Diane Korzeniewski writes:
>An issue I would like to see discussed is "employee involvement and
>participation."
>
>When changes are needed to meet the current challenges, I watch
>as executives, managers and supervisors lock themselves away
>into "the cave" to come up with a plan, a process etc.
>
>Are most companies this way? Is there a benefit in including
>front-line workers, whether they are white collar or blue collar
>in the developement of processes that they will have to use?
>What affect could it have on the quality of the process and
>overall community buy-in?
I believe that almost any organizational change designed and imposed on
some by others causes harm to both parties and creates negative,
unintended consequences far exceeding the value of the change. Many
organizations have been poisoned by these disastrous transactions.
>When I pose this question I sometimes get a response out of
>a manager who says that it is the job of management to do these
>things. Is it possible that part of the "how" in management's job
>is to engage the workforce and get them to actively participate
>in building the kind of environment we all want, and to be involved
>in the developement of processes we will all use?
Again, you have put it so well in your questions. Douglas McGregor made a
distinction in The Human Side of Enterprise between theory x and theory y
managers. Theory x managers believe that people don't want to work and
must be made to work through punishments and rewards. Theory y managers
believe that people want to do good work and that their role is to do as
you suggest.
Several years ago I converted from theory x to theory y because I realized
that my success as a manager depended on the happiness and productivity of
the people who reported to me. I had worked in organizations where my
happiness was not considered, partnership and high income were presumed to
be my goals, and, like the managers you mention, I thought I was supposed
to design work and make other people do it. When I had inverted the
relationship, seeing myself as working for the team, my relationships and
obligations became clear and natural, and my pleasure in our team and its
work increased greatly. Changing to theory y felt dangerous and counter
to the culture of my company, but there's no going back for me. Have
others had similar experiences?
Another belief: knowledge work and theory x management styles are totally
incompatible. How can anyone make another think creatively?
Regards,
Con Kenney
-- ckenney@worldweb.net (Con Kenney)