3e2a1b56-dafb-454d-87ad-86adea3e7b86

622
Part Four
Improvement
through slogans, posters and exhortations, carefully thought-out plans will always
be superior in the long run, and will help avoid the inevitable backlash that follows
‘over-selling’ a single approach.
Short case
Work-Out at GE 14
The idea of including all staff in the process of
improvement has formed the core of many improvement
approaches. One of the best-known ways of this is
the ‘Work-Out’ approach that originated in the US
conglomerate GE. Jack Welch, the then boss of GE,
reputedly developed the approach to recognize that
employees were an important source of brainpower for
new and creative ideas, and as a mechanism for ‘creating
an environment that pushes towards a relentless, endless
companywide search for a better way to do everything
we do’. The Work-Out programme was seen as a
way to reduce the bureaucracy often associated with
improvement and ‘giving every employee, from managers
to factory workers, an opportunity to influence and
improve GE’s day-to-day operations’. According to Welch,
Work-Out was meant to help people stop ‘wrestling
with the boundaries, the absurdities that grow in large
organizations. We’re all familiar with those absurdities: too
many approvals, duplication, pomposity, waste. Work-Out
in essence turned the company upside down, so that the
workers told the bosses what to do. That forever changed
the way people behaved at the company. Work-Out is
also designed to reduce, and ultimately eliminate all
of the waste hours and energy that organizations like GE
typically expend in performing day-to-day operations.’ GE
also used what it called ‘town meetings’ of employees.
And although proponents of Work-Out emphasize the
need to modify the specifics of the approach to fit the
context in which it is applied, there is a broad sequence
of activities implied within the approach:
●
●
●
Staff, other key stakeholders and their manager
hold a meeting away from the operation (a so-called
‘off-siter’).
At this meeting the manager gives the group the
responsibility to solve a problem or set of problems
shared by the group but which are ultimately the
manager’s responsibility.
The manager then leaves and the group spend time
(maybe two or three days) working on developing
solutions to the problems, sometimes using outside
facilitators.
● At the end of the meeting, the responsible manager
(and sometimes the manager’s boss) rejoins the group
to be presented with its recommendations.
● The manager can respond in three ways to each
recommendation; ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘I have to consider
it more’. If it is the last response the manager must
clarify what further issues must be considered and
how and when the decision will be made.
Work-Out programmes are expensive; outside
facilitators, off-site facilities and the payroll costs of a
sizeable group of people meeting away from work can
be substantial, even without considering the potential
disruption to everyday activities. But arguably the most
important implications of adopting Work-Out are cultural.
In its purest form Work-Out reinforces an underlying
culture of fast (and some would claim, superficial)
problem-solving. It also relies on full and near universal
employee involvement and empowerment together with
direct dialogue between managers and their subordinates.
What distinguishes the Work-Out approach from the
many other types of group-based problem-solving is
fast decision-making and the idea that managers must
respond immediately and decisively to team suggestions.
But some claim that it is intolerant of staff and managers
who are not committed to its values. In fact, it is
acknowledged in GE that resistance to the process or
outcome is not tolerated and that obstructing the efforts
of the Work-Out process is ‘a career-limiting move’.
Source: Getty Images
Deming Prize
Malcolm Baldrige
National Quality Award
European Quality Award
Improvement or quality awards
Various bodies have sought to stimulate improvement through establishing improvement
(sometimes called ‘quality’) awards. The three best-known awards are the Deming Prize, the
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the European Quality Award.