Chapter 8: Employees

Question 1

Employee empowerment: what is it?

Answer 1

Empowerment means engaging / involving employees in the thinking process of an organization in ways that matter

Empowerment means having input that is heard and used and it means giving employees ownership of jobs

Empowerment requires a change in organizational culture, but it doesn’t mean that managers abdicate their responsibility or authority

Question 2

Rationale for employee empowerment

Answer 2

1. best way to increase creative thinking and initiative –> excellent way to enhance an organization’s competitiveness
2. outstanding motivator

Question 3

Inhibitors of empowerment

Answer 3

1. resistance from employee
   - WOHCAO syndrome (skeptic)
2. resistance from management
   - fear of losing control
   - I’m the boss syndrome
   - status
   - fear of exclusion
3. workforce readiness
   - Empowerment will fail quickly if employees are not ready to be empowered –> the more highly educated, the more ready they are
4. organizational structure
   Employees will become frustrated if their ideas have to work their way through a maze before reaching a decision maker. Prompt feedback is essential.

Question 4

Management’s role in empowerment

Answer 4

1. Commitment:
   being consistently supportive of empowerment and reinforcing it in tangible ways
2. Leadership:
   promoting empowerment by being a consistent role model, mentor and trainer
3. Facilitation:
   Monitoring constantly to ensure that employees are being empowered and acting quickly on employee recommendations

Question 5

Steps in implementing empowerment

Answer 5

1. create a supportive environment
   so that risk taking and individual initiative is encouraged
2. target and overcome inhibitors
3. put the vehicles into place
   - brainstorming
   - nominal group technique
   - quality circles
   - suggestion box
   - walking and talking
4. assess, adjust and improve

Question 6

Brainstorming

Answer 6

Idea collection - evaluation -recommendation

groupthink and groupshift can undermine the effectiveness of brainstorming and other group techniques
- Groupthink:
people in a group focus more on reaching a decision than on making a good decision
- Groupshift:
group members exaggerate their initial position, hoping that the eventual decision will be what they really want

Question 7

NGT

Answer 7

Nominal group technique is a form of sophisticated brainstorming

1. state the problem
2. silently record ideas (free and open thinking, no judgmental comments or peer pressure)
3. publicly record ideas of group (each member shares one idea, repeated until all ideas are recorded)
4. clarify ideas (ideas are explained, no further justifications are allowed, no comments by others are allowed)
5. silently vote on ideas

Question 8

Quality circles

Answer 8

Group of employees (volunteers) that meet regularly for identifying, recommending and making workplace improvements.

Question 9

MBWA

Answer 9

management by walking around
- managers walk on the work floor and talk to workers
- asking the right questions, preferably open-ended questions

Question 10

How to recognize the empowered employee

Answer 10

1. waiting to be told VS taking initiative
2. seeing only problems VS seeing opportunities
3. accepting input at face values VS thinking critically
4. pass decisions up line VS building consensus for solutions

Question 11

How to avoid errors in empowerment

Answer 11

1. clearly define what empowerment means in the organization
2. provide empowerment training for all personnel
3. do not rush or become impatient

Question 12

Employee enlistment

Answer 12

Enlistment is empowerment in which ownership is not just allowed, but expected