s to do what needs to be done rather then being told what to do. A controlling manager is not at the core of empowerment. “Efforts toward continuous improvement take hold only when employees feel a sense of pride and ownership in their jobs. And pride and ownership are the heart of empowerment efforts. Empowered individuals take initiative to find better ways to accomplish their everyday tasks” (Eitington, 161). Empowering employees allows them to be part of the decision making process. This leads to a better company image, employee satisfaction, and decreases employee turnover. At Home Depot, headquartered in Atlanta, employees who are responsible for maintaining product aisles in the company’s stores, proudly and prominently display their names for customers to see. A smart organization gives its employees a sense of ownership. This doesn’t have to be in financial terms, as shown with Home Depot. By giving employees an integral role in the operation of their departments and business units, the company fosters loyalty and commitment from employees. It also inspires them to do their best. Giving employees enough freedom and power to carry out their tasks allows them to take ownership of the results. When individuals believe that the work they are doing is important and that their tasks are meaningful they will maintain commitment to the company and will desire to grow with the company. Secondly, developing clear career advancement opportunities is an important step in fostering a sense of loyalty, trust, and commitment. Career plans, rewards for achievement, and encouraging further education are excellent ways to support employees. A career plan will help the employee set their long- term goals. Career development plans are agreements between employee and employer and they spell out exactly what one will receive to develop their skills such as tuition, time-off, formal training, classes, etc. Plans also include milestones for the achievement of learning goals. Rewards for achievement whether monetary such as a raise in pay or nonfinancial such as a change in title to reflect the level of work achieved are all-important to the fostering of loyalty and fulfillment. Encouraging further education not only makes employees more valuable to the company but it promotes a sense of well-being and satisfaction, which leads to loyalty and commitment. Starbucks Coffee has more then 400 retail stores, 26 major airport locations, a thriving mail order business, and direct sales to businesses such as Nordstrom, Barnes and Noble bookstores, and Delta shuttle. They have sales growth of 65 percent each year. All Starbucks employees, known internally as “partners”, start their careers with twenty-four hours of classroom training at one of the company’s regional training centers. They study retail skills, coffee brewing methods, customer service, pouring the “perfect” shot of espresso, and much more. Courses are taught by district managers, specialists, and training mangers that have all been through the courses already and have worked in a retail store for at least two months. Employees are making careers at St

Some topics in this essay:
Assignments Program, Bob Nelson, Home Depot, , Barnes Noble, Bob Morris, Madison WI, Starbucks Coffee, Associates OSA, loyalty commitment, retain skilled, skilled workers, employee turnover, corporate culture, job fit, career advancement, workplace environment, employees feel, empowering employees, retain skilled workers, fit positive workplace, corporate culture company, job fit positive, opportunities job fit,