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If UK productivity is not at the level it should be, failure of UK people management practices to keep pace with other advances must take some of the blame. While accepting that old-style ‘command and control’ management has no place in the 21st century, it is a brave and enlightened employer who seeks to break down barriers and empower the workforce. But that is what some of our most productive and successful organisations are doing, writes Elaine Essery
BT stepped outside the box when it introduced a ‘freedom to work’ option. Under the scheme, employees agree with their line manager what they need to deliver and when the need to deliver it, and are free to decide how, when and where they work.
The premise is that individuals will choose to work as and when they feel most productive and engaged. “It’s all about trust and breaking down barriers between people and the organisation, between colleagues and between staff and customers,” says BT’s head of employment policy Caroline Waters. “We are trusting and open and try not to be prescriptive. People are empowered and they just respond.”
The policy has paid off. Given control over their working lives, employees have found solutions which are right for them, their customers and the business. And productivity has increased. “Managers who have experienced the approach and have seen the bottom line going the right way have become fantastic advocates,” says Waters. “Get an enthusiastic line manager who has got the results to go out and talk to others and it just takes off. One converted line manager is worth 10 people in HR.”
Nissan Manufacturing UK believes that improved quality of method should not just be a management consideration but that everyone has a part to play. New workers at its Sunderland plant are introduced to the company’s continuous improvement culture from day one. They are actively encouraged to consider ways in which the current way of doing things can be improved and trained in the relevant techniques.
Another linked concept deals with workshop management. It empowers the people responsible for building the car to take immediate action to resolve issues on the shopfloor. “In an intensive manufacturing environment such as ours, the greater the ability of employees to use thei
