A Culture of Empowerment

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A Culture of Empowerment
Delegation and Empowerment
MTL Course Topics
DELEGATION AND
EMPOWERMENT

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MTL Course Topics
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MTL Course Topics
ARE YOU READY?
OK, LET’S START!

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MTL Course Topics
INTRODUCTION
Organisations embark on the route to empowerment out of
necessity or choice. Many change because there is no
alternative for their survival. Others change because they
recognize the limitations of command-and-control
management and know that their long-term survival
depends on building partnerships with their people. But the
choice is the easy part. What follows, in terms of changing
strategy, structure and systems, is much harder and requires
nothing short of an organisational re-fit.

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MTL Course Topics
STRATEGY
In some organisations, empowerment is the latest buzzword
- an excuse for another change, a rational explanation for
getting rid of people or a way of manipulating people to do
more for the same or less rewards. In other organisations,
empowerment is a genuinely new way of looking at how
people work together.
Brendan McCarthy, a production manager at Rover recalls
the culture of the organisation when he started as an
apprentice in 1979.
"In those days, the only time you saw a manager was when
they were firing someone or we were having a problem with
production...The company was hierarchical, managers wore
suits. And the culture now? We now have locally-based
managers, no suits, direct reporting, no hierarchical
behaviour, team briefing, and two-way communications.
Managers walk the floor and have a direct relationship with
everyone in the team."

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MTL Course Topics
EMPOWERED CULTURES
Empowerment does not have the same importance in other
cultures around the world where expectations of managers
are different from those in Western countries.
Andre Laurent asked employees in 12 countries whether
they agreed with the statement: "It is important for a
manager to have precise answers to most of his or her
subordinates' questions". The levels of agreement were...
Japan, 78%; Indonesia, 73%; Italy, 66%
France, 53%; Germany, 46%; Belgium, 44%; Switzerland,
38% UK, 27%; Denmark, 23%; USA, 18%; Holland, 17%;
Sweden, 10%.
This suggests that in Japan and Indonesia managers are
expected to be all-knowing but not in Sweden, Holland and
the USA.

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MTL Course Topics
EMPOWERMENT WORKS
There have been a number of experiments with
empowerment which show that it can be very successful.
1. In one experiment, 10 Laura Ashley shops were given
control over what they were allowed to do for a four-
month period. Each shop formed a self-managing team
and ran everything themselves for the trial period.
Result? Every single shop reported increased profits:
the Oxford Street store in London by 62% and a
Liverpool store by 139%.
2. At Frizzel Insurance in Bournemouth empowerment
programmes were piloted for a short period. Result?
One team came up with the idea of cutting down on
unnecessary paperwork when a customer wants to add
a new car to a policy. A process that used to take 35
minutes over 22 days now takes 13 minutes over 2 days.
The saving is equivalent to six members of staff over a
year. And the customer is happier!

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MTL Course Topics
WHEN YOU EMPOWER...
Empowerment aims to bring with it fundamental changes in
the way people feel about their role in the organisation.
1. instead of fear, they are given challenge
2. instead of seeing learning as a chore, they see it as an
adventure
3. instead of being dependent on others, they become
interdependent with others
4. instead of fearing change, they welcome it
5. instead of having little initiative, they have ideas about
how things could be made better
6. instead of fearing what others say about them, they go
out of their way to ask others what they think
7. instead of distrust and suspicion, there is trust and
openness
8. instead of lack of vision, there is focused purpose
9. instead of scant training, there is continuous
development.

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MTL Course Topics
FIVE CONTINGENCIES
How easy the change from a control organisation to an
empowered one will be depends on answers to the five
questions about how the business runs.
1. Is the product mass-produced or tailor-made? When the
product is mass-produced, there is likely to be little room for
personal decision-taking.
2. Is customer contact face-to-face or distant? Personal
relationships are the basis for excellent customer care.
3. Are systems of production bound by rules or are they
flexible? When the methods of production are cast in stone,
there is less room for individual discretion.
4. Is the environment in which the organisation functions
stable or volatile? Stable environments encourage the
status quo.
5. Do employees want a quiet life or do they seek growth?
Employees committed to developing themselves will
demand empowering systems of work.

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MTL Course Topics
GET OUT OF THEIR WAY!
At a major conference, a speaker gave a talk about how his
organisation had introduced empowerment.
When questions came, a doubter in the audience stood up
and put forward the reasons why he was sure that
empowerment was just a fad and wouldn't work in his
organisation or most of those he knew. By way of example,
he listed the corporate plan that they were half way
through, the unwillingness of staff to train for new jobs,
problems with the trade unions, the fear and reluctance of
middle management, and so on and on.
At last, he came to a triumphant end and, with a smirk on
his face, asked the speaker: "Now how do you expect us to
bring in empowerment and make it work?"
The speaker stood up and in the hushed room, said:
"Just get out of their way!"

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MTL Course Topics
CONTROL OR COMMITMENT?
Richard Walton argues that managers have the following
choices between control strategies and commitment
strategies.
1. Jobs: control strategies have fixed and de-skilled jobs;
commitment strategies have flexible teams
2. Performance: control strategies have laid-down
standards; commitment strategies stretch people to
perform
3. Structure: control strategies have layered structures
based on status; commitment strategies have flat
structures based on shared goals
4. Rewards: control strategies pay individually;
commitment strategies pay on group results
5. Participation: control strategies tell you what you need
to know; commitment strategies share information
6. Industrial Relations: control strategies encourage
adversarial relationships; commitment strategies
encourage co-operative ones.

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MTL Course Topics
HIERARCHIES ARE OUT
Hierarchies are the natural shape for control organisations,
but the wrong shape for empowered ones.
They...
1. are slow and cumbersome
2. encourage the wrong use of power (ie power to
impress, and to build empires)
3. encourage the diversion of energy into maintaining the
organisation at the expense of personal development
and customer orientation
4. perpetuate the myth of organisational security, jobs-for-
life and the steady ladder of promotion
5. create psychological as well as physical barriers
between people
6. prevent the free flow of information
7. encourage top-down communication only
8. reflect the worst of class, caste and social divisions from
society.

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MTL Course Topics
FLAT STRUCTURES
A flat structure is one in which there are no levels between
the team and the team leader. The relationships in such a
structure are not defined by status; nobody is "in charge" of
anyone else.
Pros: The advantage of a flat structure is that it simplifies all
management activities and leads to better and quicker
communication.
Cons: The disadvantage of a flat structure is that, unless
there are team rewards in place, there are no traditional
paths for advancement and promotion.
Some of the biggest organisations in the world manage
successfully on flat structures. The Roman Catholic church
for example has five levels between parish priest and Pope.

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LATTICE STRUCTURES
A lattice organisation structure is also known as a web
network, a matrix, a honeycomb or cell structure. In nature,
it is a naturally-forming shape. In organisations, it is a
structure reflecting the individuality of everyone but also
the fact that everyone is connected to everyone else.
A latticework structure enables anyone in the organisation
to speak to anyone else regardless of level, function, status,
location. So, for example, a person who has a problem in
one part of the organisation can seek help from anyone who
might have answers to the problem from anywhere else
whether they be above him or her or in a different unit. At a
stroke latticework structures break traditional fiefdoms and
empires.
The latticework structure reflects one of the most significant
communication models of our day, the worldwide web or
Internet.

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MTL Course Topics
FEDERALIST STRUCTURES
One of the most established empowerment structures,
particularly where people work at a distance from the
centre is the Federalist Structure.
The "federalist" structure describes the relationship
between a self-contained individual or team and the parent
organisation. It is the way nation states in the USA and the
European Union relate to the centre. The two are not
separate or competing but mutually compatible and
interdependent.
The word "federalist" comes from the Latin "foedus"
meaning a treaty. It is also related to the word "fidere",
meaning "to trust". The relationship involves a large degree
of fidelity or trust between both the large organisation and
the small and the small organisation and the large.

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INVERTED HIERARCHIES
The inverted hierarchy is a metaphor for the cultural
changes implicit in an empowered organisation. Instead of
the manager being at the apex of the group with everyone
else below him or her, he or she is now at the base
supporting the group.
This change is only possible if we see the apex of the
hierarchy pointing in a different direction. In hierarchical
organisations based on rank, the apex at the top points
towards the organisation. The top slot is occupied by the
top manager, with others below them in descending order
of organisational importance.
In empowered organisations, the apex points towards the
customer. This puts the front-liner at the top supported by
supply and maintenance people, followed by the technical
people, administrators and at the base support, team
leaders and managers.

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MUDDY STRUCTURES
"Muddy" structures are the most radical departure from the
simple, clear and clean-cut shapes of formal hierarchies.
Mud is soft and yielding and takes on the imprint of
whatever touches it. In the same way a "muddy"
organisation changes to suit the needs of its business. It can
be a traditional hierarchy or no hierarchy; it can be soup-
like, swirling and changing, or amoeba-like, growing and
developing its own structures as it changes. It can be a
compact unit where people meet and work as one or a
virtual unit where people never meet face-to-face.
Alvin Toffler describes organisations which are consistently
changing to reflect their environment as "ad-hocracies"
from the words "ad hoc" meaning "no fixed structure". Bo
Hedberg describes them as organisations of nomadic tents
beside magnificent palaces.

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MTL Course Topics
EMPOWERING SYSTEMS
When the windscreen replacement company, Autoglass,
recognised the need to become more customer-focused in
the 1990's, they took a long hard look at the systems they
needed to change to put their customers first without
alienating their staff.
As a result they made the following changes:
1. to accommodate the peaks of business in the Summer
holiday season and before Christmas, they introduced
annualised hours contracts
2. to provide for 24 hour, 7 day a week cover, a range of
rosters and hours were introduced
3. to reflect the value of individual effort along with
teamwork, a bonus is paid to those who perform well
and in high-performing teams "a people's pot" shared
equally.
To re-inforce these changes, Autoglass moved to brand new
custom-built premises.

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IT'S OUR LINE
In control systems of the past, getting people to take wider
responsibility in their jobs meant introducing management-
designed systems such as job rotation, job widening, job
enrichment and multi-skilling.
In empowered systems, it means overcoming the shackles
of narrowly-defined jobs.
"In the old days, when the line broke down, we'd all wait
around doing nothing while the maintenance crew were
called. When at last they arrived, we'd watch them fix it
even though we knew more about the line than they did.
We often knew more about the problem than they did, but
because of job demarcation and differentials, we weren't
supposed to say or do anything.
Now we do it ourselves, because it's our line.“
(Words of an “ordinary” assembly-line worker)

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EMPOWERED JOBS
One of the most interesting differences between control
cultures and empowered ones is the way jobs are defined.
In control cultures, the job description is all-powerful. It is
invariably written as a way to tell people what they must do
in the job. It typically defines duties, specifies titles, status
and grades, and places great store on reporting
relationships. Such job descriptions are based on how the
job has been done in the past.
In empowered cultures, the job description focuses not on
what people must do but on the contribution the jobholder
can make. It is rarely possible to write down all the duties as
these vary according to the jobholder's particular talents
and the changing needs of the job. High profile is given to
aims, purposes and outcomes, standards of service and
support from others.

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PARTICIPATION
Empowered organisations can use different levels of
involvement to tap into the ideas of employees. A key
feature of ideas which work is that employees should not
just suggest ideas (we can all do that) but be allowed to
implement them too.
1. Suggestion Schemes: suggestion schemes are an old
feature of control organisations and can be adapted for
empowered organisations if individuals work outside
teams.
2. Quality Circles: quality circles are a feature of Total
Quality Management systems and involve empowered
teams seeking ways to improve the quality of their own
product or service.
3. Problem-solving Teams: problem-solving teams with
real power can look at much wider blocks and obstacles
including those originating with management.

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SUGGESTIONS
Suggestion schemes have a long history as a way of tapping
into the vast resource of knowledge, ideas and creativity of
employees. But the culture of the organisation is the chief
determinant of whether they are successful or not.
According to information from the American National
Association of Suggestion Schemes, Japanese companies
enjoyed 3,235 suggestions for every 100 employees against
11 suggestions for every 100 employees in the USA. In
Japan, 87% of suggestions are adopted while in the USA
only 32% are. While US firms feel the need to offer financial
incentives - the average is $500 per successful suggestion -
in Japan the average reward is $2.50.
To be successful, suggestions schemes should not be bolted
on in an alien environment but something that springs
naturally from the way things are done.

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MTL Course Topics
UP THE LINE
Empowerment reverses the normal direction of
organisational communication from predominantly top-
down to bottom-up.
Some of the bottom-up communications systems in
empowered organisations include...
1. 360-degree appraisal, in which the team appraise the
boss as well as the boss appraising the team
2. presentations by the team to senior management about
ideas and initiatives they have
3. job swaps by shop-floor employees and directors
4. frequent presence by senior people on the shop-floor
5. question-and-answer sessions with top management
and employees
6. employees visiting customers regularly.

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MTL Course Topics
SELF-MANAGING TEAMS
The concept of self-managing teams is the fundamental
building block of empowered organisations.
A self-managing team is one that directs most of its own
work rather than relying on the team leader for its day-to-
day decisions. This enables them to do what they believe is
necessary to meet the team's goals and the organisation's
goals for them.
More and more organisations are moving to some kind of
self-management for their autonomous teams. Rank Xerox,
for example, have converted all 2200 of their customer
service staff into autonomous groups.
Helga Drummond describes this change as one from
"employee resource management" via "managing
employees resourcefully" to "resourceful employees
managing".

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MTL Course Topics
TEAM ISSUES
A self-managed team has to deal with the issues of how the
team functions as a bonded group without the involvement
and direction of management.
Some of the issues include:
• what is the climate in the team to be like?
• how do we want the members of the team to participate
in decision-taking?
• how do we deal with conflict and disagreement?
• how do we handle under-performance by members of
the team?
• how do we tell each other how we feel?
• how are new tasks to be allocated?
• how do we continue to evolve, learn and change?
"Employees are most motivated to make a business
successful when they understand and have ongoing
information about it, have the power to make decisions and
are rewarded according to its success." (Ed Lawler)

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MTL Course Topics
INVOLVE PEOPLE
Ed Lawler, head of the Centre for Effective Organisation at
the University of Southern California, suggests that new
methods of management should centre around employee
involvement and empowerment. He identifies six key
elements that need to replace the old hierarchies:
1. involve people in the business because only then can
people be motivated. This requires a downward shift of
power, information and rewards.
2. value must be added at all levels of the organisation, not
just at the top. People can co-ordinate and control their own
work, they don't need others to do it for them.
3. organise around small groups of mini-businesses
4. hold teams accountable for their customer relations
5. base rewards on how well the team does
6. pay people according to their value-adding skills.

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THAT’S
IT!
WELL DONE!

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THANK YOU
This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn

A Culture of Empowerment

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A Culture of Empowerment