>>It seems to me there is another lesson in this lovely vignette for us, and
>>that is that somewhere, deep inside every adult, is the intuitive child
>>that KNOWS the truth and reacts appropriately to those situations where a
>>manager says something like " We're going to change this organisation into
>>one that has participatory management. You are hereby empowered", but
>>REALLY means " Let's see if THIS will screw more productivity out of you
>>so that we can then fire half of you."
Working in an organisation where this is EXACTLY how people seem to
interpret any such management moves, I am wondering how to overcome this
obstacle. I'm not sure sometimes whether people really believe that loss
of jobs will naturally result, or if the cynicism is a knee-jerk reaction
that they perform out of habit. When you've been through TQM, BPR &
performance improvement programs (the latter really did result in job
cuts), it is virtually impossible to try and tell people that this time it
will be different - you can see the smirk on their face as you talk to
them!!
Perhaps anyone who has experienced this hurdle might like to share what
strategies they found successful.
-- Maria Ivancic ivancic.maria.ml@bhp.com.au