Workers as Managers Boost Productivity

A prime U.S. resource is the workforce. Given the opportunity, workers can improve working conditions, morale, efficiency and, as a result, boost productivity. First, though, management must be willing to give workers the authority to make changes. For those companies who do, results can be dramatic. Here are case histories of formal worker-management dialogue programs that have been successful. Called quality control circles, quality of working life programs or labor-management committees, the programs have one thing in common: formal communications between all levels of workers.