Employee involvement delivers better results

larry chao

No practice epitomises this better than participative management, where employees are invited to participate in decision-making.

The theory behind participative management is that better perfor-mance and greater commitment are achieved if you involve front-line employees - those directly responsible for execution - in making decisions. Front-line employees are best suited to provide feedback, because they have first-hand knowledge of what is working and what is not.

But the idea clashes with traditional Asian management culture, where seniority prevails and bosses are accustomed to making all the decisions.

"Our bosses, especially expatriates, encourage us to tell them what we really think," Sandra Fox (name changed), a middle-level manager at a multinational company in Thailand, said. "But what they really mean is they are willing to listen as long as it is consistent with what they think. Bosses have difficulty accepting ideas that are different from their own, even if our ideas are better."

Participative management has clear advantages. Front-line employees have the best vantage point to know how the marketplace views a company. But they are reluctant to speak up because they have been conditioned not to voice their opinions.

Allowing employees to participate in decision-making is also motivating. Employees develop better judgment by understanding how market trends are converted into business solutions.

Progressive businesses often encourage participative management through measures such as 360-degree feedback, a management tool that tells individuals how others in the company perceive their management style, allowing leaders to learn whether they discourage or encourage

participative management.

Culture shaping workshops are also useful. Participants identify obstacles that prevent management levels from interacting freely. Then, they develop a plan

to remove them.

Change will not happen over-night, but the wide interest in

participative management, despite strong cultural resistance is testimony of its effectiveness.

Larry Chao is managing director of Chao Group, an organisation change and training consultancy based in Bangkok and New York.