Roxanne,
I am of two minds regarding what the CEO should do...
1. Don't bother spending his money...it will not succeed ( the aspirin
approach to management = take a pill, everything will be better in the
morning.)
2. Brush up on "modern" management techinques and literature; "THEORY X"
vs. "THEORY Y", re his 'feelings' about 'his' workers. After that, then
he might be ready to take a seminar at Fordham or better yet attend a
Deming Users' Group meeting in his area.
Oh, I just got a slight brainstorm (from the rain outside)...read up on
what the owner of MALDEN MILLS did for his workers, his plant, and his
community. It makes the heart beat faster. If only we had more like Mr.
Feurerstein, the owner.
In other references, the approach your CEO is taking is called "instant
pudding"; it doesn't cost a lot, doesn't take long to make, and is sweet
to the taste. And then it's all gone.
Roxanne Abbas wrote:
> I am working with a company that is striving to make a culture shift in
> conjunction with a total quality initiative. The CEO is aware that he is
> stuck in an outdated mental model related to his view of the role of
> management vs. workers and he is looking for an executive development
> experience that would help him understand and appreciate the benefits of
> employee involvement and empowerment. He seems to have a deep conviction
> that blue collar workers want to work as little as possible for as much
> pay as possible. He doesn't trust them or believe that they care about
> the organization, so why would he give them any power. He dosn't talk
> with the people and is not open to coaching but is eager to go to an 4-5
> day executive development course. Any recommendations?
Sincerely,
--John Constantine Rainbird Management Consulting PO Box 23554 Santa Fe, NM 87502-3554 Rainbird@Trail.Com http:\\www.trail.com\~rainbird
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