The quality of work takes on a personal meaning for the individual and becomes a source of pride – this benefits the customer, the business, and the employee themselves. Increasing the quality of products or services has a tangible benefit to the organisation as it can result in improved customer loyalty and, as a result, an upturn in revenue. Organisations that put a strong onus on empowering employees often find that bureaucracy is reduced, waste is eliminated, and time is spent more efficiently.

Strategies to facilitate employee enablement in organisations

It can be tricky knowing how or where to start your employee enablement strategy. It’s important to look at the big picture from the outset – outline your goals, listen to your employees, and begin the iterative process of developing the right structure for your organisation. To help you get started on your employee enablement journey, check out this eight-step guide to success.

1. Define your goals and desired outcomes

Before you start, it’s important to know exactly what you hope to achieve for your organisation and for your employees. By setting out clear goals and metrics for success, it makes it easier to keep track of progress, and what is and is not working for your staff.

2. Identify the needs of your employees

Your employees are your greatest source of information and inspiration when it comes to enablement. Listen to their suggestions, what they need to maximise their potential, and where they feel changes could and should be made. These needs could range from new learning packages to help staff upskill, to rearranging the workplace layout in order to streamline communication and production within teams. Regardless of how big or small the challenge may be, being aware of your employees’ needs is essential for enabling their potential.

3. Optimise your processes

Where are people falling short or facing problems in your organisation? Begin to examine the areas where employees are thriving, and where they may be struggling. Consider the factors that contribute to your employees’ performances, determine what works and what does not, and begin optimising your processes with a view to achieving your pre-determined goals.

4. Give your employees autonomy

While it’s important to create optimised and standardised processes, employees should not become robots. By giving people the power to make impactful decisions, they can take ownership of tasks, often resulting in better, more considered work.

5. Communicate and collaborate

Looking at the bigger picture, your goal here should be to encourage employees to communicate, collaborate, and engage with each other on an ongoing, open-ended basis.

6. Provide access to organisational knowledge

Creating, storing, accessing, and improving your team’s knowledge assets plays a critical role in employee enablement. By providing employees with adequate training and resources, it allows them to improve their skills and perform their roles to the fullest.

7. Provide tailored learning opportunities

Through LinkedIn Learning, your employees have access to over 20,000 courses designed to help them build their knowledge, improve their skills, and grow within and beyond their roles.

8. Measure and improve your enablement efforts

Businesses and people alike are in a constant state of flux – what worked yesterday may no longer work today. That’s why it’s critical to continuously monitor your employee enablement efforts. Evaluate what’s working well and what can be improved upon – always with your clearly outlined goals and metrics in mind.

Final thoughts

Employee enablement is vital to businesses of all sizes, regardless of industry. Your people are always your most important resource, and by allowing your employees to reach their potential in and beyond their roles you can improve employee retention, employee performance, and ultimately, your business performance.