12. Empowerment

Before the introduction of ICT, many companies were very rigid about how they operated and what workers were allowed to do.

Most workers were part of a small team, with each team having a manager. The manager made all the decisions and the worker did what they were told.

With the introduction of ICT, organisations began to change the way they were structured. They stripped out many of the middle and junior managers and employees were allowed to make decisions for themselves for the first time - this is called empowerment.

Being given the responsibility for making your own decisions and organising the way you work can lead to high job satisfaction and increase loyalty to the company. Many workers who were used to doing as they were told, suddenly found that they had the freedom to be their own boss.