Hi! Thanks for another question.
I have done projects like these in the past and resistance from both
upper management and employees are not uncommon. Proper planning on
your part will provide the way to achieve your goals.
The ideas I will put forward are not quick fixes, but they will give
you a head start in charting a solution. My fellow research
omnivorous-ga was right in pointing out that you must not take on
everything all at once. The tactic he mentioned of getting someone
influential is good advice as well. Remember you have to be creative
in this endeavor.
I know that this is a very complicated matter so in case you would
need further assistance and information just ask for a clarification.
Let us first categorize the problems you mentioned since they are
seemingly interrelated.
A. Centralized Management or too much control - Question numbers 1, 2,
and 3
B. Employee Morale Problems - Question numbers 4, 7 and 8
C. Lack of planning and sense of company direction – Question numbers
5, 6 and 10
D. Brand Awareness Problems – Question number 9
--------------------------
A. Centralized Management or too much control
Contrary to more recent management practices, centralized management
isn’t really a totally negative trait. Centralized managing also has
some advantages to it as well. In a learning environment for example
here are a few advantages:
- “Reduction in number of systems required to handle corporate
learning.”
- “Reduction of infrastructure requirements via consolidation of IT
resources.”
- “Immediate population of the company’s central database with course
completions and certifications.”
- “Promotion of standardization via reduction in the number of
duplicate courses.”
Decentralized Management Advantages:
- “Increased control at the local level.”
- “Local training departments tend to understand the specific needs of
their areas of responsibility much better than corporate.”
- "Local training departments see efficiencies in creating their own
courses versus depending on corporate.”
- “Ability to manage more content.”
Due to copyright concerns I cannot put all the advantages for
centralized and decentralized management settings. You can read the
rest of the pros and cons of such management style in our first link.
“Learning in the Large Enterprise: Centralized vs. Decentralized”
http://www.clomedia.com/content/templates/clo_feature.asp?articleid=128&zoneid=30
Our next link is interesting since it provides a study on how ants
practice decentralized management and the benefits companies can
acquire from emulating such practices. Here are some significant
points I gathered.
“Under a centralized paradigm, to accomplish both efficient staffing
and work-sharing, industrial organizations devote significant
engineering time to building and maintaining work-content models.
Managers must know how much work is to be done in order to staff for
it, and the costs of over- or under-staffing can be severe.
Furthermore, to ensure smooth, efficient flow of product along an
assembly line, managers must be able to partition and share tasks
among the workers. Obtaining the input data for these models is often
an expensive and lengthy process: Although data on machine production
rates can be collected automatically, worker input data often has to
be collected manually through time and motion studies… Under a
decentralized paradigm, these costs are greatly reduced because
workers react directly to readily available data from their own output
and immediate environment and make small local adjustments
accordingly”
“One of the most important differences between the two paradigms is
system robustness. In a decentralized system, failure of the
centralized coordinator can potentially cause catastrophic failure of
the whole system (see Box 2). Decentralized systems, on the other
hand, tend to be more robust to failure: In general, failure of one of
the lower level coordinators does not cause system-wide failure and
the system can absorb these perturbations and readjust quickly.”
“There are occasions when the centralized paradigm may be favored over
the decentralized paradigm. The centralized paradigm is usually
favored when industry faces some complex but static problem (e.g.
Bonabeau et al. 1999), for instance, determining the best locations
for a set of warehouses and crossdocks”
“When the problem is dynamic then decentralized control systems may be
favored, especially when reconfiguration costs are low. Dynamic
problems are typical for industry in the face of varying customer
orders, worker absenteeism, machine breakdown etc. Thus, hereafter we
solely consider such problems. Decentralized systems necessarily make
continuous adjustments to track the optimal solution.”
“Centralized versus decentralized control in manufacturing: lessons
from social insects”
http://www.duke.edu/~carl/papers/cc.pdf
So in our case we must have a guide on what things to delegate and
what should be remained centralized. Our advice here in our next
article is purely in general terms and must be adopted and configured
to the different settings that such changes shall be implemented.
1. “The manager needs to design a process to give him or her a level
of comfort without living in people's shoes.”
2. “It helps to recognize that not all tasks are appropriate to
delegate. Tasks that have better-defined procedures tend to be more
amenable to delegation because they've been done before and there is a
certain amount of confidence that things will go the way you'd like. A
task that has poorly defined outcomes may not be appropriate to
delegate.”
Before going to the third advice, the author explains the different
levels of delegating from just doing menial tasks to making decisions
about situations.
3. “The key is not just to understand the possible levels of
delegation but to clearly agree upfront with the person who gets the
assignment exactly what the level is. One of my strongest suggestions
is to put it in writing. The biggest problems with delegation are
often communication problems. Putting it in writing gives a sense of
clarity, a reference and a reminder.”
The article also mentions the “Do’s and Don’ts of delegating. One
important advice I took from the list is to carefully choose the
person you want handle a particular task. Explaining the importance of
the task and the expected results of such an activity will also
greatly help in achieving success.
“Learning To Let Go”
http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/management/story/0,10801,65296,00.html
When you mentioned “macro management” in number 2, I think you meant
the opposite, which is “micromanaging” or the practice of managing
every minute detail of an activity in an organization. So in this
regard I grouped micromanaging to having too much control.
--------------
One way to move from a centralized to a decentralized form of
management is to empower the employees of your company. Here are some
ways to accomplish such task.
1. “Building an empowering relationship with your employees means
informing them of facts when and where they need it. Educating means
helping them develop the know-how for handling such information.”
2. “Consider beginning to share leadership with a ‘practice’ session.
Pose a real—or at least realistic—issue to one or more members of your
staff. Give just the facts, not your opinion or projections of what
you’d do. Ask your staff what they would do about this issue,
encouraging open brainstorming. Be careful not to judge the ideas they
propose.”
3. “Survey your employees, asking what things, people, or experiences
would help them perform better. Ask one question or half a dozen (but
no more); ask in person, by email, or on paper—but ask!”
4. “Pick one item that you know will be changing soon in your office
(the composition of a work group, for example, or bringing a new
product on line, or changing health care providers…”
“Discussion Guide Empowering Employees”
http://www.briefcasebooks.com/murrelldiscguide.pdf
Our next two links also provides tips on empowering your employees.
Some tips repeat the ones we mentioned above but others are unique and
would be of good contribution to your organization if properly
implemented.
5. “You establish metrics in advance, so it is clear what the
department and company standards are. It is easy to objectively
determine if goals are met.”
6. “You hold the employee accountable. If the target is not met or
work is not satisfactory, he is responsible. You are there for advice,
perspective, and guidance, but the employee manages the solution.”
“Empowering Your Employee”
http://www.seekingsuccess.com/articles/art126.php3
7. “Provide employees with the history behind procedures and policies.
Background is essential for good decision making.”
8. “Furnish the necessary resources. Whether it is a list of your
contacts or where to find appropriate forms, give your employees the
opportunity to succeed.”
“5 Tips on Empowering Your Employees”
http://www.score.org/5_tips_l_7.html
----------------------------
B. Employee Morale Problems
Empowering programs for employees however could take more time and
based on the workplace descriptions you’ve made in your question, it
could be open to much scrutiny from upper management. In the meantime
you may want to go to a different route that is to motivate your
employees. Two things could be accomplished here
1. Motivated employees work harder and have a positive attitude
thereby immediately improving workplace productivity.
2. Hard working and motivated employees can get the attention of upper
management and thereby ensuing more confidence in future employee
empowerment programs.
Here are some simple tips on how to start an employee morale-boosting
program.
- “Be positive & upbeat (accentuate the positive). Turn "Don't"
statements into "Do" statements”
- “Set meaningful goals (with "meaningful" meaning with employee
input) “
- “Set fair goals (with "fair" meaning at a level where almost
everybody succeeds)”
- “Be even-handed in praise and criticism (strive for a even 50-50
split even if you have to force it)”
- “Make no promises that can't be kept (avoid use of the phrase "I
might be able to do that for you")”
- “Improve appearances (in dress, logo redesign, insignia, signs,
banners, colors)”
- “Create awards programs (competitions, recognitions, certificates of
appreciation)”
- “Establish teams (best in budget crunches, and tend to produce
employee giveaways via groupthink)”
- “Start using nicknames (or firstnames; give everyone a nickname
based on some talent they have)”
- “Learn the art of bulletin board decoration (a combination of
aesthetic appeal and functionality)”
“EMPLOYEE MORALE (esprit-de-corps) PROGRAMS”
http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/417/417lect11.htm
Our next two links are articles providing cases of building employee
morale.
“It's All in the Details”
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20020301/23934.html
“How To Uncover Employee Potential”
http://www.inc.com/articles/hr/manage_emp/motivate_emp/22371.html
Before embarking on employee morale building programs, one must know
the pulse of the employees first so as to gauge the roots of the
problems. In this regard conducting employee satisfaction surveys will
be a good measure on what to improve so as to make the employees more
motivated. Here are some samples of Employee Satisfaction Surveys.
Survey Sample 1
http://www.dimihr.com/images/sample-picture.gif
Survey Sample 2
http://www.employeesurveys.com/evalue2/ev2kwedo.htm
----------------------
C. Lack of planning and sense of company direction.
In terms of plans, many companies can be guilty of having very few or
being too full of it. In the case of your company, it seems that
planning activities are always to a minimal.
Since you said that you have been given the task of revitalizing the
workplace, I think the initiative for planning starts with you. Create
a program that they can review and adopt and then monitor if the steps
are properly being followed. One of the difficulties of making plans
is that they are too cumbersome but if you volunteer or get the help
of another employee to do the “dirty jobs”, I don’t think that upper
management will resist.
Steps in making a corporate strategy:
1. “A corporate strategy determines not only the scope of the business
but also its resource deployment, competitive advantages, and overall
coordination of all the functional areas.”
http://nctr.cob.fsu.edu/text/articles/devcor.htm
2. “The next phase in the strategic market planning is the development
of a marketing strategy”
“The selection of a target market serves as the basis for the creation
of the marketing mix to satisfy the needs of that market. The elements
of the marketing mix - product, distribution, promotion, and price -
are referred to as the marketing mix variables because each can be
varied or changed to accommodate the needs of the target market.”
http://nctr.cob.fsu.edu/text/articles/devmar.htm
3. “The final stage of the strategic market planning process is
marketing planning, or the systematic process of assessing market
opportunities and resources, determining marketing objectives,
defining marketing strategies, and establishing guidelines for
implementation and control of the public transit organization’s
marketing program. The outcome of this process is a formal, written
document that outlines and explains all the activities necessary to
implement specific marketing strategies.”
http://nctr.cob.fsu.edu/text/articles/create.htm
In terms of investment planning our next link provides a guide on how
to determine the appropriateness of a major purchase. The setting is
in an ICT model but it could be adapted to any type of businesses
regardless of size.
1. Initial Valuation of Benefits – “For each of the achievable
benefits identified there should be an initial valuation made. For
quantifiable benefits this may include a preliminary estimate of the
dollar value of the benefits. Non-quantifiable benefits should be
related to business performance measures, preferably those aligned
with the agency's key performance indicators or critical success
factors as identified in corporate business plans.”
2. Assign Responsibility for Realising Benefits – “The business unit
manager most strongly impacted by the project should be appointed to
the role of Project Sponsor.”
3. Identify Business Drivers
4. Analyse Business Processes – “The business processes which are
going to be supported by the proposed system should be analysed and
opportunities for refinement or re-engineering of these processes
identified.”
5. Establish Business Performance Measures
6. Develop the Benefits Realisation Register
7. Review
8. Local Level Benefits Realisation Plans
“Benefits Realisation Guideline”
http://www.oit.nsw.gov.au/pages/4.3.3-e-Benefits.htm
------------------------
D. Brand Awareness Problems
You also mentioned the problem of brand awareness not only for
customers but within the organization as well.
Our next articles provide tips of reinvigorating the brand to your
customers.
1. “Identify your brand stakeholders: BE INCLUSIVE”
2. “Understand where you are now: BE HONEST”
3. “Study competitor and market trends: BE THOROUGH”
4. “Define where you wish to be: BE REALISTIC AND FOCUSED”
5. “Agree what you have to say and do: BE COMMITTED”
“The Basics of Brand Management”
http://www.buildingbrands.com/sharedlearning/02_brand_management_basics.shtml
“The potential for overdelivery is everywhere. It's behind the
promises your brand makes. It's about what consumers can do on your
Web site. It's at home in e-newsletters. Your guarantee, stated
response times, average waiting times, service statements -- all are
opportunities to underpromise and overdeliver.”
“Word of Mouth”
http://www.clickz.com/brand/brand_mkt/article.php/2224931
“Situation placement creates a brand image in the consumer's mind
around an initial product, then builds follow-up products around the
constructed notion. The technique makes brands the raison d'être of
those follow-up products. Your product becomes the hero, enhancing a
story rather than simply appearing as an added element without any
effect on the plot, as is the function of product placement.”
“Center Stage Branding”
http://www.clickz.com/brand/brand_mkt/article.php/2219171
“The Situation Placement Game”
http://www.clickz.com/brand/brand_mkt/article.php/2222531
The thing that intrigues me in your situation however is the lack of
knowledge for the brand within your organization. The concept of
“Internal Branding” could serve as good start to improve the
situation.
Reasons for Internal Branding:
1. “Organizations are increasingly recognizing the importance of
internal branding - presenting a compelling story about the
organization - which has become a crucial tool for attracting and
keeping the best people.”
2. “Another reason why organizations need to market themselves
effectively to employees is that aside from the talent deficit,
today's employees are seeking greater purpose and meaning in their
working lives.”
3. “Over time, an organization's ability to deliver on its promises to
employees will form a solid foundation for its internal brand image.
The organization must therefore unfailingly deliver on its promises.”
“Internal Branding Markets Employer Appeal”
http://www.hewittasia.com/hewitt/ap/resource/articleindex/articles/article_reprt12_13.htm
Steps in Internal Branding:
1. “For one, the employees of rebranded companies will need to deliver
on the new brand promise - through products, services and behavior -
to ensure the integrity of the explicit and implicit brand messages.
So employees will need to be adequately informed and supported to
fulfill their tasks. The behavior implicit in the brand promise -
whether it be customer service directives or production quality
guidelines - must be clearly laid out for employees.”
2. “Going a step further, a recent conference on internal branding
advocated the benefits of leveraging employees as brand ambassadors. A
sample of the presentation topics reveals apparent consensus - at
least within the communications industry - about the merits of
empowering your employees as brand champions, or aligning external and
internal brand programs and using the intranet and grass-roots
campaigns to build your brand internally.”
3. “Building on this logic, these same consultants and managers
suggest that companies should leverage and amplify brand and marketing
messages internally by involving employees in major announcements or
celebratory events.”
“A New Prescription for Internal Branding; The Role of Employees in
Brand Definition and Promotion”
http://www.golinharris.com/resources/article_vol1_charland.asp
4. “To truly get the greatest benefit, internal branding must be a
dialogue. After all, employees are a great resource of information on
the brand. You can use their perceptions, their experiences, their
interactions with customers to research and hone the brand message.”
“Branding Your Employees”
http://www.brandchannel.com/papers_review.asp?sp_id=134
Search terms used:
Centralized decentralized management
Macro Micro managing management
“employee productivity” “employee motivation” “workplace productivity”
“internal branding” “brand awareness” tips
“corporate planning”
“employee satisfaction survey” samples
I hope these links would help you in your research. Before rating this
answer, please ask for a clarification if you have a question or if
you would need further information.
Thanks for visiting us once more.
Regards,
Easterangel-ga
Google Answers Researcher |
