What is the Significance of Delegation?

The principle of delegation of authority is accepted universally. This principle has been practiced from very ancient times and in almost every field. The delegation of authority is not only necessary for the business organizations but delegation is also required to run a government. In case of a government, powers are delegated by a legislative body to the Council of ministers and the Council in turn, delegates the powers to its officers and so on. In this way, we see that delegation of authority is required to run even a family because in this case also, the head of the family can get the help from other members of the family to perform different tasks. In case of an industrial organization, the delegation of authority may provide certain benefits in the following ways:-

By improving functioning: If there is no delegation of authority, some persons of the organization may have to do most of the tasks while the other officers may not have adequate work to do. In this way, delegation helps by rationalizing the working of the organization. It allows the work to be divided equally between different officers so that the work can be completed efficiently. Similarly it also ensures that no person is burdened unduly and similarly no work remains pending.

Relieving top executives: It is not possible for the top executives of the organization to perform and supervise each and every task in the organization. In the same way, they have to look after the significant tasks of planning and controlling. Therefore, with the help of delegation, the top executives can delegate some of their work to the subordinates.

Taking help of specialists: Delegation of authority also allows the managers to take the help of specialists in order to complete different tasks. For example, the task of production can be assigned to a production manager and similarly the tasks related with the sales department can be looked after by the sales manager. In the same way, the legal matters of the organization can be looked after by a lawyer. Hence the use of specialists to complete different tasks improves the quality of the work.

Helps in extension and diversification: For the purpose of expansion and diversification of an organization, the services of a large number of people are required. By assigning different tasks to the subordinates, the subordinates become ready to undertake new assignments in future. On the other hand, if significant tasks have not been assigned to the subordinates in the past, it will be a risk to give the independent tasks to the subordinates straightaway. Hence, delegation plays an important role in the expansion and the versification plans of the organization.

Helps in employee development: When independent assignments are given to the subordinates, they acquired useful experience and also get a chance to use their initiative. Under these circumstances, the subordinates get the confidence to take up such responsibilities in the future also. On the other hand, without delegation, the subordinates cannot get a chance to develop their skill and experience. Therefore, delegation of authority provides a chance to develop the subordinates and also to make them ready for taking up similar responsibilities in future.