Final answer:
Empowerment is the practice of giving employees authority to make decisions in their areas, shifting away from traditional hierarchies to a more autonomous and responsible model.
Step-by-step explanation:
The act of giving authority or control to employees to make decisions within their areas of responsibility is referred to as empowerment. Empowerment is a key concept in modern management and organizational structures. It involves the delegation of power and authority from higher levels of a hierarchy of authority to individuals or teams at lower levels.
In traditional hierarchies, individuals follow a chain of command, where each person reports to and takes direction from someone at a higher level. For example, an employee at Walmart would be assigned tasks by their shift manager, who in turn reports to the store manager, following up the chain to the CEO and the board members.
However, there has been a shift towards recognizing the benefits of an equal partnership between managers and employees. This includes allowing employees to have more autonomy, making them responsible for their processes and outcomes, and trusting that they will meet or exceed expectations due to the authority entrusted to them.