A process for identifying the skills needed for operating in a self-directed work team in a manufacturing setting

摘要

Purpose - The paper sets out to show that more and more firms are employing employee involvement systems to enhance motivation, employee performance and organizational productivity. Managers often attempt to install teams into a traditional manufacturing process by finding elements that they believe will "work" in that setting. While they typically do a very good job at this cut and paste approach, they often suboptimize the potential of the team structure. They do not take advantage of a "full scale" Self-Directed Work Team (SDWT) system. Design/methodology/approach - In the paper it is revealed that this often results from two conditions that exist in organizations that already exist in which managers attempt to insert teams or from one of these two conditions that apply to start-up situations as well. Findings - The paper finds that one of these conditions that exists for traditional, existing organizations is the problem of existing systems - accounting, personnel, operating, etc. systems. Managers have to work within or around the existing systems that tend to operate counter to the principles of SDWT formation. The second condition is that managers often cannot see, in their mind's eye, the path or transition from where they are to the full SDWT structure. These give them a sense of loss of control. So, they go only as far as they can control. Originality/value - This paper describes a process to enable managers to both: describe, from a competency standpoint, the end state SDWT picture; and plan and track the progress of each team toward that end state. Practical examples that come from US and UK manufacturing sites are provided.