Journal of European Industrial Training

Changing culture through empowerment

Paul Hyland Terry Sloan David Barnett
Article information:
To cite this document:
Paul Hyland Terry Sloan David Barnett, (1998),"Changing culture through empowerment", Journal of European Industrial
Training, Vol. 22 Iss 9 pp. 349 - 353
Permanent link to this document:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/03090599810240983
Downloaded on: 06 February 2017, At: 20:40 (PT)
References: this document contains references to 12 other documents.
To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 1407 times since 2006*
Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:
(1996),"Training, empowerment, and creating a culture for change", Empowerment in Organizations, Vol. 4 Iss 3 pp. 26-29
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09684899610126650
Downloaded by Khulna University At 20:40 06 February 2017 (PT)

(1997),"Empowerment and organizational change", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 9
Iss 7 pp. 325-333 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09596119710190976

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-srm:601935 []
For Authors
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service
information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please
visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com
Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of
more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online
products and additional customer resources and services.
Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication
Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.

*Related content and download information correct at time of download.

 Changing culture through empowerment
Much has been made of the
need to empower employees
at all levels of an organisa-
tion. There must be a genuine
willingness on the part of
management and workers to
work together to ensure that
Downloaded by Khulna University At 20:40 06 February 2017 (PT)
empowerment will be
accepted and succeed.
Among those organisations
which are prepared to bear
the cost of training and multi-
skilling their employees,
training is often ineffective
and firms do not realise
benefits from their invest-
ment. How can training be
delivered to maximise the
probability that the workers
will learn and be able to
implement new skills?
Reports on a success story in
a multi-site manufacturing
organisation which was able
to train operations workers
on the job, and by using
active learning techniques
demonstrate to the organisa-
tion the benefits of training.
The reasons behind these
changes, the effectiveness of
the training programme, and
the views of workers on the
factory floor are examined.
Interviews indicate that the
success of the training pro-
gramme, combined with other
tactics, has seen real cultural
change taking pace in the
organisation, and workers
believe they have been
empowered.
Received February 1998
Revised May 1998
Journal of European Industrial
Training
22/9 [1998] 349353
MCB University Press
[ISSN 0309-0590]
Paul Hyland
Faculty of Business and Technology, University of Western Sydney,
Campbelltown, NSW, Australia
Terry Sloan
University of Western Sydney, Campbelltown, NSW, Australia
David Barnett
MM Cables, Liverpool, NSW, Australia
Introduction
Bassi et al. (1996) maintain that global compe-
tition and changing technological configura-
tions have changed and will continue to
change the nature and content of work. This
is especially true in Australia where the Gov-
ernment is in the process of removing artifi-
cial barriers to trade. Sustainable competi-
tive advantage is no longer based on technol-
ogy, machinery, or the abundance of natural
resources. Business leaders have recognised
that people are our most important resource
and the source of our competitive advantage
(Bassi et al., 1996). Over the last ten years
Australian companies, particularly in the
manufacturing sector, have undergone down-
sizing, restructuring and reorganisation.
Firms now need to ensure that their remain-
ing employees are multiskilled and able to
adapt and respond to ongoing changes. To
meet these challenges Bassi et al. (1996) main-
tain that firms are transforming themselves
into learning organisations that can operate
in high performance work systems.
For most firms the change to a learning
organisation requires substantial changes in
organisational culture. Buhler (1996) states
that to survive in the 1990s and prepare for
the challenge of the twenty-first century busi-
nesses must change the fundamental ways
they operate, and these changes must affect
the culture of the organisation. Achieving
sustainable organisational change is
extremely difficult and many organisations
fail to reach their goals at the operational
level (Galpin, 1996). This failure usually
occurs at the implementation stage because
employees and production managers are too
busy getting the job done, making sure prod-
ucts are ready on time, and dealing with day-
to-day problems. Effective implementation
needs to change the way work is done
through the organisations operations, sys-
tems and procedures; and this is linked to the
organisations culture (Galpin, 1996).
Organisations that successfully implement
change understand that their most important
resource is people. Restructuring and down-
sizing have meant there are fewer people
doing that as much if not more than before.
To survive with fewer people Buhler (1996)
indicates that organisations must utilise
teams, and they must do this across functions
to reduce costs, improve quality and intro-
duce new processes. Forming teams is more
than simply throwing a group of people
together and telling them they are a team;
they need to understand what is required of
them and how they are expected to perform
in the team. Organisations need to ensure
that employees have the training necessary to
function as part of a team, and have acquired
the skills they need to carry out all aspects of
their jobs. The effectiveness of training is the
result of careful planning and understanding
of how people react to change. Virginia
Meaney (Gupta, 1995) advises that managers
involved in a change process need to do at
least three things:
Respect the difficulty of change and set
realistic expectations; take inventory of
your in-house training capabilities and
determine what else youll need to develop
and deliver; and dont lock employees into
aggressive mandatory training schedules
that cause information overload and disrupt
operations.
In companies with a majority employees from
a wide range of ethnic backgrounds the diffi-
culty of ensuring that all employees have
access to training that suits their needs is a
difficult task. It is possible, however, for
organisations to minimise the drawbacks and
maximise the benefits of diversity in the
workforce. If a firm wishes to reduce interper-
sonal conflict, staff turnover, absenteeism
and achieve coherent teamwork then it must
strive to become a multicultural organisa-
tion where workers from diverse ethnic back-
grounds can contribute and achieve their full
potential (Cox and Blake, 1991). It is up to
management to work towards creating a
multicultural workplace but to achieve this
Cox and Blake (1991) believe they must
ensure five key components: leadership,
training, research, analysis of change culture
and human resource issues, and follow up on
actions. It is not a simple task to ensure that
change is successfully implemented in a mul-
ticultural organisation.
[ 349 ]
 Paul Hyland,
Terry Sloan and Initial action
David Barnett MM Cables set out on the task of changing the
Changing culture through
empowerment culture of its organisation in 1995. The
human resources department (HRD) was the
Journal of European Industrial
key department in leading the change
Training
22/9 [1998] 349353 processes. The HR manager worked with her
staff and consultants to identify and evaluate
the training needs of the organisation
(Hyland et al., 1997). In 1995 they identified
the need for a language and literacy training
programme for workers from non-English
speaking backgrounds. This programme
commenced in 1996 and achieved significant
results. In 1996 MM Cables HRD began to
develop a Competency Based Career Struc-
ture (MM Cables Energy Products, 1997),
completed in January 1997. MM Cables ini-
Downloaded by Khulna University At 20:40 06 February 2017 (PT)
tially decided to conduct a maintenance
training programme for operations person-
nel so that they could gain the necessary
skills to carry out preventive maintenance.
This training was conducted as a special
programme by the local technical and further
education college (TAFE). While there were
significant gains from this programme fol-
low-up surveys led MM Cables to believe they
could gain more from an accredited in-house
programme where training was delivered on
the job. Towards the end of 1996 it began to
trial a mentoring programme in-house where
maintenance tradespeople would act as men-
tors and work with TAFE personnel to deliver
and assess the programme in-house. The
move to a mentoring programme was
designed to improve the development of work-
ers competencies. The HRD had determined
that operational staff needed to put their
skills into action in the workplace if they
were to benefit from their training.
Visentin (1996) maintains that when evalu-
ating training needs organisations must
consider a number of factors including the
current knowledge, skills and capabilities of
employees, the needs of employees and the
business, and what they expect training will
teach the workers. There is also a need to
consider the training environment and
process or where and how employees will
learn most effectively. Training needs to be
flexible and still target company-specific
issues. The most effective training or learn-
ing occurs when participants take an active
role in the learning process (Anderson and
Taylor, 1994). When acquiring and upgrading
skills effective learning occurs when partici-
pants talk about the skills, write about them,
relate them to their experiences, evaluate
their usefulness and apply them in their daily
lives. Action learning is a strategy where
people learn with and from each other as they
[ 350 ]
attempt to identify issues, solve problems or
develop strategies (Bunning, 1992). Bunning
maintains that action learning has three
essential features: real world action rather
than simulation; activities involving a range
of people who are working on a variety of
projects or processes; and an emphasis on
learning by doing rather than simple action.
These were the driving principles that led the
HRD to develop its in-house training pro-
gramme.
The mentoring programme
MM Cables had experienced difficulties in
implementing preventive maintenance with
workers who had completed training at
TAFE. One of the main reasons the mainte-
nance training was not utilised was that
there was no strategic plan to have operators
take on maintenance tasks. The reason given
was that they would not have time because
there are insufficient numbers of people to
operate the machinery, let alone maintain it.
There was also the perception from existing
maintenance personnel that a couple of
TAFE courses do not make them tradesmen.
HRD focus group interviews revealed that
managers or maintenance tradespeople were
reluctant to let operators try out their newly
acquired skills on the job. Although workers
had demonstrated their competence to TAFE
assessors, they had not demonstrated it to the
factory. The operators themselves, however,
were very keen to use their skills and felt they
had not been given a fair go. After the trial
mentoring programme further HRD inter-
views, and actual work practices, revealed a
distinct change in attitudes. A report by the
Assessment Centre for Vocational Education
(Parkinson, 1996) maintained that mentors
and maintenance staff were more ready to
trust the trainees who had been able to
demonstrate on the job the skills to carry out
the tasks and had performed maintenance
work. Parkinson (1996) noted that almost all
participants commented that self-paced train-
ing on the job was more practical and easier
to understand as they were learning on
machines that they used every day.
Support structures
Importantly, almost every trainee mentioned
at some stage that it was necessary that the
company recognise and reward their input.
This was recognised by MM Cables from the
outset, and was one of the driving forces
behind the HRD in developing a revised
career structure at MM Cables. This com-
prises six career levels beginning with three
non-specialist levels: team assistant, operator,
 Paul Hyland, and multiskilled operator. After the first
Terry Sloan and three levels workers can specialise in one of
David Barnett four career paths: leadership level 4, 5, and 6,
Changing culture through operator maintenance level 4 and 5, process
empowerment
specialist level 4 and 5, and training specialist
Journal of European Industrial
level 4 and 5. This differs significantly from
Training
22/9 [1998] 349353 the previous structure where operators were
promoted on the basis of how many different
machines they could operate, and they were
unable to train and specialise in areas such as
leadership and maintenance.
It was necessary for MM Cables to demon-
strate to employees not involved in the trial
programme that it was a success, and to give
the trainees who had completed the course an
opportunity to show that they were indeed
competent to undertake maintenance tasks.
One of the principal differences with the
Downloaded by Khulna University At 20:40 06 February 2017 (PT)
operator maintenance role is that it clari-
fies what maintenance operators can do. As
Bunning (1992) points out, the success of an
action learning experience depends on a real
project. It has to be something that needs
fixing and somebody with power and influ-
ence, a senior person in the organisation,
needs to sponsor it if it is to be fully
integrated with organisational power and
politics. Bunning (1992) also maintains that
there is little point in learning if there are
always barriers to putting the learning to use.
The initial project
During the Christmas shut down it was
decided that volunteers from a single factory
at MM Cables would be asked to work on a
major maintenance project. The opportunity
to use operator maintenance employees came
as a result of implementing total process
management (TPM). The TPM programme is
seen by MM Cables as a way to make its man-
ufacturing operations more competitive. It
focuses on the manufacturing process in a
logical way, having similar principles to the
total quality management and value-added
management programmes previously imple-
mented. This programme was seen as linking
well with MM Cables competency-based
development structure for employees and has
shopfloor support, as can be seen from the
following comments made by the National
Union of Workers factory delegate:
The point is that TPM is time-consuming
and needs commitment you have to keep
going with it, otherwise it will fall by the
wayside. Our aim is to get the machines
working the way we want like when they
were new.
For the first pilot project it was decided to do
a complete clean and inspect on the process
P24-217 (a tandemised wire drawing and insu-
lation machine). A determined effort was
made to involve as many of the operators as
possible who had been undergoing preventa-
tive maintenance training. The first stage of
the project involved identifying and tagging
any problem or opportunity for improving
the process. A total of 158 tags were issued
identifying problems such as oil leaks,
improvement opportunities such as moving
gauges so they were at eye level and correctly
aligned, to cleaning and tidying. Of the 158
tags, 106 were mostly mechanical defects.
Over the next two weeks operators worked
alongside maintenance tradespeople, super-
visors and managers to fix faults and ensure
that as many tags as possible were removed.
A total of 80 per cent of the mechanical
defects were fixed by operational mainte-
nance employees with the remainder being
remedied by a combination of trade and oper-
ational maintenance employees. Many of the
operational maintenance employees were so
motivated that they went unprompted to
other processes to undertake mechanical
maintenance. During the project workers
were offering suggestions for further
improvements, and everyone involved took
pride in a job well done.
After the project was completed senior
managers came down to the factory floor to
congratulate everyone on a great job. Workers
went back to their own machines and volun-
tarily began to clean them up and take
greater pride in their work. A special display
book was made up of the before and after
shots of the project which was presented to
other managers at a management meeting.
Factory interviews
Interviews were undertaken to build on pre-
vious case studies conducted at MM Cables
(Hyland and Sloan, 1996). At the conclusion of
the project operators and supervisors at this
factory, and another factory not involved in
the project, were interviewed. These inter-
views aimed to determine the workers views
on their training programmes, both on the
job and at TAFE, their views on the changing
roles of the operators with the introduction of
the operator-based preventive maintenance
programme, and any perception of changing
attitudes of management or other workplace
relationships. In the following, O2 and S2 refer
to quotes of the operators and supervisor of
factory 2, the factory interviewed which did
not run the project. Similarly, O3 and S3 refer
to the respective quotes from factory 3 where
the project ran.
All operators in both factories expressed a
wish for further training and saw combining
[ 351 ]
 Paul Hyland, the external TAFE-based course with the in-
Terry Sloan and house programme as essential: O2: Simulta-
David Barnett neous the theory part and all of the practi-
Changing culture through cal part if we get simultaneous then we can
empowerment
learn this a bit more. TAFE was seen as the
Journal of European Industrial preferred provider for the basics and theo-
Training
22/9 [1998] 349353 retical knowledge which must be applied on
the job. The failure to be given opportunities
to apply the skills gained is leading to frustra-
tion among workers in factory 2: O2: Like we
went to the TAFE, we learned something, we
come back, we dont do it.
This is reflected in some reservations about
the speed of the implementation of the train-
ing programme expressed by their supervi-
sor: S2: Were minimal manned at this stage
and thats been critical. Weve got them
trained but we cant get the operators on the
Downloaded by Khulna University At 20:40 06 February 2017 (PT)
machines to give them all on the job train-
ing. It was noticeable that these problems
did not appear to exist in factory 3 where the
preventive maintenance project had been
conducted. This was reflected not only in the
attitudes of the workers but also in their
greater involvement in preventive mainte-
nance activities: S3: I think it (training) was
more relevant to what we want them to actu-
ally perform. 90 per cent of the (preventive
maintenance) work is performed by the oper-
ators which is great ; O3: After the course
some problems we know we can discuss with
the fitter and assist them how to fix it we are
not fitter but we like the eyes of the fitter.
The necessity of rapid application of skills
gained was reinforced by comments from
operators in factory 2: O2: We wish that
(skill application) would happen.
Co-operation between the machine opera-
tors and the maintenance personnel has been
a direct result of the maintenance project.
Where the project was not conducted: O2:
When the machine is down we wait for the
fitters just the sametwo years back just
the same as it is now. There is no marked
change. This behaviour contrasts with O3:
(before) if sometimes the machines down I
only wait to fitter and leave for fitter never
done anything Not like together but now we
know each other and very friendly now the
workplace very good now.
This change in shopfloor attitudes is also
reflected in how operators view their role
O3: The new system makes us have to learn,
to study all the time . Now the smart
workers the hard worker. This change has
also been detected by factory management:
S3: I think there is a learning kind of envi-
ronment now in the factory where there
wasnt as much of a learning environment
before this operational maintenance began.
Along with a better working environment
this change in attitude has had direct benefits
[ 352 ]
to both workers and factory management:
O3: before I got the training . Maybe I
can be better on the machine I study say
about two weeks, eight weeks depend the
machine. If the machine more hard then
maybe I stay with the machine ten weeks or
twelve weeks But now go to any machine,
the operator before just tell a few things and
we watch for him about three or four days
and we know the function of the machine and
we catch up to the job very quick.
All feel the support and active, visible
encouragement from management and appre-
ciate the benefits to be gained from a skilled
workforce: S2: Operators know how the
machine operates, know where it can break
down, know sort of how to look for problems
so thats helping out the life of the machine
preventative maintenance, less down time.
Essential for the success of the training pro-
gramme has been the rapid deployment of
skills gained and the giving of autonomy to
operators. Where this has not been possible
the results have been less encouraging and
improvements less noticeable. The integra-
tion of theory and on-the-job training was
necessary to gain the required attitudinal
change for successful implementation of a
preventive maintenance programme. This
training has improved the speed of skill
acquisition and the workforce is now more
accepting of the need for training, and more
willing to undertake additional training.
While day-to-day problems still infringe on
planned training activities, the top-down
training commitment from supportive man-
agement, combined with the operators gain-
ing a feeling of ownership of their machines,
will ensure the success of the current train-
ing and preventive maintenance programme
at MM Cables.
Conclusion
Training is essential for workers to acquire
the knowledge and skills to do their jobs.
Many organisations work on the assumption
that training has a beginning and an end, and
on completion workers have the skills and
will use them. Effective learning is an ongo-
ing process which needs to incorporate action
learning where participants demonstrate
what they have learned. The learning process
must be seen as part of peoples jobs and man-
agement must see training as a valuable part
of employees work. The full benefits of train-
ing will only be realised if there is an appro-
priate organisational culture. MM Cables is
gradually changing its culture and is actively
embracing the concept of a multicultural
organisation of multiskilled employees who
 Paul Hyland, are able to achieve their full potential. This
Terry Sloan and has been enabled by a revised career struc-
David Barnett ture that recognises and rewards employees
Changing culture through who learn and use additional skills. The new
empowerment
structure also allows for differing career
Journal of European Industrial
paths and specialisations. Training is not
Training
22/9 [1998] 349353 aggressive or mandatory and causes minimal
disruptions to operations.
By working closely with an outside training
provider MM Cables has been able to insti-
tute a learning process that suits the needs of
the company, and is not seen as threatening
by employees. It is clear from employees
comments that they have been empowered to
do their jobs and to look after their machines.
They have a growing sense of pride in their
work and an ability to keep their machines
running and operating effectively.
Downloaded by Khulna University At 20:40 06 February 2017 (PT)
This study has demonstrated the benefits
not only to individuals, but to the organisa-
tion, of adopting an active learning process. If
organisations fail to empower their employ-
ees they will continue to suffer from growing
levels of operator dissatisfaction with a con-
sequent loss in productivity. The lessons
learned at MM Cables may be readily applied
by HRD managers in developing training
programmes and changing existing company
cultures to develop true co-operation in the
workplace. The process of implementing
change in an organisations culture and
ensuring that employees are multiskilled is
complex and difficult. It is easier to put up
barriers than to overcome them, hence more
difficult to allow workers to use new skills
than it is to restrict their use. Organisations
such as MM Cables which invest time and
money in effective training will reap rich
rewards in the long term. However, compa-
nies which invest in training need to be
aware that they will only benefit if training
meets the needs of the organisation and
employees are encouraged to use the skills
they acquire. For training to be effective it
must be part of an overall human resource
development plan and of strategic impor-
tance to the organisation. From the
employees perspective, training they cannot
use is not simply a waste of time but it is a
negative experience. Such negative experi-
ences reinforce cultural aspects that tell oper-
ational workers they are not valued by the
organisation. Positive experiences encourage
employees at all levels to seek out opportuni-
ties to improve themselves and their organi-
sation.
References
Anderson, T. and Taylor, L. (1994), The root of the
problem, CA Magazine, Vol. 127 No. 5, pp. 40-
5.
Bassi, L.J., Benson, G. and Cheney, S. (1996), The
top ten trends, Training & Development, Vol.
50 No. 11, pp. 28-42.
Buhler, P. (1996), Managing in the 90s: creating
flexibility in todays workplace, Supervision,
Vol. 57 No. 1, pp. 24-6.
Bunning, C. (1992), Turning experience into
learning: the strategic challenge for individu-
als and organisations, Journal of European
Industrial Training, Vol. 16 No. 6, pp. 7-12.
Cox, T. H. Jr. and Blake, S. (1991), Managing
cultural diversity: implications for organiza-
tional competitiveness, Academy of Manage-
ment Executive, Vol. 5 No. 3, pp. 45-56.
Galpin, T. (1996), Connecting culture to organiza-
tional change, HR Magazine, Vol. 41 No. 3,
pp. 84-90.
Gupta, K. (1995), Coping with change, Training
and Development, Vol. 49 No. 8, p. 14
Hyland, P.W.B. and Sloan, T.R. (1996), Changing
Company Culture in a Multicultural Work-
place: The Importance of Training and Effec-
tive Communications, 4th Annual IERA Con-
ference Proceedings, Norsearch Ltd, pp. 147-56.
Hyland, P.W.B., Sloan, T.R. and Heine, A. (1997),
Changing company culture in a multicul-
tural workplace: the importance of training
and effective communications, in Mortimer,
D., Leece, P. and Morris, R. (Eds), Readings in
Contempory Employment Relations, Centre for
Employment Relations, Kingswood, Australia.
MM Cables Energy Products (1997), Competency
Based Training Career Structure, MM Cables
Liverpool, Sydney.
Parkinson, S.(1996), Integrated on and off the Job
Assessment, Case Study Assessment Centre
For Vocational Education, TAFE, St Leonards.
Visentin, D. (1996), Evaluating training needs,
Machine Design, Vol. 68 No. 21, p. 162.
[ 353 ]
 This article has been cited by:

1. Zulfiqar KhanDepartment of Knowledge and Information Management, Faculty of Engineering and Computing, Coventry
University, Coventry, UK Rajeev K. BaliDepartment of Knowledge and Information Management, Faculty of Engineering
and Computing, Coventry University, Coventry, UK Nilmini WickramasingheStuart Graduate School of Business, Illinois
Institute of Technology, Center for the Management Medical Technology, Chicago, Illinois, USA. 2007. Developing a BPI
framework and PAM for SMEs. Industrial Management & Data Systems 107:3, 345-360. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
Downloaded by Khulna University At 20:40 06 February 2017 (PT)