Term Paper On

Total Employee Involvement

Amity School of Engineering and Technology

By:

DHEERAJ MUGRAI A2324710016 B.Te !" #$E%MBA &'#$E 4(

Under the Supervision of:

Mr. Shyamsunder Pal Assistant Professor

!Amity School of Engineering And Technology Uttar Pradesh"

Contents
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.# 1.) 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 3 3.1 3.2 4 Annex Description What is Employee Involvement and Empowerment Objectives Methodology lternative techni!"es E$pected %es"lts & 'ene(its *haracteristics o( (irms and service providers Application Where the techni!"e has been applied +ypes o( (irms & organi,ations concerned -"ration and Implementation cost E"ropean Organi,ations ."pporting the implementation o( the method Implementation Procedures .teps & /hases (ew obstacles and recommended sol"tions Bibliographic References

!CRIP"I#$

When an organi,ation tr"ly wants to create a positive wor0 environment that is based on high tr"st1 e$ceptional c"stomer service1 collaborative teamwor01 operational e$cellence1 and creative problem solving1 then the leadership team m"st begin to "nderstand1 invest in1 and be responsive to the needs o( the gro"p that represents the organi,ation2s most val"able assets1 and is also one o( its most important c"stomers1 the employees. +he ret"rn on s"ch nominal investments will come in the (orm o( higher levels o( employee motivation1 creativity1 prod"ctivity1 and commitment that will move the organi,ation (orward with greater pro(itability. ("ndamental +otal 3"ality Management precept is that employees m"st be involved and empowered. mplo%ee in&ol&ement means that every employee is regarded as a "ni!"e h"man being1 not j"st a cog in a machine1 and each employee is involved in helping the organi,ation meet its goals. Each employee2s inp"t is solicited and val"ed by his&her management. Employees and management recogni,e that each employee is involved in r"nning the b"siness. mplo%ee empo'erment is a somewhat di((erent concept. It means that in addition to involving employees in r"nning the b"siness1 employees and management recogni,e that many problems or obstacles to achieving organi,ational goals can be identi(ied and solved by employees. Employee empowerment means that management recogni,es this ability1 and provides employees with the tools and a"thority re!"ired to contin"o"sly improve their per(ormance. +he management states its e$pectations abo"t employees recogni,ing and solving problems1 and empowers them to do so.

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)hat is mplo%ee In&ol&ement and empo'erment

One o( the greatest "nderlying (actors in the s"ccess or (ail"re o( any organi,ation is the power o( its people1 and how well that power is (oc"sed towards meeting the organi,ation2s objectives. Modern man"(act"ring management p"rs"es the goal o( a paperless (actory1 with design concepts moving (rom an engineering comp"ter 4 aided 4 design terminal thro"gh data lin0s to a comp"ter 4 aided 4 man"(act"ring terminal1 which in t"rn drives a n"merically controlled machine. +he above (actory a"tomation e$ample notwithstanding1 all companies operate on the strengths and wea0nesses o( their employees. Even in a ("lly a"tomated (actory1 employees have to design1 maintain1 and operate the systems that create o"tp"t. Organi,ations that can tap the strengths o( their people will be stronger and more competitive than those that cannot. Organi,ations that regard people as a"tomatons or mere cogs in a wheel will never reali,e their ("ll potential. In the long r"n1 s"ch companies2 ine((iciencies attract competition1 and "nless the management philosophy changes1 they will disappear. Employee involvement is a process (or empowering employees to participate in managerial decision5ma0ing and improvement activities appropriate to their levels in the organi,ation. .ince Mc6regor2s +heory 7 (irst bro"ght to managers the idea o( a participative management style1 employee involvement has ta0en many (orms1 incl"ding the job design approaches and special activities s"ch as !"ality o( wor0 li(e 83W9: programs.

+here is at the end o( the day only one thing that di((erentiates one company (rom another 4 its people. ;ot the prod"ct1 not service establishments1 not the process1 not secret ingredients< "ltimately any o( these can be d"plicated. +he =apanese have always recogni,ed this and it is one o( the reasons (or their s"ccess in world mar0ets 4 they place tremendo"s val"e on the integration o( people with organi,ational objectives1 e!"ipment and processes. +he employees (orce the organi,ations to address three 0ey iss"es< comm"nication1 involvement and development. In (act the three iss"es can be "sed as a meas"re o( an organi,ation2s mat"rity in the employment relationship. >ere1 we are going to address the iss"e o( involvement and its relationships. Many people con("se comm"nication systems s"ch as team brie(ings with involvement. Involvement1 however is more than j"st the e$change o( in(ormation. It is the grad"al b"t radical delegation o( control to those closest to the process itsel(. .el(5managed teams1 cell5based man"(act"re1 a"tonomo"s wor0 gro"ps1 high per(ormance wor0 systems1 are all e$amples o( tr"e involvement. Empowerment means that all employees (eel that they have the responsibility and a"thority to participate in decision ma0ing and problem solving in their appropriate operating levels. It2s obvio"s that a whole company o( s0illed and capable problem solvers will have a distinct competitive advantage over an organi,ation with only a (ew 0eys contrib"tors and an army o( drones. Empowerment is a word coined in 1?4@ to re(er to Athe gaining o( powerB. In the conte$t o( +3M1 empower means to enable1 to endow1 to give permission to1 or to give the ability o( power to. Empowerment is the a"thority to act independently to meet e$pectations. +his a"thority is given by management (or the p"rpose o( developing a h"man connection with the decision ma0ing process1 which s"stains improvements thro"gh the +3M program. E$ploring the concept o( empowerment incl"des de(ining the reasons (or management to empower the wor0ers1 needs analysis1 and techni!"es (or empowerment. When management is com(ortable with the j"sti(ication (or an empowerment program1 the company can begin to determine strategies and establish an implementation plan. Empowerment also re!"ires management to ta0e ris0s by t"rning over some control o( the organi,ation to the employees. >owever1 this control m"st be planned and a"thori,ed. Management m"st appreciate that relin!"ishing control to the e((ective and s0illed employees will res"lt in a more prod"ctive organi,ation with better teamwor0 and (aster problem resol"tion. n empowered organi,ation will be able to respond more !"ic0ly to changes1 improvements1 and new c"stomer re!"irements. +his will occ"r as they begin to act independently in p"rs"it o( their e$pectations and within the bo"ndaries o( their a"thority. Management also ma0es a mista0e in (earing that empowerment will (orce them to ma0e open5ended promises with "n0nown conse!"ences. +hey are also a(raid that they have abdicated the right o( vetoing bad1 irrelevant1 or co"nterprod"ctive ideas. Managers m"st reali,e that they do not give "p the responsibility to ma0e (inal decisions. ;either do they give "p the ability o( coaching teams when appropriate. +he basic concept o( empowerment is management2s promise to employees that they will be s"pported and rewarded (or ta0ing actions and (inding new ways to contrib"te. What is important is that management establishes the e$pectations1 sets the g"idelines and de(ines the bo"ndaries o( a"thority. It is not a process o( giving "p their responsibility.

Empowerment and Delegation of Decisions +ill now1 we reviewed the idea o( empowering employees by giving them the reso"rces1 training1 and the a"thority to solve problems and contin"o"s improve wor0 processes. +3M ac0nowledges that those doing the wor0 are also the ones most !"ali(ied to solve problems that come "p as they go abo"t their jobs and (ig"re o"t how to improve their wor0 processes. Organi,ations that see0 to ta0e ("ll advantage o( their employees2 talents and abilities and ma0e best "se o( everyone2s time1 it j"st ma0e more sense (or those who best "nderstand a partic"lar problem or improvement opport"nity to ma0e decisions to deal with those. llowing that to happen1 o( co"rse1 means that everyone has a clear sense o( the organi,ation2s processes and mission and how their wor0 (its in with that o( others to e$ec"te processes and to achieve that mission.

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#b*ecti&es
Employee involvement and empowerment is a long 4 term commitment1 a new way o( doing b"siness1 a ("ndamental change in c"lt"re. Employees who have been trained1 empowered1 and recogni,ed (or their achievements see their jobs and their companies (rom a di((erent perspective. +hey no longer p"nch a cloc01 do what they are told1 and co"nt the min"tes "ntil the wee0end rolls aro"nd. +hey AownB the company1 in the sense that they (eel personally responsible (or its per(ormance. +he best way to obtain a gen"ine commitment (rom people is to involve them in the project (rom the beginning. Even i( the original ideas are not theirs1 the process o( designing1 planning and assessing will a"tomatically p"ll them into the stream o( things. Managers who try to ta0e bac0 some o( that power end "p with bitter1 (r"strated1 and disill"sioned employees. /er(ormance will s"((er1 and ("t"re attempts to involve employees will be met with cynicism. Organi,ations operating with the involvement o( their employees1 have evolved beyond merely telling people what is going on1 to actively see0ing their contrib"tion to the decision ma0ing process. Only a minority o( organi,ations in ind"stry co"ld be tr"ly said to be operating with the involvement o( their employees1 b"t the trend over the last 1C years has certainly been to move towards this direction1 o(ten (ollowing the lin0 o( inward investors s"ch as the =apanese1 6ermans and mericans1 and the opport"nities presented by reconstr"ction and 6reen(ield sites. +he c"lt"ral e((ect being so"ght is a sense o( ownership o( the company among its employees. +his can have remar0able e((ects on employees2 commitment to the company and the type o( activities they will "nderta0e. In the distrib"tion arm o( *oca 4 *ola 'everages (or e$ample1 one can see wareho"semen with b"siness cards who actively promoted the prod"ct in their own time at events where the *o0e name was present1 in sponsorship or j"st the provision o( drin0s. +he 0eys to involvement are several and comple$D +a, -inancial( .hare ownership and pro(it distrib"tion plans can help to (oster an interest in a company2s a((airs at the competitive level which is o(ten hard to get across in the normal day to day ro"tine o( wor0place activity. .ome evidence e$ists (or s"ggesting that limited positive bene(its can accr"e (rom this approach. s"rvey (rom the Ind"strial .ociety showed that one in si$ EF employees own shares in their company. >owever1 this was heavily s0ewed toward managers amongst whom one5third held stoc0. mongst "ns0illed man"al wor0ers this dropped to j"st #G. >al( o( all share owners s"rveyed (elt

that owing shares had made them more committed to the company2s s"ccess1 altho"gh there was no signi(icant di((erence on job satis(action or their rating o( their company overall as an employer. I( a company wishes to increase its employee share ownership an incentive is essential. One o( the most common (orms o( incentive is the "se o( Employee .hare Ownership /lans 8E.O/s:. +hese typically o((er a one (or one share p"rchase arrangement1 with the company iss"ing matching shares (rom a share tr"st (or every ordinary share p"rchased. E((ectively a hal(5price b"ying arrangement b"t with the added bon"s o( ta$ savings. +b, .ob securit%. -o"bt as to whether yo" will still be with the company ne$t wee0 are hardly li0ely to enco"rage a sense o( belonging. gain the =apanese have recogni,ed this rather obvio"s tr"ism (or many years. +here is some evidence that this approach is starting to impact on the organi,ation o( labor contracts in the West. %over2s new deal in 1@@2 with its employees reversed an ?C year old tradition in Western car man"(act"ring by giving its employees job sec"rity and lay o(( g"arantees. I'M have always had a no comp"lsory red"ndancy policy1 albeit this has been p"t "nder considerable strain in the 1@?Cs and 1@@Cs. Even where +otal 3"ality Management has been established in volatile ind"stries1 it has been accompanied at the least by a more ca"tio"s approach to red"ndancy and1 i( "navoidable1 a greater emphasis on redeployment and post5contract s"pport than previo"sly the norm. %an0 Hero$ (or e$ample1 in their major downsi,ing o( the 1@?Cs provided red"ndant e$ec"tives with pre(erred s"pplier contracts to help them establish their own b"sinesses1 g"aranteeing Hero$ as a c"stomer (or a period. +he str"ct"re o( the wor0 organi,ation itsel( determines many (acets o( the employment relationship< in partic"lar1 job design can in(l"ence the degree o( control an employee has over his or her wor0 and1 with that1 the degree o( personal responsibility (elt (or the o"tcomes and !"ality o( wor0. +raditional systems o( shi(ts1 absence coverage and in5line prod"ction methods tend to sti(le personal acco"ntability< the job will be done whether or not the employee t"rns "p and nothing is le(t incomplete at the end o( the day1 "nli0e most managerial and pro(essional jobs. *onse!"ently employees constrained by s"ch systems (eel little sense o( ownership o( the total process. .t"dies o( organi,ations moving toward cell5based man"(act"ring and team str"ct"res in job design (re!"ently show (alling absenteeism1 higher prod"ctivity and better !"ality o( o"tp"t as a res"lt o( the greater sense o( involvement and decision ma0ing responsibility which comes with these systems. -igital E!"ipment (or e$ample "se a derivative o( a"tonomo"s wor0 gro"ps called A>igh /er(ormance Wor0 -esignB. +he company (eel they have achieved better !"ality1 higher o"tp"t1 lower inventory and (aster and more acc"rate decision ma0ing. +hese changes are not j"st con(ined to the high tech end o( man"(act"ring. Emcar1 a clothing man"(act"rer1 changed (rom traditional prod"ction lines to A "tonomo"s Wor0 6ro"psB 8 W6s:1 with individ"al piecewor0 being replaced by a gro"p bon"s. s a res"lt1 absenteeism and labor t"rnover dropped to well below ind"stry norms and prod"ctivity increased. +"rnaro"nd times on average orders were red"ced (rom )5? wee0s to j"st 4.

1(3 /ethodolog%
Employee involvement and empowerment is worldwide applicable techni!"e. +here is no single option (or employee involvement. It incl"des s"ggestion systems1 teams1 (oc"s gro"ps1 s"rveys1 sel(5directed wor0 gro"ps1 incentive programs and more. +he goal is to

determine the most e((ective employee involvement options that will be lin0ed to speci(ic organi,ational goals. In order to implement employee involvement and empowerment to an enterprise the (ollowing 0ey actions need to ta0e placeD 6iving employee the responsibility +raining employee to accept responsibility *omm"nicating and giving (eedbac0 6iving rewards and recognition

Wor0ers today are more and more being as0ed by management to join employee involvement programs in order to improve the !"ality o( their wor0 lives. Management "s"ally ma0es the case that the days o( destr"ctive adversarial labor management relations are over and that a r"thless competitive economic world re!"ires that wor0ers and management cooperate so that both s"rvive. It is in the best interest o( both wor0ers and s"pervisors to increase happiness and satis(action on the job1 beca"se happy and satis(ied employees are prod"ctive employees who ins"re the employer2s pro(it and contin"ed e$istence o( the company and the wor0er2s jobs. In s"ch programs management "s"ally wantsD 1. ccess to the wor0ersI 0nowledge o( the job. 2. *ooperation In the introd"ction o( new technology witho"t protest. 3. Jle$ibility regarding job classi(ications1 wor0 r"les1 job assignments1 the contract (or the p"rpose o( greater e((iciencies. 4. *ontract changes and sometimes contract concessions. I( the o((er o( employee involvement is sincere and valid1 it sho"ld meet the (ollowing si$ conditionsD 1. Management involves the "nion at the highest levels as an e!"al partner (rom planning1 thro"gh implementation1 and eval"ation o( employee Involvement. +he "nion e!"ally selects with management any cons"ltants who are hired to set "p and coordinate employee involvement committee. 2. It is a vol"ntary process (or both "nion and company. +he "nion selects1 elects1 or appoints its representatives on the committees that deal with employee involvement. 3. *ollective bargaining and grievance matters are not a part o( the program. +hese s"bjects remain o"tside o( employee Involvement. 4. Management agrees to the proposition in writing that no wor0ers can be laid o(( or downgraded as a res"lt o( ideas generated by the wor0ers in employee involvement committees. #. Money savings o( employee involvement are shared with wor0ers thro"gh items s"ch as more money in the paychec01 (ree training1 "pgrading1 a shorter wor0wee01 etc. +he "nion and management jointly determine this. ). Management actions on cooperation sho"ld be the same as management words. Management enco"rages a good relationship in ItIs labor relations with the "nion as it sim"ltaneo"sly see0s to settle grievances at the lower levels1 does not (orce the "nion to ta0e tons o( cases to arbitration so as to ban0r"pt the "nion treas"ry1 treats the o((icers and stewards o( the "nion with e!"al respect1 ass"res the ri ght o( stewards to be present at disciplinary interviews1 and does not s"ddenly harass1 press"re1 or (ire "nion representatives +he right hand o( management employee involvement cooperation sho"ld not be chopped o(( by the le(t hand o( management hostility and con(rontation with the "nion. Words and actions m"st be consistent. I( the above terms are not (ollowed by management1 the wor0ers and "nion can !"ite rightly s"spect that employee involvement is a (ra"d designed to wea0en i( not b"st the "nion. I( the "nion believes that employee involvement is not legitimate1 it sho"ld

demand that management accept the si$ conditions o( Employee Involvement o"tlined above1 or e$pose this program as phony and "rge wor0ers not to participate +he "nion sho"ld ed"cate its people1 in the words o( one national "nion1 that illegitimate employee involvement is Kan attempt to create a shop (loor str"ct"re controlled by management1 and p"shing management2s point o( view1 aimed at "ndermining the "nion steward system and bypassing the "nion. +he "ltimate goal is to get rid o( the "nion altogether1 or trans(orm it into a totally company "nion.K

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Alternati&e "echni0ues
+he section e$amines which b"siness strategy o((ers the highest ret"rnsD process re1 engineering1 total 0ualit% management or emplo%ee in&ol&ement. "otal 2ualit% /anagement +"2/,1 (oc"ses on wor0 methods and process control to improve per(ormance. Process Re1engineering employs downsi,ing 8also 0nown as layo((s: to boost e((iciency. mplo%ee In&ol&ement (oc"ses on "pgrading wor0ersI s0ills and 0nowledge to improve e((iciency and c"stomer service. +he winner1 according to a st"dy o( Jort"ne 1CCC (irms by Edward 9awler1 a pro(essor o( management at the Eniversity o( .o"thern *ali(ornia1 is Employee Involvement. KEach o( these three strategies prod"ces an e((ect b"t o"r st"dies indicate that mplo%ee In&ol&ement is stronger driver o( (inancial per(ormance than "2/ or Re1engineering1 he said. 9awler led a E.* research team that compared the 1@@) (iscal ret"rns o( 21) o( the big (irms on a wide range o( (inancial indicators1 (rom sales and e!"ity to assets and stoc0holder investment. It was his (o"rth s"ch st"dy made at three5year intervals since 1@?L. >e (o"nd companies that (oc"sed heavily on "2/ had an average ret"rn on investment o( abo"t 1# percent that was essentially no di((erent (rom those companies that did not ma0e "se o( it. *ompanies that p"shed Re1engineering had an average ret"rn on investment o( 1#.4 percent compared to 13.4 percent (or those in did not. '"t companies that emphasi,ed mplo%ee In&ol&ement had an average ret"rn on investment o( 1@.1 percent1 compared with 1#.2 percent (or those who made little "se o( it. Re1engineering1 9awler said1 K is basically a onetime change. 7o" do it once and it has an impact1 b"t itIs not something yo" can do time a(ter time. 7o" can only downsi,e so m"ch. 7o" canIt downsi,e yo"r way to growthK. In contrast1 he said1 K mplo%ee In&ol&ement1 i( well implemented1 changes the ("ndamental relationship between individ"als and the organi,ation they wor0 (orK. KIt really b"ilds MemployeesN in as a b"siness partner1 so they 0now more and they do more to ma0e the organi,ations s"ccess("l1 partic"larly in ind"stries where the h"man component is important 5 most 0nowledge wor01 high5tech and many 0inds o( service ind"stries1K 9awler said. One alternative to mplo%ee In&ol&ement1 9awler said1 wo"ld be (or E... companies to move to (oreign co"ntries K where wages are lowerK b"t wor0ers overseas K wo"ld add less val"eK to the prod"ct. KItIs hard to (ind people Min the E...N to do low5val"e jobs and not terribly prod"ctive so i( yo" 0eep it Mthe wor0N in the E...1 increasingly the wor0 has to be high val"e to o((set the relatively high wages.K nd that re!"ires mplo%ee In&ol&ementK. K We have moved away (rom K no brainK assembly line wor0. M;owN

wor0ers are adj"sting machines and solving problems instead o( simply p"tting parts togetherK. 9awlerIs st"dy also (o"nd that mplo%ee In&ol&ement Kis a long way (rom being the dominant way in which Jort"ne 1CCC companies are managedK. ;o more than 12 percent o( the labor (orce wor0s in jobs that might be described as high involvement1 so K thereIs de(initely a chance (or mplo%ee in&ol&ement to contin"e to grow. It has not yet reached itIs sat"ration point1K he said.

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xpected Results 4 Benefits

Employee involvement and empowerment approaches aim at enhancing responsibility1 increasing a"thority1 and ma0ing jobs challenging and interesting to employees1 based on their abilities and the needs o( the organi,ation. +he ret"rn on s"ch nominal investments will come in the (orm o( higher levels o( employee motivation1 creativity1 prod"ctivity1 and commitment. *ompanies are chosing to empower people beca"se it ma0es good b"siness sense. Employees on sel(5directed wor0 teams per(orm all the tas0s (ormerly done by managers. cross the world1 companies are loo0ing (or the best approach to the demands (or higher !"ality1 the press"re o( increasing global competition1 the necessity to be more e((icient and prod"ctive1 and the e((ects o( rapid change. ."ccess("l companies believe that the only way to compete is thro"gh employees who per(orm the tas0s that prod"ce a prod"ct or serviceD are in the best position to ens"re and improve its !"ality are best able to lower costs by eliminating waste thro"gho"t the process are in the best position to speed "p their processes by red"cing cycle times are the ideal agents o( change when they are in to"ch with their processes1 trained thro"gh ed"cation and e$perience1 and empowered to act decisively.

P #P5 -IR!" A" !CI"#R %oger Meade1 (o"nder and *EO at .citor1 a company that provides prod"cts and services in program management1 systems engineering1 and c"stomi,ed comp"ter in(ormation systems1 sees his employees as assets1 and he loo0s o"t (or them. >e recogni,es that people can get sic0 so he has instit"ted "nlimited sic0 leave with no lost wages and no trac0ing o( sic0 days ta0en1 and there is a company5paid health care plan1 along with a O114CC ("nd (or each employee (or dental and vision care and "nreimb"rsed medical e$penses. >e recogni,es that his employees have children1 so new mothers get 12 wee0s o( paid maternity leave and the option o( ("ll or part5time wor0 when they ret"rn. Meade "nderstands that job sharing can ma0e sense and that not everyone can be there between ? a.m. and # p.m.1 so his company has job sharing and (le$time and provides bene(its to any employees who wor0 at least 1L.# ho"rs per wee0. >e 0nows his employees li0e to have ("n1 so everybody gets tic0ets (or the local2s team games1 and there are company organi,ed picnics1 s0i trips1 and road rallies. >e 0nows people need to be e$cited abo"t their company1 so he holds an ann"al (iscal year 0ic05o(( meeting in a (irst5class resort that all employees attend. >e pays (or transportation1 (ood1 and lodging (or each employee and his or her g"est (or the three day a((air. Why is Meade so seemingly lavish with his employeesP >e says1 A.citor is o"r people. O"r s"ccess depends on them. Fnowledge resides in their minds and their (eet. +oo many companies (ail to grasp that (eet can wal0 o"t o( the door as easily as they wal0ed in.B

Meade sees his programs as investments not costs. >e ("rther e$plains1 A/eople are yo"r reso"rces. +a0ing care o( people2s needs is the 0ey to prod"ctivity. Every wor05(amily program at .citor is based "pon analysis1 not emotion. O"r bene(its e$ist beca"se they s"pport o"r attract5and5retain objectives. It isn2t being genero"s. nd it certainly isn2t being liberal. It2s simple economics.B .citor has (o"nd1 (or e$ample1 that a O214CC investment to provide sic05care service (or employees2 children saves the company O1L1CCC in lost c"stomer billings. Meade says1 AEverything we do is driven toward increasing o"r competitiveness and prod"ctivity.B Meade2s h"man reso"rce investments seem to be paying o((. +he company has had 13 years o( pro(itable growth. >owever1 Meade sees this s"ccess not as the res"lt o( setting some n"merical goals and wor0ing hard to achieve them. %ather he re("ses to set goals (or growth or pro(itability. >e e$plains1 A/ro(its and growth are a byprod"ct o( doing the job right and (oc"sing on c"stomer satis(action. .atis(y the c"stomers and ma0e them s"ccess("l1 and we2ll be s"ccess("l.B

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Characteristics of firms and ser&ice pro&iders

.everal s"rveys and benchmar0ing (indings reveal the essential role o( cons"ltants in the Emlpoyee Involvement and Empowerment process. *ons"ltantsI help and g"idance may be e$tremely bene(icial in all stages o( this proced"re. +his is d"e to the (act that cons"ltants have the (ollowing attrib"tesD +hey are objective and imm"ne to internal politics. +hey have (ollowed the process be(ore. +hey bring in(ormation and best practices (rom other companies. +hey are good comm"nication paths between (ront line wor0ers and c"stomers1 and the leaders o( the company or organi,ation.

*ons"ltants1 besides their bene(icial !"alities1 can also "nintentionally create barriers byD having the sol"tion being viewed as KtheirsK and not Kyo"rsK ta0ing too strong a lead role and disengaging the organi,ation.

+he cons"ltants may play di((erent roles in the Employee Involvement and Empowerment proced"re1 and this is a matter (or the company to decide always ta0ing into acco"nt the organi,ations needs and the speci(ic approach chosen. +he role o( cons"ltant may beD a strong (acilitator and e$perienced practitioner who brings a methodology with them. a team member< can be an objective and "nbiased contrib"tor to the sol"tion< a s"bject5matter e$pert with 0nowledge o( per(ormance levels and best practices o( similar organi,ations and processes< able to per(orm speci(ic tas0s (or the team.

2
2(1

APP5ICA"I#$
)here the techni0ue has been applied
In the (ollowing sessions1 we will describe how three !"ality leaders bene(it (rom employee involvement. We will e$plore how they address these 0ey !"estionsD

QK>ow do we get people involved in the !"ality improvement processP QK>ow do we 0eep them involvedP QK>ow can we "se teams to improveP Employee involvement1 li0e managing !"ality1 to"ches every other part o( the b"siness management model. >ere1 we will (oc"s on how to initiate and s"stain employee involvement. One o( the (astest growing methods is thro"gh teams1 with many companies moving toward sel(5directed wor0 teams. We will loo0 at how o"r role models "se teams to get the most o"t o( their h"man reso"rces. Initiating and !ustaining mplo%ee In&ol&ement at 5%ondell 9yondell /etrochemical *ompany prod"ces a wide variety o( petrochemicals1 incl"ding ole(ins1 methanol1 polyethylene and polypropylene1 and1 thro"gh an a((iliate1 re(ined petrole"m prod"cts. It has more than 1#CC employees at (o"r man"(act"ring sites in +e$as. Its head!"arters is in >o"ston. In the early 1@?Cs1 tlantic %ich(ield e$ec"tive 'ob 6ower was on a team that s"ggested l"mping together the company2s petrochemical and re(ining operations1 which were loosing money1 and (orming a new company. tlantic %ich(ield called the company 9yondell /etrochemical and as0ed 6ower to r"n it. *hoosing to regard as a challenge an organi,ation that had lost a total o( O2CC million each year (or the past three years1 6ower accepted. .erio"s red in0 was not 6ower2s only problem. +he new company had no assets that set it apart (rom the competition. It had no "ni!"e technologies1 nor did it enjoy any special advantages in the mar0etplace. +he only way it co"ld di((erentiate itsel(1 the only way to ret"rn to pro(itability1 was to improve prod"ctivity. '"t1 as 6ower notes1 AMorale was low and costs were way too highB. +o ma0e matters worse1 9yondell had to b"ild a new management team. AI was told that I co"ld tal0 into joining me.B ;o do"bt tlantic %ich(ield2s leaders (elt pretty sa(e with s"ch a genero"s o((er1 b"t they did not co"nt on 6ower2s pers"asive powers. >e not only p"lled together a management team1 Ab"t the people who came where ris0 ta0ers who believed1 as I did1 that people are the 0ey to a s"ccess("l t"rnaro"ndB. nd 9yondell has s"cceeded. In 1@?@1 Jort"ne ran0ed 9yondell (irst in sales per employee among all ind"strial companies in the Enited .tates. It earned the same honor again in 1@@C and 1@@1. It received 'aldrige site visits in 1@@1 and 1@@2. nd in 1@@31 it was identi(ied as one o( the 1CC best companies to wor0 (or in the Enited .tates. +he 0ey to 9yondell2s s"ccess has been employee involvement. Employee involvement begins with a change in management2s attit"de. 9yondell2s leaders t"rned to employee involvement beca"se they 0new 9yondell wo"ld have contin"ed to lose money witho"t it1 and beca"se they believed that most people want to do their jobs well1 are pro"d o( their wor01 have val"able ideas to share1 and want responsibility. The Process of Empowerment Empowerment at 9yondell begins withD QK willingness by managers and s"pervisors to give others responsibility. QK+raining s"pervisors and employees in how to delegate and accept responsibility. QK*omm"nication and (eedbac0 to tell people how they are doing. QK%eward and recognition.

Giving Employees Responsibility >ere2s how they do it. 9yondell helps its managers and s"pervisors t"rn over responsibility thro"gh a two5day training co"rse called AManaging the 9yondell WayB. +he co"rse identi(ies ten 0ey management behaviors that 9yondell Ral"esD 1. 9ow5cost prod"ction 2. 3"ality 3. Entreprene"ship and innovation 4. ction orientation #. %ecognition that people are the di((erence ). %esponsibility and acco"ntability in all jobs L. +eamwor0 ?. *omm"nication @. .a(ety o( people 1C. .ocial responsibility and ethics +he co"rse covers what to comm"nicate (or each behavior1 what actions to ta0e1 and how to (ollow "p and monitor progress. Many o( the actions enco"rage employee involvement. Jor e$ample1 one o( the !"ality actions Ainvolves employees in achieving and improving !"ality per(ormanceB. Jor entreprene"rship and innovation1 managers are told to Aenco"rage others to "se so"nd1 creative tho"gh and action that can lead to innovationsB. Jor people are the di((erence1 managers m"st Aass"re that people "nderstand their responsibility to ma0e the greatest1 most positive di((erence they canB. +he behaviors and actions overlap1 (orming a c"ltral web that de(ines contin"o"s improvement (or 9yondell. AOne o( the greatest strengths o( SManaging the 9yondell Way2 is integration. It wor0s as a whole1B says -avid 9indsay1 manager o( /"rchasing and !"ality. Training Employee to Accept Responsibility +his second part o( empowerment at 9yondell is o(ten overloo0ed in a company2s eagerness to empower. Managers soon discover that most people lac0 the s0ills or e$perience they need to ta0e responsibility1 ma0e decisions1 and act con(idently. /eople need to be trained in their new roles1 given opport"nities to s"cceed1 and enco"raged. +he transition will be (aster (or some than others< a (ew will never ma0e it. When yo" become empowered1 yo" get additional responsibility1 and some people don2t want that. Communicating and Giving Feedbac 9yondell provides (eedbac01 the third part o( empowerment1 (re!"ently and in a variety o( ways. +eams are given (eedbac0 at every meeting. Each team has a management sponsor who provides s"pport and advice. Managers and s"pervisors are trained in giving (eedbac0 d"ring the AManaging the 9yondell WayB co"rse. +eams ma0e presentations on their progress1 and management o((ers on5the5spot (eedbac0. ll these opport"nities and more are enco"raged as integral to contin"o"s improvement. Giving Rewards and Recognition 9yondell ties its rewards and recognition1 the (o"rth part o( empowerment1 to the behaviors identi(ied in AManaging the 9yondell WayB. In place o( ann"al per(ormance reviews1 employees participate in more (re!"ent dialog"e sessions with their s"pervisors. +he sessions (oc"s on lin0ing employee activities to the company2s res"lts. Employee contrib"tions to 9yondell2s !"ality and per(ormance objectives are honored in a host o( recognition programs.

mpo'erment at A"7" Consumer /ar8et Di&ision +T+ *ons"mer Mar0et -ivision 8*M-: provides long5distance comm"nications services to primarily residential c"stomers1 n"mbering more than ?C million. +he largest "nit o( +T+1 has L# million daily transactions with c"stomers1 more than @C percent o( whom rate the overall !"ality o( *M-2s services as good or e$cellent. *M-2s head!"arters is in ;ew =ersey. +he division employs appro$imately 44CCC employees. *M- won the 'aldridge ward in 1@@4 as +T+ *ons"mer *omm"nications .ervices. With operations and (ield personnel scattered across E.1 +T+ *M- needed a way to enco"rage individ"al initiative and sel(5directed responsibility witho"t compromising the integrity o( its comm"nication networ0. *M- accomplished this delicate tas0 thro"gh si$ interconnected approachesD 1. *ommon 'ond 2. s0 3"estions 3. /rocess Management +eams 4. 3"ality Improvement +eams #. *orrective and /reventive ction .ystem ). *omm"nication *ommon 'ond is +T+2s statement o( val"es1 created in 1@@2. +he company relied heavily on internal (oc"s gro"ps and e$ternal e$pertise to develop a ("ndamental slate o( val"es that co"ld drive behaviors. +T+2s *ommon 'ond isD !e commit to these values to guide our decisions and behavior" QKRespect for individuals QKDedication to helping customers QK#ighest standards of integrity QK$nnovation Teamwor +o internali,e these val"es1 +T+ cond"cted employee (oc"s gro"ps to tal0 abo"t what the val"es meant to them and how the val"es co"ld g"ide their decisions and behavior. 9eadership teams were as0ed to tal0 to their people abo"t what the val"es meant to them. +he *ommon 'ond was p"blished and widely distrib"ted thro"gho"t the organi,ation. '"t the real test wasD -oes it ma0e a di((erence in how people actP Will they "se it in their daily wor0P +he val"es have really become embedded in the organi,ations1 b"t it wasn2t that way in the beginning. ;ow it2s not "n"s"al at meetings to hear someone say1 AIn the spirit o( *ommon 'ond1 I thin0 we need to consider another viewpoint. While the *ommon 'ond became *M-2s common lang"age1 the A s0 3"estionsB program provided more speci(ic g"idance. n organi,ation cannot empower employees to ta0e initiative witho"t g"idelines abo"t acceptable and "nacceptable actions. In *M-2s case1 technicians co"ld easily create problems in the networ0 j"st by wor0ing on things. +o help prevent this (rom happening1 *M- created a program (or employees to as0 themselves !"estions in eight areas. +he !"estions incl"deD QKWhy am I doing thisP QK>ave I noti(ied everybody directly a((ected by this wor0P QK*an I prevent or control service interr"ptionsP QKIs this the right time (or the wor0P QK>ave I been trained or am I !"ali(ied to do this wor0P s with the *ommon 'ond val"es1 *M- has internali,ed the s0 3"estions program in a variety o( ways1 b"t the most e((ective has been its real5li(e application.

'y remaining tr"e to *ommon 'ond and s0 3"estions1 *M- has created a c"lt"re in which employees "nderstand how they are e$pected to behave witho"t being told e$actly what to do in every sit"ation. +he shared vision provided by *ommon 'ond and the g"idelines inhered in s0 3"estions allow *M- to give employees the (reedom and responsibility to do their jobs to the best o( their ability. Employees do this by managing their processes. +here are si$ ("ndamental processes at the top o( the organi,ation1 which then brea0 down into ro"ghly #C s"b5processes. .ome o( those s"b5processes are ("rther s"bdivided. +here e$ist aro"nd 12# /rocess Management +eams 8/M+s: in place to contin"o"sly e$amine o"r 0ey processes1 identi(y metrics1 ma0e s"re the metrics are aligned with c"stomer e$pectations1 and do contin"o"s improvement. /M+s are ongoing and contin"o"s. Membership rotates1 drawing on people who are involved in the wor0 o( the process. When a /M+ identi(ies an area (or improvement1 la"nches a 3"ality Improvement +eam that typically incl"des members o( the /M+ pl"s others in the organi,ation. +he 3"ality Improvement +eam addresses the area to improve1 which may ta0e a co"ple o( meetings or several months1 a(ter which the team is disbanded. Employees who identi(y opport"nities (or improvement are enco"raged to "se the *orrective and /reventive ction .ystem to elevate the iss"e. 9ocal iss"es are handled locally1 b"t i( the iss"e a((ects the networ01 it typically goes to a /M+. s organi,ations get (latter by empowering (rontline people to ta0e more responsibility1 their needs (or comm"nication change. +he process o( moving in(ormation m"st also be analy,ed and improved1 i( that in(ormation is to reach the right people when they need it. *M- comm"nicates thro"gh (oc"s gro"ps1 training1 newsletters1 wor0 instr"ctions1 and other (ormal methods. Involvement in /M+s and 3"ality Improvement +eams also helps comm"nicate the vision and policies o( the organi,ation. *M- has an internal video broadcast networ0 to 0eep technicians "p5to5date1 and is c"rrently e!"ipping technicians with laptop comp"ters (or the same p"rpose. ll these means o( comm"nication s"pplement the in(ormal methods that help de(ine a c"lt"re. 'ased on *M-2s high c"stomer satis(action1 the strength o( its management system1 and the shared vision o( its employees1 *M-2s c"lt"re re(lects a *ommon 'ond. ADAC9s "eam'or8 Approach - * 9aboratories designs1 man"(act"res1 mar0ets1 and s"pports prod"cts (or n"clear5 medicine imaging1 radiation5therapy planning1 and managing health care in(ormation. - * has installed abo"t #CCC systems at more than 2#CC hospitals1 clinics1 and other sites aro"nd the world. Most o( - *2s LCC employees are based at its corporate head!"arters and prod"ction (acility in *ali(ornia1 or at o((ices in >o"ston. - * won the 'aldrige ward in 1@@). t - *1 most wor0ers participate on highly empowered ("nction and&or process teams1 and all man"(act"ring employees are members o( sel(5directed wor0 teams. +hro"gho"t the co"rse o( a year1 every - * employee is on at least one team. .el(5directed wor0 teams are1 typically1 gro"ps o( 4 to 2# people1 drawn (rom within a ("nction or department1 who wor0 with a high degree o( a"tonomy to prod"ce a complete component or to per(orm a partic"lar service. +he concept o( sel(5directed wor0 teams was introd"ced in the mid51@2Cs and more thoro"ghly developed in the late 1@#Cs. +he =apanese have been leaders in instit"tionali,ing the concept1 having learned abo"t it (rom I'M. In 1@?41 +oyota had #?CC sel(5directed wor0 teams.

+he members o( sel(5directed wor0 teams are typically cross5trained to per(orm most or all o( the jobs in the team2s area. +hey monitor !"ality1 sched"le wor01 control costs1 plan1 hire1 interact with c"stomers and vendors1 and handle discipline. Most members need e$tensive training and enco"ragement to handle s"ch a wide range o( activities. - *2s ("nction teams (oc"s on a speci(ic ("nction1 s"ch as acco"nts payable< the process teams encompass many ("nctions. ny manager at any level can (orm a process team. +he only stip"lation is that the team m"st address a strategic need or imperative. s with +T+ *ons"mer Mar0ets -ivision1 - * ma0es s"re employees 0now which direction their actions sho"ld ta0e. Methods o( comm"nication incl"deD QK+he company2s planning meetings1 which (eat"re disc"ssions o( all areas o( the b"siness are open to all employees. Employees come to meetings that interest them. +he meetings ta0e place over (o"r days1 every !"arter. QKWee0ly c"stomer !"ality meetings1 also open to all employees1 incl"de a review o( large amo"nts o( data on how things are going at - *2s sites. QK n operational data and per(ormance meeting1 where the (oc"s is internal1 is also open to employees and enjoys the same levels o( participation. QK3"arterly all5employee meetings (oc"s on the state o( the company1 incl"ding c"rrent (inancial in(ormation. +he e((ectiveness o( - *2s e((orts to empower its employees is meas"rableD (rom 1@@C to 1@@# company reven"es nearly tripled< de(ect rates (ell by 4C percent< c"stomer retention rates have risen (rom LC percent in 1@@C to @3 percent in 1@@#.

2(2

"%pes of firms 4 organi:ations concerned

Whether we re(er to a company in the hospitality ind"stry1 a government agency in the p"blic sector or any other type o( organi,ation1 when loo0ing (or opport"nities to enhance operational per(ormance1 there "s"ally is no need to loo0 any ("rther than the people who 0now the operations best1 the employees o( the organi,ation. +hey tr"ly represent the organi,ation2s most val"able asset. nd1 there(ore1 they also are among its most important c"stomers. ny organi,ation that ignores1 or is non5responsive1 to the needs o( its most important c"stomers1 has1 in e((ect1 p"lled the pl"g on its own li(e s"pport system. In this sense1 employee involvement and empowerment co"ld be applied to all (irms 8man"(act"ring1 retailers1 services1 etc: and p"blic organi,ations as well.

2(3

Duration and Implementation cost

+he Employee Involvement and Empowerment techni!"e is an ongoing process that never ends. 'eca"se Employee Involvement is a management tool1 anyone can "se it witho"t major changes in any 0ind o( an organi,ation. It re!"ires the same changes in attit"de and in c"lt"re as all the other management tools and techni!"es "sed in +otal 3"ality Management. +he only prere!"isite is that the organi,ation m"st have ed"cated people that can "se the techni!"e1 and in most cases there is a need (or some cons"ltants wor0 at the (irst steps. +here is no need (or additional e!"ipment. Jinally1 the only major cost associating with the implementation o( the techni!"e is the cost (or the training o( employees to "se the new techni!"e.

2(4

uropean #rgani:ations supporting the implementation of the techni0ue

+he "ropean -o"ndation (or 2"ality /anagement 8EJ3M: was (o"nded in 1@?? by the /residents o( 14 major E"ropean companies1 with the endorsement o( the E"ropean *ommission. +he present membership is in e$cess o( )CC organisations ranging (rom major m"ltinationals and important national companies to research instit"tes in prominent E"ropean "niversities. EJ3M2s mission isD to stim"late and assist organisations thro"gho"t E"rope to participate in improvement activities leading "ltimately to e$cellence in c"stomer satis(action1 employee satis(action1 impact on society and b"siness res"lts< and to s"pport the managers o( E"ropean organisations in accelerating the process o( ma0ing +otal 3"ality Management a decisive (actor (or achieving global competitive advantage. Increasingly1 organisations in E"rope accept that +otal 3"ality Management is a way o( managing activities to gain e((iciency1 e((ectiveness and competitive advantage thereby ens"ring longer term s"ccess 5 meeting the needs o( their c"stomers1 employees1 (inancial and other sta0eholders and the comm"nity at large. +he implementation o( +otal 3"ality Management programmes can achieve signi(icant bene(its s"ch as increased e((iciency1 red"ced costs and greater satis(action1 all leading to better b"siness res"lts. +he EJ3M 8 nne$: has a 0ey role to play in enhancing the e((ectiveness and e((iciency o( E"ropean organisations by rein(orcing the importance o( !"ality in all aspects o( their activities and stim"lating and assisting the development o( !"ality improvement.

3
3(1

I/P5

/ $"A"I#$ PR#C D;R !

!teps 4 Phases
."ccess("l employee involvement re!"ires leaders&managers toD Initiate and maintain the process o( involvement T provide access to reso"rces that people need in order to contrib"te. It is only when involvement is practiced e((ectively that h"man commitment and creativity will ("el process improvement. -acilitating mplo%ee In&ol&ement Most managers want to have their employees involved in improving the b"siness1 or at least to be an active participant in helping the b"siness meet its objectives. In many organi,ations1 however1 this is not tr"e (or all employees. In every organi,ation it2s possible to identi(y people who ma0e things happen1 and others who are along (or the ride. It2s possible to identi(y people who are well s"ited (or the wor0 they are doing1 and who enjoy their wor01 and others who seem to enjoy their wor0 less1 and perhaps are not so well s"ited (or it. Jacilitating employee involvement re!"ires recogni,ing the val"e o( each individ"al1 "nderstanding h"man motivations1 assigning people to positions in which they can be s"ccess("l1 and listening to employees.

One o( the most important tas0s (aced by any management team is motivating it2s organi,ation2s members. Enderstanding what it ta0es to motivate people is an important element o( empowerment. Enderstanding motivation is not simple. We all have di((erent motivations. +he sit"ation is complicated d"e to lac0 o( simple answers de(ining what motivates people. .everal models describe h"man motivation. +he two that come closest to modeling h"man behaviors are Maslow2s hierarchy o( needs and Mc*lelland2s more contemporary model (or describing motivation. What these theories mean is that we empower people (or a p"rpose1 and this p"rpose is to allow them to do their jobs in a more e((icient1 higher !"ality1 and1 hope("lly1 more enjoyable manner. +o implement +3M thro"gh employee involvement and empowerment1 one has to recogni,e the individ"al motivations and create an environment that allows individ"als to satis(y these motivations. 5istening< A Basic In&ol&ement "ool 9istening is one o( the most e((ective tools managers can "se to promote employee involvement. +his may so"nd trivial1 b"t it is not. 9istening to h"man being is a power("l involvement tool. It helps the spea0er (eel that the person listening wants to "nderstand what the spea0er has to say. It enco"rages people to open "p1 and to become involved. I( no one listens1 people won2t become involved1 beca"se they will recogni,e that no one val"es their opinions. Most techni!"es (or e((ective listening are really no more than common sense and good manners. +he (irst1 and perhaps most obvio"s1 is to listen. When someone is spea0ing1 listeners sho"ld re(rain (rom spea0ing. Imagine what wo"ld happen i( a manager as0ed an employee (or an opinion on something1 and as soon as the employee started to spea01 the manager j"mped in and e$plained the ArealB problem and what needed to be done to (i$ it. When this occ"rs1 in one act management is sim"ltaneo"sly telling the employee that his or her opinion is val"eless1 management has all the answers1 and no one really cares what the employee thin0s. +he ne$t step in good listening is to as0 !"estions1 b"t to do so in a non5threatening and open 5 ended manner. ."ppose a wor0 center is prod"cing an "nacceptably high n"mber o( non5con(orming parts. One approach to soliciting employee inp"t in s"ch a sit"ation is to as0 the employees1 AWhat 0ind o( tools do yo" need to ma0e yo"r job easierPB. +his is a good approach1 as it does no hammer the employees (or prod"cing non5con(orming materials1 it clearly conveys management commitment to s"pport the wor0 center with whatever it needs to contin"o"sly improve1 and it ind"ces the employees to start spea0ing "p abo"t needed improvements. nother approach1 and one that sho"ld be avoided1 is to as01 AWhat are yo" doing wrongP Why are yo" ma0ing so many non5con(orming partsPB. +his sort o( negative !"estioning is threatening1 and (ew o( "s are eager to share what we are doing AwrongB with management. It is also a good idea to as0 !"estions (rom time to time when employees are e$plaining their ideas (or improving an operation to ass"re that yo" "nderstand what they are saying. nother topic has to do with ta0ing notes. +here are two schools o( tho"ght here. ;ote5 ta0ing can be an intimidating thing1 it tends to ma0e the dialog"e more Ao((icialB1 and (or that reason1 it may inhibit the spea0er. In the other hand1 it ("rther rein(orces commitment to ("lly "nderstanding what the employees have to say.

9ast aspect on listening has to do with s"mmari,ing what yo" thin0 yo" have heard. +his will help ma0e s"re yo" have heard what the employee has to say and gives the employee an opport"nity to correct any misperceptions on yo"r part. !uggestion Programs< Another In&ol&ement "ool Many organi,ations "se (ormal s"ggestion programs with varying degrees o( s"ccess as a tool to (acilitate listening to employee s"ggestions. +he (ormat (or these programs "s"ally involves s"ggestion bo$es and (orms thro"gho"t the (acility1 with periodic management review o( s"ggestions and (eedbac0 to the people ma0ing the s"ggestions. Many companies have also incentivi,ed the process1 o((ering cash or other awards (or approved cost red"ction or !"ality improvement s"ggestions. s"ggestion program1 however1 is no s"bstit"te (or listening directly to employees abo"t their ideas (or improvements. It2s one thing to p"t "p a (ew s"ggestion bo$es and hope (or inp"t. It2s !"ite another to actively and directly solicit inp"t (rom employees. 5ife after 5istening< )hat Comes $ext= +he most important element o( listening to employees1 either thro"gh (ormal s"ggestion programs or simply meeting with employees to hear their s"ggestions1 is (ollowing "p on every s"ggestion and improvement recommendation. ;ot every s"ggestion will be implemented1 b"t all sho"ld be answered. +he simple act o( listening to employees raises their e$pectations (or improvement. 9istening and then (ailing to provide (eedbac0 on the stat"s o( a s"ggestion or improvement idea is probably worse than not listening at all. I( managers don2t listen1 employees will only s"spect that management doesn2t val"e their ideas. I( managers listen and then (ail to provide any (eedbac01 the s"spicion will be con(irmed. .ometimes managers are a(raid to provide a negative response to an employee recommendation. It has been observed that most employees are not o((ended by a rejection o( their s"ggestions i( the idea is not (easible1 the reasons (or the rejection are e$plained1 and the e$planation is o((ered in a constr"ctive and appreciative manner. Jacilitating employee involvement re!"ires all the topics disc"ssed above1 pl"s willingness (or management to cede some o( its a"thority to s"bordinates. mplo%ee In&ol&ement in Continuous Process Impro&ements +he (irst step in eliminating variations is to get in(ormation abo"t problemsD what they are and where they are. It has been mentioned that beca"se o( their (amiliarity with the trans(ormation process1 shop (loor employees can almost always identi(y ca"ses (or assignable variation and determine how to eliminate those problems. +he important !"estion1 tho"gh1 is what employees do with the in(ormation they collect. I( this in(ormation is "tili,ed properly1 it can contrib"te signi(icantly to the (irm2s contin"o"s improvement e((orts. Jor e$ample1 +oyota1 rather than hiring o"tside cons"ltants to improve its prod"ction process1 relies heavily on its employees to devise ways o( doing jobs more e((iciently. In 1@@C employee gro"ps red"ced total prod"ction time by 3C seconds per car while s"staining a high level o( !"ality.

>i&ing people the change to spar8le Oral5' 9aboratories Ireland has developed into a world5class man"(act"rer by releasing the potential o( its employees. chieving world5class man"(act"ring 8W*M: stat"s is all very well1 b"t what e$actly does it meanP t its simplest1 W*M is a collection o( techni!"es which contrib"te signi(icantly to the per(ormance o( an organi,ation. t Oral5'1 we de(ine a W*M as a learning organi,ation that achieves total !"ality thro"gh Kemployee energi,ingK. sel(5learning c"lt"re has to (ind ways to "se learning processes to promote lateral thin0ing and so mobili,e employeesI creative potential. +he res"lts o( learning are seen in contin"o"s improvements in process e((iciencies. One o( o"r more stri0ing e$amples is the way in which a project team translated lateral thin0ing into a new prod"ct1 Eltra(loss1 which was la"nched worldwide. +his Kbr"shyK (loss is prod"ced by a machine originally designed (or a totally di((erent p"rpose. We may not have an %T- department1 b"t we do have bright people prepared to wor0 hard. O"r e((orts to b"ild a learning organi,ation have been directed towards stim"lating a 0ey set o( responses1 ill"strated by this cycleD 5oo8ing ? !eeing ? Caring ? Doing Oral5' IrelandIs s"ccess did not happen overnight. .ince the (irst day o( operation1 !"ality awareness was instilled in o"r wor0ing systems1 and we have since s"cceeded in ta0ing !"ality (or granted. 3"ality awareness is achieved when employees progress (rom simply loo0ing at a prod"ct or process to act"ally seeing it1 then caring eno"gh to do something to improve it. ."ccess means better prod"ct !"ality1 better wor0 ethics and greater employee commitment to improved c"stomer service. W*M organi,ation involves employees in their own wor0 process1 and devolves responsibility (or its !"ality to them. In doing so1 it ass"mes a distinct personality. Employees identi(y with this Kcorporate personalityK and recogni,e themselves as being part o( it. +his greatly enhances the changes o( achieving corporate goals. We have moved beyond employee involvement 5 o"r goal is employee energi,ing. +he 0ey elements are removing barriers1 enacting action learning1 energi,ing employees and (oc"sing on response times. We recogni,e that the energy employees p"t into their job is related to strength o( needs1 the level o( e$pectancy and the relationship between e((ort and the (inal res"lt. +o ens"re the s"ccess("l implementation o( W*M1 essential (o"ndation stones m"st be laid to s"pport the learning in(rastr"ct"re. Organi,ations m"st "nderstand where they are and where they want to be. +hese need to en"nciate val"es which inspire pride in oneIs wor0 and release individ"al talents. +hey m"st be comm"nicated in s"ch a way that their meaning is relevant and inspiring (or all employees1 and there m"st be evidence o( a movement towards the mission statementIs objectives by the organi,ation. We m"st there(ore be able to ga"ge per(ormance and meas"re it against the re!"irements o( o"r c"stomers and o"r objectives. +he 0ey to improving !"ality is to (oc"s on the process involved1 identi(y per(ormance (actors1 provide tools (or improving the process and meas"re progress against per(ormance criteria.

3(2

A -e' #bstacles and Recommended !olutions

Obstacles to employee involvement and empowerment and relative recommendations on avoiding or overcoming them1 concernD

(1) Negativism in reviewing employee recommendations for improvement. I( the idea does not ma0e sense1 e$plain why in honest terms. I( employees are adamant abo"t the improvement recommendation2s so"ndness1 reconsider it with an open mind. We2ve seen more than a (ew improvement recommendations implemented a(ter initially being disapproved. Management negativism can creep into a disc"ssion in strange ways. *onsider what happens when management is e$posed to a very signi(icant employee recommended improvement1 and then comments1 AI can2t believe we didn2t see this soonerB. What happens to the employees who developed the improvementP +hey will probably (eel inade!"ate (or not having developed the idea sooner. What happens to the employees2 managers and s"pervisorsP +hey (eel even more threatened. (ter all1 they managed and s"pervised the now recogni,ed to be ine((icient area1 be(ore the contin"o"s improvement recommendation came to light. *omments o( this sort are very deleterio"s to a contin"o"s improvement e((ort1 and m"st be avoided. (2) Fear is another strong negative motivation1 and it sho"ld also be avoided. Management e$perts all over the world are in agreement on this s"bject. -eming even lists it as one o( his major !"ality points. ny employee involvement and empowerment e((ort that is attempted over a (o"ndation o( (ear will collapse. (3) Failure to respond to employee recommendations is another s"re5(ire way to 0ill an employee involvement and empowerment e((ort. I( management does not ac0nowledge employee recommendations1 employees will rapidly concl"de that management has no interest in their ideas. Management m"st ac0nowledge all improvement recommendations1 incl"ding the ones that are not deemed (easible. (4) Punish anyone as a result of a continuous improvement recommendation. While this seems so "nli0ely a co"rse o( action as a hardly be worth mentioning. 9et2s consider the earlier e$amples. ."ppose a manager comments that a s"ggestion ma0es goods sense1 b"t e$presses disappointment that the idea had not been recogni,ed and implemented earlier. *omments o( that nat"re are essentially reprimands1 and sho"ld be avoided at all costs. *ontin"o"s improvement will res"lt in improved e((iciencies1 and improved e((iciencies o(ten mean the elimination o( positions within an organi,ation. >arley5-avidson1 a premier motorcycle man"(act"rer1 recogni,ed this potential detractor early in their mid5 1@?Cs contin"o"s improvement and pro(itability t"rnaro"nd. >arley5-avidson solve the problem by wor0ing in concert with their labor "nion to e((ectively prevent the elimination o( jobs mandated by e((iciency improvements. >arley5-avidson2s approach was to p"ll in wor0 (ormerly s"bcontracted to other companies1 thereby creating more jobs within >arley5-avidson1 to 0eep those displaced by e((iciency improvements on the payroll. +he approach is wor0ing well. +he bottom line is that organi,ations see0ing to involve and empower their employees in an ongoing !"est (or contin"o"s improvement m"st recogni,e that positions may be eliminated as a res"lt o( the improved e((iciencies 8and employees will 0now this:. +he organi,ation has to have an approach (or allaying these (ears.

BIB5I#>RAP@IC R

- R $C !

1. 'ec01 =oseph T ."san1 "2/< Implementing Continuous Impro&ement1 .terling /"blishing *o1 ;ew 7or01 1@@3.

2. 'o"nds1 6regory1 -obbins1 6regory and Jowler1 Oscar1 /anagement< A "otal 2ualit% Perspecti&e1 International +homson /"blishing1 Ohio1 1@@#. 3. 6eorge1 .tephen T Weimers0irch1 rnold1 "otal 2ualit% /anagement1 =ohn Willey T .ons1 ;ew 7or01 1@@4. 4. >rades0y1 =ac01 "otal 2ualit% /anagement @andboo81 Mc56raw >ill1 ;ew 7or01 1@@#. #. ;oori1 >amid T %ad(ord1 %"ssell1 Production and #perations /anagement1 Mc5 6raw >ill1 ;ew 7or01 1@@#. ). /i0e1 =ohn T 'arnes1 %ichard1 "2/ in Action1 *hapman T >all1 9ondon1 1@@4. L. %yan1 =oe1 6iving people the chance to spar0le1 People /anagement1 ="ne1 1@@?1 p.p. 4C542.

Annex 1< "he -2/ xcellence /odel

"he need for a model %egardless o( sector1 si,e1 str"ct"re or mat"rity1 to be s"ccess("l1 organisations need to establish an appropriate management system. +he EJ3M E$cellence Model is a practical tool to help organisations do this by meas"ring where they are on the path to E$cellence< helping them "nderstand the gaps< and then stim"lating sol"tions. +he EJ3M is committed to researching and "pdating the Model with the inp"ts o( tested good practices (rom tho"sands o( organisations both within and o"tside o( E"rope. In this way we ens"re the model remains dynamic and in line with c"rrent management thin0ing. "he -undamental Concepts of xcellence +he EJOM Model is a non5prescriptive (ramewor0 that recognises there are many approaches to achieving s"stainable e$cellence. Within this non5prescriptive approach there are some J"ndamental *oncepts which "nderpin the EJ3M Model. +hese are e$pressed below. +here is no signi(icance intended in the order o( the concepts. +he list is not meant to be e$ha"stive and they will change as e$cellent organisations develop and improve. Results %rientation& E$cellence is dependent "pon balancing and satis(ying the needs o( all relevant sta0eholders 8this incl"des the people employed1 c"stomers1 s"ppliers and society in general as well as those with (inancial interests in the organisation:. Customer Focus. +he c"stomer is the (inal arbiter o( prod"ct and service !"ality and c"stomer loyalty1 retention and mar0et share gain are best optimised thro"gh a clear (oc"s on the needs o( c"rrent and potential c"stomers. 'eadership ( Constancy of Purpos& +he behavio"r o( on organisation2s leaders creates a clarity and "nity o( p"rpose within the organisation and an environment in which the organisation and its people can e$cel. )anagement by Processes ( Fact& Organisations per(orm more e((ectively when all inter5related activities are "nderstood and systematically managed and decisions concerning c"rrent operations and planned. Improvements are made "sing reliable in(ormation that incl"des sta0eholder perceptions. People Development ( $nvolvement. +he ("ll potential o( an organisation2s people is best released thro"gh shared val"es and a c"lt"re o( tr"st and empowerment1 which enco"rages the involvement o( everyone. Continuous 'earning* $nnovation ( $mprovement& Organisational per(ormance is ma$imised when it is based on the management and sharing o( 0nowledge within a c"lt"re o( contin"o"s learning1 innovation and improvement. Partnership Development& n organisation wor0s more e((ectively when it has m"t"ally bene(icial relationships1 b"ilt on tr"st1 sharing o( 0nowledge and integration1 with its /artners. Public Responsibilitry& +he long5term interest o( the organisation and its people are best served by adopting an ethical approach and e$ceeding the e$pectations and reg"lations o( the comm"nity at large.

Annex 2< xhibits

xhibit 1< mplo%ee In&ol&ement 7 mpo'erment Put senior management in 9et managers gain an empathy with employees. +his e$ercise helps the shoes of those to be managers "nderstand what employees need to do their job well empo'ered >i&e emplo%ees authorit% Employees m"st act"ally have the a"thority to ma0e decisions witho"t managers second g"essing or reviewing what they did. I( they ma0e mista0es1 it is an opport"nity to learn and improve. /a8e emplo%ees feel Managers m"st s"pport the decisions o( their employees and provide comfortable 'ith decision them with (eedbac0 to help them improve their decision5ma0ing abilities. ma8ing Pro&ide emplo%ees 'ith the >aving the a"thority to ma0e decisions will not do m"ch good i( employees do not have in(ormation and other reso"rces to move ahead in resources to sol&e problems an intelligent manner. @elp middle managers 'eca"se empowerment threatens middle managers who m"st relin!"ish facilitateA not punish a"thority1 they m"st see that their jobs now involve managing employees2 s0ill levels1 not their decisions. Middle managers now serve as coaches1 not bosses.

xhibit 2< "he difference in attitudes to'ards mplo%ee In&ol&ement and mpo'erment bet'een the traditional hierarchical management approach and the "2/ approach #&erall perception of emplo%ees -inancial assets Ph%sical assets Business information 5e&el of authorit% "raditional /anagement Approach .ome employees might be careless or sloppy. .ome might be dishonest. +he company m"st protect itsel( and cannot rely on its people "thori,ation (or ("nds depends on level in management hierarchy. M"ltiple signat"res re!"ired /ass0eys provided only to managers and to designated employees "2/ Approach ll employees are to be tr"sted and respected. 9oyalty drives everyone to sa(eg"ard company materials. Ethics and integrity "n!"estioned person2s job needs1 not position1 de(ine a"thori,ation (or handling ("nds

ny employee can access any place. .a(ety practices will be (ollowed1 i( appropriate .ensitive in(ormation is available only to ny employee can access any managers and designated employees in(ormation Employees and managers can only ma0e Employees have a"thority to solve decisions or solve problems with the problems and ma0e improvements approval o( their manager regarding their wor0 in concert with company mission and processes