Purpose - This paper aims to explore employee empowerment at the Shanghai Hanye Information Technology Company. Design/methodology/approach - The paper describes the various forms that employee empowerment takes at the company, its limitations and the advantages it has brought. Findings - It reports that empowerment is serving to encourage: honest, open, co-operative and harmonious communications and relationships in the workplace; loyalty to the company; greater participation in the cultural life of the organization and its decision-making processes; and a more unified enterprise spirit. Practical implications - The paper explains that employees are expected to: contribute ideas that could help to overcome organizational difficulties; sacrifice self-interest in favor of the interests of the organization; work on regardless if misunderstandings or conflicts occur; and serve as intermediary for building relationships with other organizations. Social implications - The paper reveals that this type of "spiritual" HR is part of the prevailing ethos in the People's Republic of China. Originality/value - This study provides interesting detail, from an insider perspective, on employee empowerment in a Chinese context.