Quality Management

for Organizational Excellence

Lecture/Presentation Notes
By:
Dr. David L. Goetsch and Stanley Davis
Based on the book
Quality Management for Organizational Excellence
(Seventh Edition)

Presented By: Dr. S (GJU)

Eight:

Employee Empowerment
MAJOR TOPICS
n Employee Empowerment Defined
n Rationale for Empowerment
n Inhibitors of Empowerment
n Managements Role in Empowerment
n Implementing Empowerment
n How to Recognize Empowered Employees
n Beyond Empowerment to Enlistment
Quality Management, Seventh Edition
Dr. David L. Goetsch

2013, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Real Life Example Showing the Contrast Between

Employee: Involvement Vs Empowerment
James Monroe, CEO of a midsized electronics manufacturing firm,
decided more than a year ago to get his employees involved as a
way to improve work and enhance his companys
competitiveness. He called his managers and supervisors together,
explained his idea, and had suggestion boxes placed in all
departments. At first, the suggestion boxes filled to overflowing.
Supervisors emptied them once a week, acted on any suggestions
they thought had merit, and discarded the rest. After a couple of
months, employee suggestions dwindled down to one or two a
month. Worse, recent suggestion forms have contained derisive
remarks about the company and its suggestion system.
Productivity has not improved, and morale is worse than before.
Monroe is at a loss over what to do. Employee involvement was
supposed to help, not hurt.
Quality Management, Seventh Edition
Dr. David L. Goetsch

2013, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Employee Empowerment Defined

n

Employee Involvement:
n
n

Involved employees are asked for their input

They are not given ownership of their jobs

Employee empowerment:
n

Employees are given ownership of the processes and

products or services
Take pride in their work and the resulting products or
services produced by it
Ownership creates a sense of urgency to continually
improve processes, products, and services and to strive for
customer delight

Quality Management, Seventh Edition

Dr. David L. Goetsch

2013, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Eight:

Employee Empowerment
(Continued)

Empowerment means engaging employees in the thinking

processes of an organization in ways that matter,
involvement means having input. Empowerment means
having input that is heard and used, and it means giving
employees ownership of their jobs. Empowerment
requires a change in organizational culture, but it does not
mean that managers abdicate their responsibility or
authority.

Quality Management, Seventh Edition

Dr. David L. Goetsch

2013, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Management tool or cultural changes

Is empowerment just another management tool
n Watch out, here comes another one. (WOHCAO
Syndrome)
n

Quality Management, Seventh Edition

Dr. David L. Goetsch

2013, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Empowerment Does not mean abdication

n

Traditional managers view empowerment as an

abdication of power.
Empowerment involves actively soliciting input from
those closest to the work and giving those individuals
ownership of their jobs
Pooling the collective minds of all people involved in a
process will enhance rather than diminish managers
power
n
n

Decisions are comprehensive and accurate

Managers focus more on larger decisions

Quality Management, Seventh Edition

Dr. David L. Goetsch

2013, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Rationale for Empowerment

n
n

The key to success became not just working hard but also working smart
Working smart:
n
n

High-tech systems and automated processes

Involving and empowering employees
n
n
n

The rationale
n

n
n

Take advantage of their creativity and promote independent thinking and initiative
Leads to better ideas, better decisions, better quality, better productivity
Better competitiveness

It represents the best way to bring creativity and initiative of the best employees to bear
on improving the companys competitiveness

Human beings ask questions, and generate ideas

Empowerment and motivation
n
n
n

Ask the opinions of employees

Participatory management is asking employee help
Empowerment is about getting employees to help themselves, each other, and the
company

Quality Management, Seventh Edition

Dr. David L. Goetsch

2013, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Inhibitors of Empowerment
n
n

Resistance from employees and unions

Resistance from management
n
n
n
n
n
n

Insecurity
Personal values
Ego
Outdated management training
Personality characteristics of managers
Fear of exclusion

Workforce readiness
n
n
n

Critical thinking
Decision-making process
Big picture

Organizational structure and management practices

Quality Management, Seventh Edition

Dr. David L. Goetsch

2013, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Management Role in Empowerment

n

Is to do everything necessary to ensure successful implementation and ongoing

application of the concept.
The goal is of establishing a creative, open, nonthreatening environment.
n
Commitment
n
Leadership
n
Facilitation
Managers role:
n
Exhibiting a supportive attitude
n
Being:
n Role model
n Mentor
n Trainer
n Facilitator
n
Practicing management by walking around
n
Quick actions
n
Recognize accomplishments

Quality Management, Seventh Edition

Dr. David L. Goetsch

10

2013, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Implementing Empowerment
n
n
n

Creating a supportive environment

Target and overcome inhibitors
Put the vehicles in place
n To collect input from empowered employees and getting it into
decision making channels
n Brainstorming
n Nominal group technique
n Quality circles
n Suggestion boxes
n Walking and talking

Quality Management, Seventh Edition

Dr. David L. Goetsch

11

2013, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

How to recognize empowered employees

n

Empowered employees:
n Taking initiative
n Identifying opportunities
n Thinking critically
n Building consensus

Avoiding Empowerment traps:

n Defining power as discretion and self-reliance
n Failing to properly defining empowerment
n Assuming employees to have the skills to be
empowered
2013, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Quality Management, Seventh Edition
n Getting impatient
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Dr. David L. Goetsch
12
n

What, then, is next?

n

n
n

Enlistment
n It expects employees to own their jobs and to
innovate
Have no choice but to participate
Strategies:
n Expect ownership
n Ownership is part of the performance appraisal
process
n In meetings, expect to be engaged
n Enlistment is part of the corporate culture

Quality Management, Seventh Edition

Dr. David L. Goetsch

13

2013, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Eight:

Employee Empowerment
(Continued)
n

The rationale for empowerment is that it is the best way

to increase creative thinking and initiative on the part of
employees. This, in turn, is an excellent way to enhance
an organizations competitiveness. Another aspect of the
rationale for empowerment is that it can be an
outstanding motivator.
The primary inhibitor of empowerment is resistance to
change. Resistance may come from employees, unions,
and management. Management-related inhibitors include
fear of losing control, Im-the-boss syndrome, status,
outdated management training, old-school syndrome, and
fear of exclusion.

Quality Management, Seventh Edition

Dr. David L. Goetsch

14

2013, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Eight:

Employee Empowerment
(Continued)
n

Managements role in empowerment is best described as

commitment, leadership, and facilitation. The kinds of
support managers can provide include having a supportive
attitude, role modeling, training, facilitating, employing
MBWA, taking quick action on recommendations, and
recognizing the accomplishments of employees.
The implementation of empowerment has four broad
steps: creating a supportive environment; targeting and
overcoming inhibitors; putting the vehicles in place; and
assessing, adjusting, and improving. Vehicles include
brainstorming, nominal group technique, quality circles,
suggestion boxes, and walking and talking.

Quality Management, Seventh Edition

Dr. David L. Goetsch

15

2013, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Eight:

Employee Empowerment
(Continued)

A workforce that is ready for empowerment is

accustomed to critical thinking, understands the
decision-making process, and knows where it
fits into the big picture.
Enlistment is empowerment in which ownership
is not just allowed, but expected.

Quality Management, Seventh Edition

Dr. David L. Goetsch

16

2013, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.