Symptoms of Disempowered Workforce

Supervision is authoritarian, employees are admonished to "do as you are told," management shares little with employees in the way of why they must do the things they have been asked to do, individual managers engage in micromanaging their employees, there is an inordinate amount of bureaucracy, and blame is sought when things go wrong.

Under these conditions, employees tend to feel powerless. They wait to be told what to do and are reluctant to take the initiative for fear of doing the wrong thing. They do their jobs "by the book" and feel little sense of personal responsibility or commitment.

They comply grudgingly with work rules and procedures and often attempt to win back some sense of power by scheming to "beat the system."

Does this sound like your organization?
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