>So my question, dear friends, is this: what sorts of steps do we take to
>make it possible for traditionally disempowered, knowledge-poor (in the
>sense of things like basic understanding of the financial structures and
>external customer requirements that drive the business) staff to choose to
>broaden their own individual and common knowledge base, without
>reinforcing the paternalistic structures that allowed them to languish
>there in the first place?
I've had success in two plants that I service by creating a menu
of courses that we expect everyone to take. However, we also include
elective courses or workshops that provide opportunities for personal
enhancement. The subject then crafts an improvement plan for
himself/herself that has a flexible timetable and a comprehensive outcome
in personal improvement.
My thinking was that the dependent culture of the workplace is a
lot like high school. If authority says you will do something, you do it.
You may grouse about it, but you'll probably follow along and may even
learn something from the required courses. The elective courses provide
some ownership in the overall plan and allow for individual interests to
emerge. I also tried to capitalize on teambuilding opportunities in the
elective courses in particular, thereby getting more bang for the buck.
-- @__Roy_J._Winkler,_AAS,_BSM... @__Consultant/Facilitator/Trainer__UAW-GM @__Organization/Human-Resource_Development @__Anderson,_Indiana,__USA__ rwinkler@iquest.net