Problem: The Frustrated Manager
A professional colleague who teaches total quality concepts received the following e-mail from a former student: 72I was wondering if you could offer me some thoughts on a particular situation that plagues the company I work for. Our workforce is unionized and has a long history of anti-company sentiment. Upper management has set up the assembly area as an example of employee involvement and the blossoming empowered workforce to show off to customers. They often bring in customers to help gain future contracts. One customer in particular is very sensitive to cost, quality, and schedule, and has had some bad experiences with us in the past. The customer has clearly told us that it wants to see an empowered work force making key decisions. If this does not happen, it will not award the contract. This information has been relayed to the work teams in the area, but several work teams, in their team meetings, tell us they don't want to be empowered. The attitude (as I see it) appears to be as follows:"We know how to build our products, the customers do not. So, get the customers out of our business and tell them to take the product when we're done with it, regardless of how we choose to build it."As many times as I inform them that customers will not buy our products in that manner, I am given the same answer. How would you suggest I get these teams to take the gun away from their own heads? They have a management who is willing to hand over the power. They have the tools necessary to make informed decisions on the shop floor. They just don't have the inspiration to take the power and to run with it.
My question is simple: Is it possible to create an empowered workforce in an old union environment?
How would you advise him?