The Work-Out program was a way to
reduce bureaucracy and give every
employee, from managers to factory workers, an opportunity to influence and
improve GE's day-to-day
operations.
Ultimately, the goal of the
Work-Out program was to "clean up" GE, to
make workers more productive and
processes
simpler and more clear-cut. Work-Out was also designed to reduce, and
ultimately eliminate all of the
waste hours
and energy that large organizations typically expend in performing
day-to-day operations.
In Jack Welch's words, Work-Out is meant to help
people stop "wrestling with the boundaries, the absurdities that grow in
large organizations. We're all familiar with those absurdities: too many
approvals, duplication, pomposity, waste."
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4 Major Goals
of the GE Work-Out
❶
Build Trust
Encouraging employees to speak out critically inside the company
about GE and the way they perform their jobs without negative
consequences to their careers.
❷
Empower Employees
Capitalizing on employees' knowledge and their unique perspective
through granting them more power in exchange for expecting them to
take more responsibility for their jobs.
❸
Eliminate Unnecessary Work
Getting employees
work smarter, not harder.
>>
Examples
❹
Create a New
Paradigm for GE
Letting GE employees define and create a
boundaryless organization in which the entire workforce works
toward common goals. Encouraging employees to identify
→
problems
and
come up with
→
solutions
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