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Chapter 22: E. Resources 325
4. EMPLOYEES AS RESOURCES
Define and describe related concepts,
including empowering employees, involving
them on projects or improvement teams,
etc. Define team roles and responsibilities
(facilitator, ground rules, etc.), and describe
the four stages of team development:
forming, storming, norming, performing.
(Comprehension)
Body of Knowledge IV.E.4
Employees bring tremendous value to the workplace in terms of their knowledge,
skills, abilities, and creativity. The value brought to the workplace by employees
is so great that employees have come to be considered assets, in many cases of
equal or greater value than buildings or equipment. Considering employees to be
resources and assets is a relatively new phenomenon gaining in popularity particularly
during the past two or so decades. And when we manage the collective
knowledge brought into the workplace by employees, we refer to this practice as
“knowledge management” (Frappaolo 2006).
In addition to inventorying and allocating employee knowledge where it
is most needed within an organization, there are other practices that facilitate
employees making their best possible contributions in the work environment,
which include empowering employees and employee involvement.
Empowering Employees
When we say we are “empowering employees” we mean that we are giving employees
the latitude, in fact the responsibility, to take ownership of certain aspects of
their daily work life, and to use their creativity in making certain types of decisions
(Woods 2005). Empowering employees requires a trust between leadership
team members and staff/operators. That trust is developed over time (Blanchard et
al. 2001) and requires significant effort in articulating and negotiating the boundaries
within which employees are enabled to make decisions. A greater reliance
on the input and participation of employees characterizes the work environment,
particularly of the Certified Quality Inspector (CQI).
The CQI is well advised to ascertain as quickly as possible the amount of
decision making authority/empowerment they have as part of their normal work
responsibilities. It is important to exercise the expected level of decision-making
authority/empowerment, but not to exceed that level of empowerment. As more
workplace experience is gained, and as a history of making effective decisions
is accumulated, additional empowerment will normally result up to some point
Part IV.E.4