Contemporary Business 14th Edition by Louis Boone, David Kurtz

تمرين 17

GM: Putting Workers in the Driver's Seat There are lots of things that autoworkers at GM are used to doing as part of their jobs-operating machinery, running computer programs, managing schedules and logistics. But until recently, there's one thing GM workers hadn't been asked to do; at least, not to the extent they are now: drive the cars.Workers at the GM assembly plant in Arlington, Texas, were recently given the chance to volunteer for a new program in which they could literally "check out" a vehicle from the plant lot, take it home for a night or a weekend, and drive it just as they would their own car or cross-over SUV. In return, the test drivers were asked for detailed feed-back about the vehicles, for the first time giving them a powerful voice in the design and construction of the cars they spend hours and weeks building. "We had so much interest in [the program] we had to use a lottery to determine who would get to be a volunteer," reports Enrique Flores Jr., president of the United Auto Workers Local 276, the union representing 2,400 workers at the GM plant. While the test-drive idea isn't new-executives and managers have participated in it for years-bringing the program to rank-and-file workers represents an updated attitude toward empowering employees. "We want to engage employees to do underground marketing," explains Wendy Stachowicz, coordinator of the GM Vehicle Advocate Program. "You look at where the company has been and where it has to go. Everyone has to help."In addition to a lottery, employees were selected based on their driving records. If they chose to purchase that vehicle or another one in the program, they qualified for discounts that reduced the price to near wholesale level. But participants didn't receive commissions or other rewards for test driving the cars-that wasn't the point. "This is a tool to empower people, to get them really engaged with our products," explains Stachowicz. Next, GM is considering expanding the program to include GM retirees and suppliers.
-In what ways does the GM test-drive program empower workers?