Empowerment

1. How does the GM test-drive program empower workers?  Tie your answer to employee empowerment strategies/models. 2. Is there anything else that GM could do to empower their employees? 3. Do you think that GM will benefit this type of empowerment of its assembly plant workers?  A simple “yes” or “no” is insufficient.  Support your decision with theory and/or other examples of similar programs and how they worked. Your answer should be between 500 to 750 words and it should be in sentence and paragraph format. You must use at least two resources for your answer.  Resources can be either a textbook, a journal or a book.  You must cite your references. Fact Pattern: At General Motors (GM), the autoworkers do many tasks as part of their jobs.  They operate machinery, run computer programs, and manage schedules and logistics.  But until recently, there’s one thing most GM workers hadn’t been asked to do: drive cars. Workers were recently given the chance to volunteer for a new program – to “check out” a vehicle from the plant lot, take it home for a night or weekend, and drive it as if it were their own car or SUV.  In return, the test drivers were asked for detailed comments about the vehicles, giving them a powerful voice in the design and construction of the cars they spend hours and weeks building.  “We had so much interest in the program that we had to use a lottery to determine who would get to be a volunteer,” reports Enrique Flores Jr., president of the United Auto Workers Local 276, the union representing 2400 workers at the GM plant. The test-drive idea isn’t new – executives and managers have done it for years – but bringing the program to the workers represents a new attitude toward empowering employees.  “We want to engage employees to do underground marketing,” explains the co-ordinator of the GM Vehicle Advocate Program.  “You look at where the company has been and where it has to go.  Everyone has to help.” Employees were selected by a lottery and by their driving records.  If they decided to purchase the vehicle they test drove or another vehicle in the program, they qualified for discounts that reduced the cost almost to the wholesale price.  But participants did not receive commissions or other rewards for test driving the cars – that was not the idea.  “This is a tool to empower people, to get them really engaged with our products, explained the general manager.  GM is now considering the program to include GM retirees and suppliers. Sources: “GM Employees Getting Up-Close Look at the New Line-up,” FinChannel.com, April 20, 2010 – www.finchannel.com