CEO at BrightHR and COO at the Peninsula Group, responsible for the global rollout of HR tech supporting over 100,000 organizations.
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A famous writer once wrote, "Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement."
Leading through autonomy instead of control has both benefits and risks for leaders. It’s difficult for many of us to relinquish control, but when it comes to employee engagement, offering greater freedom has been proven to improve retention rates and increase workplace happiness. Plus, teams that are given the freedom to tackle their projects in whatever ways they choose are more productive and have more satisfied customers than teams that follow a central corporate standard.
Lots of workers may benefit from being allowed greater freedom over their work, whether this means being able to choose the creative direction of a project or simply being given more responsibility and having less interference from a boss or manager. However, it’s important to consider that in some cases, greater freedom can be the enemy of productivity.
So what are the benefits and drawbacks of giving employees more independence?
Benefits Of Greater Autonomy
1. It is flexibility-adjacent.
It’s becoming clear there is a growing demand for flexibility and freedom at work. The pandemic brought with it a wave of rebellion against the 9-to-5 that's hard to shake. According to Consultancy.uk, "Nearly one in four UK employees are considering switching from full-time employment to becoming contractors or freelancers. The key motivation for the trend appears to be a greater desire for autonomy in the workplace."
But as more companies request a return to the office full-time, it’s becoming evident that not every organization can offer their employees flexibility or continue remote work. So a possible compromise to keep employees happy and engaged could be to offer greater autonomy at work. Giving your team more autonomy isn’t a replacement for flexible work, but it has been proven to boost job satisfaction, something that has been concerning employers since attrition trends like the Great Resignation.
2. It’s a catalyst for innovation.
Studies have shown that the freedom to choose how you approach a task can have a positive impact on creativity.
Creative thinking leads to new ideas, and in a world where the word "innovative" is frequently used to describe billion-dollar companies like Apple and Netflix, it’s no wonder more companies are looking to embrace it.
Innovation leads to new and exciting ideas that can be used to deliver and scale new products, services and business models that will make your customers happy. So if innovation equals happy customers and autonomy can help achieve this, isn’t encouraging more autonomy in the workplace in our best interest?
Research by McKinsey & Company found that in recent years, companies that were able to increase their innovation generated economic profit that was 2.4x higher than other companies.
An effective way to encourage innovation is by welcoming independent thinking. Approaching a problem from a different direction is a skill, and if your employees possess this skill, it should be celebrated and highly valued.
3. It creates leadership opportunities.
Leaders who encourage autonomy typically see better results in terms of team development. Autonomy has been proven to create a culture of trust between managers and employees, empowering the team to grow their skills and invest in their own development.
Autonomy and self-management can also allow people to spot gaps and create their own opportunities in the workplace. The flexibility to ideate and run with new ideas breeds proactivity, an important driving force for promotion.
Additionally, individuals who have the power to make more decisions can produce better results and a faster turnaround on projects.
4. It’s good for motivation.
Keeping teams motivated and engaged has become a top priority for high-performing organizations. But one big issue depletes motivation and drives staff away: micromanagement.
Being overly involved in every step of your employee’s progress on a project isn’t necessary—in most cases it's actually counterproductive, which is why autonomy should be encouraged.
It’s true that some people need more support from managers than others, but taking a hands-off approach can help you truly assess an individual's needs and abilities so you can give them an accurate performance review and a fair chance to succeed or make their own mistakes before you intervene.
This requires a learning curve for a lot of managers, but it's fundamental to keeping your staff happy, motivated and learning.
Downsides Of Greater Autonomy
Greater autonomy is not without its trials and tribulations for managers and bosses.
1. It leads to higher employee expectations.
Data shows that while employees enjoy increased autonomy, for many managers, attempting to manage increasing employee expectations and changing work patterns can lead to burnout. Especially as managers are usually the ones having to present progress reports on projects while keeping their team satisfied.
2. It can cause dissension.
In some cases, a lack of supervision can lead to unchecked bad behavior, and depending on your team, this could lead to lower-quality work and lax attitudes toward deadlines. Without proper structure, staff might become disengaged. And too much independence can have a negative impact on their ability to communicate with the team.
Similarly, employees can develop a heightened sense of ownership from being allowed to operate according to their whims, which can lead them to resist input from managers and leaders.
For this reason, it’s possible to be too hands off.
Final Thoughts: More Blessing Than Curse?
Employee autonomy can be a great asset to your organization, potentially improving retention rates, leading to happier employees and even boosting profit.
There are, however, risks that come with your team being completely in charge of their own workload; as autonomy requires structure to succeed, it must be introduced correctly.
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