Employee Empowerment Empowerment is "the freedom, responsibility and accountability to act within a set of guidelines that define one's authority to make decisions and generate actions that he or she knows will be supported." Empowerment programs can transform a stagnant organization into a vital one by creating a shared purpose among employees, encouraging greater collaboration and, most importantly, delivering enhanced value to customers. The Essential Levels/Steps of Empowerment For simplicity, the levels of empowerment are illustrated as distinct steps. In an empowered organization, these activities, at all five levels, operate at the same time. These distinct steps may be taken