1953 lecture on employee empowerment
My grandfather was a business professor and management consultant from the 1940s to the 1980s. One of his specialties was helping companies work more cooperatively with employees. I recently came across a lecture he gave in Washington, DC in 1953.
He shared an employee empowerment story that BP and Transocean ought to have read before the Deepwater Horizon disaster:
Two years ago I worked for the New York Central Railroad observing some of its operations. … It was a hot August day. This fellow was sitting in this tower with the sun shining brightly. I said, “What is it you don’t like about your job?” “These d— blinds. See how the sun is boiling in the window?”
[I said,] “Have you asked anyone to get blinds put in? Why don’t you speak to somebody about it?” He pulled out an old envelope and said, “Here are all the people I talked to. They even came out here and measured them. I still haven’t gotten the blinds.”
Then he said: “Do you see that car? It has 60 tons of explosives on it. I’ve got the brake clear back to the fourth notch and I can’t stop the car. Every once in a while a car goes off the track and ties up the whole yard.” “What is wrong?” “It is this [emergency] brake. It just doesn’t work.” “Have you asked anybody to fix it?” “H—, no. Why should I? They didn’t do anything about the blinds. Why should I bother them about the brake?“
Empowering frontline customer service employees leads to happier customers. But while marketing is important, it isn’t life-or-death. When frontline operations employees don’t feel empowered to report problems to upper management, it can lead to terrible, avoidable consequences. And there’s no excuse. We’ve known that for 60 years.
What would it take to make you — or your employees — more empowered?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Great story Karl, thanks for sharing. If we don’t learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat our mistakes in the future. That’s great, you were able to find this from your Grandfather’s things. Love when you find these hidden gems.
I think there is a moral here regarding how you treat your employees. If you don’t take care of or appreciate the concerns of your employees, they get the message that its OK to ignore the business concerns of the company.
Nice, have no other option but to agree with Janet
@Cord: Thanks! He died in the early 1990s but I found the 1953 transcript online. Reading the whole document, the language of his advice is anachronistic (it’s about “men” and “manpower management” instead of “employees” and “human resources”), but the content is timeless. I’d had no idea that we’ve been talking about employee empowerment since at least the 1950s…but actions speak louder than words.
@Janet: As I’ve seen when I’m in leadership positions, not all comments or feedback are worth implementing — but it’s important to encourage people to keep sharing. One of my most memorable work situations came early in my career, when I’d been offering a few too many suggestions about improving operations. One of my managers took me aside and said, “Just because you’re helping row the boat doesn’t mean you get to steer.” Appropriate advice for the particular work environment, but also a good way to discourage future feedback.
@Marcie: Thanks for sharing.