Barriers to Delegation - Why People Refuse To Accept Delegated Tasks (Delegating in Human Resource Management)

Barriers to delegation? Why do employees resist delegation?

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There are many situations which may lead to barriers to delegation. One of the main reason behind this barrier are the lack of resources and a unclear and undefined hierarchy. Once these barriers are identified it becomes very important to review them so that they may not causs any failure.


1. Lack of Trust in Themselves

Inferiority complex on the part of the employees is the most common reason why employees resist delegation. The subordinates feel that their capabilities are limited so they often refuse to accept the challenges which may arise from delegation. They fear that their colleagues or superior will know that they are incapable of doing the tasks when something doesn’t go right during the course of task completion. They also fear that their inability to handle tasks assigned to them will be exposed when they accept the tasks and eventually fail to complete them. Inferiority complex is a serious obstacle to delegation.


Difficulty in Decision-Making

Even though the manager is ready to share authority to employees, some subordinates depend too much on the manager in making decisions. They always choose to go to their delegator for even the simplest of problems that need quick decision-making. These individuals don’t have the skill to quickly look upon the situation and implement decisions on their own. These individuals always want their superior to tackle the problems and decide. They always try to avoid mental tension and always turn to their superior for opinion and advice. The subordinates who are afraid to make decisions and lack confidence on their ability will refuse accepting responsibilities.

3. Poor Superior-Subordinate Relations

One factor that hampers the process of delegation of authority is the lack of rapport between superior and subordinate. The manager may be hostile to employees and shows unapproachable or unfriendly attitude. When employees do a good job, a manager refuses to appreciate it and focuses on the errors of employees. The manager often causes undue interference in the work assignment of the subordinates, making them less productive. In effect, a subordinate refuses a certain task delegated by a superior due to the latter’s unfavorable attitude. The manager constantly interferes with the subordinate’s work and controls him so the subordinate always refuses delegation.

4. Lack of Positive Incentives

Positive incentives go a long way in building the morale of the subordinates whether they are in the form of recognition, monetary benefit or appreciation. Such benefits are helpful in persuading the subordinates to join in the delegation process and in trying their best to successfully complete the task delegated to them. The rewards that come with the delegation of authority can make the subordinates cheerfully and willingly do the tasks assigned to them. Overusing incentives on the other hand, can cause unhealthy competition among members of organization so it must be carefully given at the right amount and at the right time.

5. Lack of information

A subordinate is hesitant to accept a task when he feels that the important information necessary for him to acquire for successfully performing the task is not made available for him. This results in reluctance of a subordinate to accept the delegated functions and authority because he believes he can’t be able to perform well. Lack of information simply means lack of knowledge of what he is going to do. The delegator must make adequate information available to a subordinate whom the task is passed on, to ensure proper handling of the task.

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