The impact on employees

Your choice between control and autonomy will have effects upon the work and the attitudes of employees.

The work

Most of the time, your employees will have ground-level knowledge of the work and of your clients. This means that they should be able to determine the best way to approach the work. Allowing them to determine on their own how things should be done will usually lead to good results. (This of course assumes an appropriate level of competence in the employees in question.)

The attitude of the employees

With few exceptions, people prefer to have control over their own lives as much as possible. They much prefer to work in an environment where they have a degree of autonomy.

Autonomy is a great motivator. Research has shown that simply allowing people to make their own decisions, where possible, increases involvement, motivation, and work satisfaction. It thus increases loyalty and aids employee retention.

Note

Tip

As a general rule, give people autonomy unless...