ABSTRACT
The competitive nature of the global market place and business environment has made effective utilisation of human resources a strategic issue for organisations. Even service organisations are feeling vulnerable with a greater level of uncertainty and an increase in demanding customers. It is a challenge for them to retain loyal customers. Empowering front-line employees is an absolute necessity. The argument in the domain of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is organisations that pursue an employee empowerment strategy actually enable their employees to build up distinctive skills and competencies, such as decision-making, problem-solving, taking responsibility. Empowering people also means the optimum use of employee's talents, as they are given the freedom to be innovative and creative, thus adding value to organisations. In the SHRM literature, it is noted that managers should pursue policies that increase employee commitment, motivation and flexibility, in place of control and standardization.
