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    Employment Matters: A Lunchtime Seminar Series About Employment Relations and The World of Work

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    Shavon Edwards
    The document discusses Delta Air Lines' high-level employee involvement program. It describes how Delta moved from a paternalistic management style in the 1980s to adopting a more formal employee involvement program in the 1990s to improve business performance. The program includes employee representatives on Delta's board of directors and division-level employee councils. The program aims to energize employees, improve organizational alignment, and support management/employee development. While costly, the benefits include increased production efficiency, better communication, and stronger employee relations.

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    Employment Matters: A Lunchtime Seminar Series About Employment Relations and The World of Work

    Uploaded by

    Shavon Edwards
    38 views16 pages
    The document discusses Delta Air Lines' high-level employee involvement program. It describes how Delta moved from a paternalistic management style in the 1980s to adopting a more formal employee involvement program in the 1990s to improve business performance. The program includes employee representatives on Delta's board of directors and division-level employee councils. The program aims to energize employees, improve organizational alignment, and support management/employee development. While costly, the benefits include increased production efficiency, better communication, and stronger employee relations.

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    Quality Circle

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    The document discusses Delta Air Lines' high-level employee involvement program. It describes how Delta moved from a paternalistic management style in the 1980s to adopting a more formal employee involvement program in the 1990s to improve business performance. The program includes employee representatives on Delta's board of directors and division-level employee councils. The program aims to energize employees, improve organizational alignment, and support management/employee development. While costly, the benefits include increased production efficiency, better communication, and stronger employee relations.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    38 views16 pages

    Employment Matters: A Lunchtime Seminar Series About Employment Relations and The World of Work

    Uploaded by

    Shavon Edwards
    The document discusses Delta Air Lines' high-level employee involvement program. It describes how Delta moved from a paternalistic management style in the 1980s to adopting a more formal employee involvement program in the 1990s to improve business performance. The program includes employee representatives on Delta's board of directors and division-level employee councils. The program aims to energize employees, improve organizational alignment, and support management/employee development. While costly, the benefits include increased production efficiency, better communication, and stronger employee relations.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    of 16

     

    EMPLOYMENT MATTERS
    A lunchtime seminar series about
    employment relations and
    the world of work

    http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/emar/events.htm
     
     
    High-Level Employee Involvement
    at Delta Air Lines

    Bruce E. Kaufman
    Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
    Georgia State University
    Atlanta GA

    The British Academy


    London, 10 March 2004
    Employee Involvement:
    Not a New Idea

    When the Workmen Help You Manage


    1919, William Basset

    1920s: Shops Councils and Employee


    Representation Plans
    Different Types of EI
     Financial
     Direct vs. Indirect (Participation vs.
    Representation)
     Low Level (Shop floor teams, quality
    circles)
     High Level (plant councils, board of
    directors group)
     High Level: about 7% of companies doing
    EI
    Key Features of EI
     Scope (Narrow vs. Broad)
     Access to Management (Low vs. High)
     Power/Influence
     Information
     Informal vs. Formal
    Delta Air Lines: the 1980s
     A “top 100” employer
     A classic “high road” nonunion firm
     Enlightened Paternalism and Velvet Glove
    Command/Control
     Very high employee loyalty
    Delta Air Lines: the 1990s
     Intensified competition, turbulent markets, global
    expansion
     New management team
     Paternalism is out, business partnering is in
     EI adopted at first for non-strategic reasons
     Has grown into a central part of the business
    model
     Probably the most formal, advanced EI program in
    USA
    Delta EI Program: Structure
    Top-Level: Delta Board Council
    • Seven employees, each representing a business
    division
    • Peer selected, two years terms
    • Attend BOD meetings, meet with CEO, CFO and
    EVPs
    • Base visits around the world
    • Project assignments
    • Preview employee sensitive
    communications/policies
    EI Program contd.
    Middle-Level: Five Division Employee Councils
    • Flight Attendant Forum
    • Technical Operations Council
    • Airport Customer Service Forum
    • Cargo Partnership council
    • Reservations Sales council
    • Employee elected representatives
    • Deal with all issues affecting that division
    EI Program contd.
    Lower-Level: Base councils
    • Elected representatives
    • Handle base level issues
    • Form Continuous Improvement Teams
    Costs
     Employee/Management Time
     Slower/Constrained Decision Making
     Higher Labor Cost
     Unintended Collective Bargaining
     Long-Run/Uncertain Pay-Off
     Backfire Effect
    Benefits
     Energize the Employees
     Organizational Alignment/Coordination
     Production Efficiency/Quality
     Communication/Information Flow
     Organizational Change
     Management/Employee Development
     Employee Relations
    Lessons Learned
     Not for Everyone
     Impact the Bottom Line
     Core Part of the Business
     Long-Run Focus
     Trust and Mutual Gain
     Distributive items Off the Table
     Empowerment and Problem-Solving
    Lessons Learned – cont.
     Management Commitment
     Early Bumps
     Training
     External Pressure
     Cooperative Employee Relations vs. Union
    Avoidance
     

    DISCUSSION 
     
     

    EMPLOYMENT MATTERS
    A lunchtime seminar series about
    employment relations and
    the world of work

    http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/emar/events.htm
     
     

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