Over the weekend, I took my family to visit a newly opened theme park. One of the rides that we were waiting had a problem and has to be shut down. At that point of time, we have already waited for at least 40 minutes in the line.
I started to notice problems when other park visitors are walking against the line leaving the ride area. The family have to hear the news about the breakdown of the ride through other park visitors. At that time, no announcement was made nor any park attendants were to be seen. By the time, an announcement was made. The announcement was made over the blaring Christmas music where I can hardly make out what was being said.
At the moment of that crisis, the theme park does not have any leadership at the local level to take charge of the situation. In any business and organization, empowering employee to take charge in an usual situation is very important. Imagine, if the situation is not a breakdown but a small fire. It would have caused a stampede. In a production line, if there is any problem employees are expected to resolve the problem while making reports or suggestions to the local leadership.
The management should be able to nurture employees to show initiative and willing to take charge. One of the main root cause of the unwillingness is the fear of failure and getting into trouble. Problems are not like wine, it does not get any better through time. Employees are expected to take charge and solve the problem as soon as possible. Whether the initiative is success or not, employees should be given the credit for trying.
As organizations are getting flatter and less hierarchy. It is important for employees to have a sense of belonging and understand the amount of influence they have towards the company. Gone are the days of lets wait for instruction. If it is the right thing to do, employee should go ahead and do it.
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