Sources of Knowing – Doing Gap v When talk substitutes for action v When memory is substitute for thinking v When fear prevents acting on knowledge v When internal competition turns friends into enemies v When measurement obstructs good judgment
How can fear be eliminated and replaced with high involvement? 1- Employment security 2- Selectivity in recruitment 3- High wages 4- Incentive pay 5- Employee ownership 6- Information sharing 7- Participation and empowerment 8- Teams and job design 9- Training and skill development
Elimination of fear (Continued….) 10- Cross-utilization and cross-training 11- Symbolic egalitarianism 12- Wage compression 13- Promotion from within 14- Long-term commitment 15- Overarching coherent philosophy supported by top management
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Employment Relationships in Successful Organizations Two Distinct Philosophies v Creation and Management of high commitment workforce v Creation and Management of Flexible work and workforce
Creation and Management of Flexible Work and Workforce v Flexible time, space, and division of labor v Flexible skills, assignments, and rewards v Flexible life-long careers v Flexible size and type of workforce v Flexible boundaries of the firm
Flexible time, space, and division of labor v Flextime (staggered start and end times) v Compressed workweek v Regular part-time employment v Job sharing v Phased and partial retirement v Voluntary reduced work time programs v Expanded leave options v Working at home/telecommuting
Flexible skills, assignments, and rewards v Multitasking and job enrichment v Cross-training and multi-skilling v Job rotation v Redefinition of jobs into task clusters v Pay-for knowledge, pay-for-skills, pay-for- contribution
Flexible life-long careers v Non-linear view of careers and advancement v Periods of greater and lesser focus on work, coordinated with periods of greater and lesser focus on family, personal life, and civic causes v Not just innovating on the margins of the current workplace but rethinking the nature of work
Flexible size and type of workforce v Use of temporary workers, subcontractors, consultants, contingent workers, to make easier to grow or shrink the size of the labor force v More opportunity for employees to develop occupation-specific rather than firm-specific skills v Emphasizing employability rather than job security
Flexible boundaries of the firm v Outsourcing to other firms for a variety of inputs and services v Outsourcing entire functions or departments v The “virtual” organization
Flexible work arrangements may help a firm: v to retain talented employees v to meet the future staffing needs v to build employee appreciation and commitment v to prevent burnout v to identify better performance criteria v to enhance contribution and productivity by eliminating the knowing-doing gap