Manage-Wise

Welch’s Work-Out

“Our desire to tap into this creativity…to listen more clearly to those ideas…and draw more of them out all over the company…led us to a process called Work-Out”

—Jack Welch

The Work-Out effort was something of a GE paradox. One of the country’s toughest, most aggressive bosses was now telling his employees: You have been bossed around too much, and we now realise that we’ve been hurting the company by not permitting you to become your own bosses.

The programme needed a name

Welch had talked about “working out the nonsense of GE” and dealing with problems that needed to be “worked out.”

Not surprisingly, the name Work-Out was chosen.

Jack Welch was set to liberate his workforce. He hoped the Work-Out programme would help GE accomplish four important goals:

Develop trust among employees

Employees would need to feel comfortable speaking out to their bosses.

They would have to be able to speak frankly without being concerned about being fired.

That frankness would allow the company to benefit from the employees’ knowledge and ideas.

Empower employees

Those closest to the work are more knowledgeable about it than their bosses.

The single best way to have these workers impart their knowledge would be to grant them more power.

In exchange for that power, employees would have to assume more responsibility towards their jobs.

Eliminate unnecessary work

Higher productivity is a crucial goal.

Getting rid of unnecessary tasks will boost productivity.

Eliminating those tasks will also give employees some instant, clear-cut dividends from the Work-Out programme.

Spread the GE Culture

Once adopted, Work-Out would help foster the boundary-less culture in which workers aim for speed, simplicity and self-confidence.

At the heart of Work-Out were two assumptions--firstly, employees had to be in a position to make suggestions to their bosses face-to-face. Employees had to be able to get a reply—on the spot, where possible and the wall of hostility had to come down.

The model for Work-Out was the New England town meeting where local citizens engaged in a meaningful dialogue with town fathers.

Work-Out began in the winter of 1990.

Welch wanted all GE employees to complete at least one Work-Out session within its first year. The programme was not optional. But in order to soften the blow for those who regarded Work-Out as just a disguised downsizing programme, Welch began the programme as a volunteer effort.

The emphasis at first was on getting as many employees through the programme as possible, not on developing and refining the Work-Out technique.

In the programme’s early days, workshops were not limited to workplace topics; invitees could raise any issue. Later, workshops had more specific agendas

and goals, such as cost reduction or new product introductions.

The Work-Out process

Once the organisers decided on who should attend a Work-Out session, they issued letters of introduction that explained what Work-Out was all about; attendance, it was made clear that first year, was not required.

A second letter was mailed to those who had expressed interest in the programme, containing details about when and where the session would occur.

Employees and managers alike were encouraged to dress casually at the workshops—chinos and T-shirts were fine—to help blur the distinctions between managers and employees.

Workshops usually lasted three days, though some were only two and a half days.

Always held off-site, usually in a hotel, they were deliberately organised at a location far enough from the office so employees wouldn’t sneak away to listen to voice mail or collect faxes.

Work manuals were brought to the session and placed at the back of the room for quick reference. Since participants might also need to consult a colleague on a question that arose at a Work-Out session, hot-line phones were always ready. Experts were on call to answer specific questions such as how easy or hard it would be to alter a work policy or practice on the spot.

There would be 40-50 invitees, though some sessions had as few as 20. Participants represented a diverse cross-section of GE personnel, from senior and junior managers to salaried and hourly workers.

A facilitator was present to help break the ice, keep the Work-Out process moving, and encourage the audience to speak frankly. Usually academic types with hands-on corporate experience, the facilitators filled a key role in keeping the session on track.

Excerpt from Get Better or Get Beaten by Robert Slater. Reproduced with permission. © 2004, Tata McGraw-Hill