Question - USING EMPOWERED EMPLOYEES TO HELP MANAGE A CHANGING WORK ENVIRONMENT
A key aspect in managing the workforce is to be aware of how employees can contribute toward organizational change and decisions. HR professionals recognize that while managers may act as role models for employees, employees who are empowered can exert a significant influence over other employees in the workplace. Those employees within the organization who seem respected and highly influential are termed influencers. A growing trend in workforce management is to recognize the power of these empowered employees and use them to make new organizational decisions, processes, and plans more acceptable to employees.
One major way of getting these "informal influencers" on board is by using participative management to make them a part of the organizational decision-making process. Before this can be done, however, companies must first identify which of their employees are held in high esteem by their co-workers. A variety of companies, including giants such as Procter & Gamble and Cisco Systems, use surveys, analysis of internal e-mail and social media interaction data, and other methods to construct "influence ranks" of employees. They then invite these top influencers to join in on management meetings or participate in special training and advancement programs. When changes or new programs are announced and the influencers are naturally sought out to hear concerns and give advice, they can help co-workers better handle and/or buy into the transition. This nonhierarchal structure and an emphasis on encouraging employees to work out problems on their own has been highly successful for Google, known for its more participative management structure.
Discussion Questions -
1. Is it a good idea for businesses to try to use informal influencers to more smoothly implement business decisions and reduce employee resistance?
2. How would you feel if you were recognized as an influencer in your company and invited to management meetings and training programs as a result? How would you respond?
3. Describe some ways that Cisco, Procter & Gamble, and Google have used empowered employees as major contributors toward organizational change and decision making.