Teamwork: the right approach

By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 7/1/2000

James Robert Crow worked for years in the airline industry, so he knows that it doesn't take much to make the difference between a crash and a safe landing in an airplane. Likewise, companies can crash if they do not take the correct approach in working with employees.

Crow spoke in May at the Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association meeting in Naples, Fla. He asserts that common management practices used to motivate employees-such as reward and recognition systems, merit pay, and quotas-all have the opposite effect and usually result in scattered wreckage for an organization.

Instead, Crow advocates teamwork. Rather than tweaking employee performance, managers should concentrate on changing those elements in the system that will create significant improvements. He suggests that organizations strive to create workplaces of trust, shared information, and collaborative effort.