Chapter 9 : Employee Needs

Abstract:

This chapter explores the possibility that the employee knows a great deal about what the employee needs. But the manager cannot simply ask the employee to list the employee’s needs. For it is likely that the employee will list many strong desires and cravings that have little relation to quality performance. It suggests several techniques to assist the manager in determining in a trial-and-error fashion what the employees actually need for quality performance. And along the way, it explores a clinical laboratory setting various opportunities for and challenges of leadership: mobilizing the employees to tackle their tough problems. Generally, employee needs represent necessary conditions and not sufficient conditions for quality work. It illustrates the mechanics of the hungers for authority in a normal group of people. The chapter suggests that there are some pointers for managers in the Jeremy Lock scenario. It states that a manager in crisis should display confidence and coalition building to provide some stability in the organization. The chapter closes with several analyses to illustrate the variability in the acts of leadership that actually mobilize employees to tackle the tough problems that impede the improvement of quality in the organization.