As energy and other costs spiral upward and global competition rages, companies are anxious about their profitability, and workers are anxious about their security. Old business models pit the two against each other, as "lean-and-mean" managements lay off thousands and slash survivors' pay and benefits, while enfeebled unions counter with economically impossible demands.
Jonathan Cortis at Thoughts of an American Centrist has a a superb, must-read post on how the security and satisfaction of workers and the economic fitness of companies can not only be reconciled, but become integral to each other.
The key is the concept of "ownership," a word plucked from the rhetorical quiver of George W. Bush and turned into something much deeper, wider, and realer. And one model of "the ownership-centered workforce" has already been successfully pioneered by -- are you ready for this? -- a major airline.
I am going to quote only two paragraphs from this milestone post. The whole thing is essential reading.
Each and every American having a few shares of GE, Disney, or GM does not create an ownership society. Instead, the idea of "ownership" comes from the work of our own hands and our own minds. For a rank and file employee like me, ownership comes from knowing that my ideas are considered, and may end up helping the company. Ownership comes from the feeling that people are counting on me to deliver results. Ownership comes from thinking of "the company" as "my company." Ownership comes from being treated as a resource, not overhead. This is how to build what I call the "Ownership Centered Workforce."[Outside of the corporate workplace,] ownership comes from owning a home or a business. Ownership comes from becoming a valuable contributing member at a civic organization. Ownership comes from participating eagerly in all levels of government. Ownership takes effort, but ownership is rewarding.
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One key driving force behind this transformation may be the labor unions. . . .I propose that the next step [in] union evolution be an effort to bring corporate ownership to union workers. Today's unions have pushed themselves to the brink of irrelevance by demanding anti-business practices such as "no-fire" rules, skill-ignorant seniority and pay scales, and costly and wasteful "union only" rules (such as requiring a union electrician to change every light-bulb). Instead of creating wasteful and foolish regulations, unions could work with management to further incorporate their members into the company's overall business model. Why should unions have to wait for executive visionaries to have the epiphany that the workers actually have good ideas? After all, it is the unions that have the most interaction with the employees, and it is the unions who should recognize the cognitive strength the rank and file bring to the table.
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Read how one major airline has significantly cut costs by tapping the creativity and savvy of employees. Other facets of Cortis' proposal include employee stock ownership in the company they work for (already a widespread and growing practice, especially in the budget airlines and in information technology) and "[p]roportional pay increases and decreases for execs, managers, and employees . . . When a company does well, all should do well. When a company does poorly, everybody should cut back." The centerpiece of the proposal is regarding -- and treating -- workers as an asset rather than a liability (duh!), as collaborators rather than dependents. Note that this will require, and reward, a sea change in the mentality of workers as well as management. Bosses actively looking for worker initiative will have to be met by proactive workers who think, learn, and care (a point that Alan at The Yellow Line also makes, speaking from experience, in his valuable commentary).
- amba
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