The role of HR in increasing empowerment and employee involvement with knowledge workers: The case of SOFTTEK

Changing organizational culture can be a difficult if not impossible task. Several studies identify factors which contribute to organizational culture. We explore two such factors, empowerment and employee involvement. We study an organization which is attempting to improve organizational culture. Through the evaluation of employee perspectives and the integration of existing models of empowerment and employee involvement, we provide recommendations to enhance these factors to trigger a shift in organizational culture. The human resources department maintains several roles in the organization. In these roles HR representatives have the opportunity to affect empowerment by applying HR strategies. They possess knowledge, skills, relationships, and the position to champion empowerment initiatives, facilitate the development of empowering managers, implement empowerment programs, and provide a knowledge base regarding empowerment. We provide an analysis of a variety of perspectives and options that may be applied by HR professionals to enhance empowerment.