Introduction
Is relinquishing control the key to superior staff performance? Does a Brazilian company that breaks all the rules have the ultimate solution to employee job satisfaction? If that sounds a bit far-fetched, learn about Semco.
Five Oddball Questions
- Why can’t we take the kids to work if we can take work home?
- Why do people have to stick to a career choice they made as an unprepared adolescent?
- Why do we tell our employees that we trust them, then audit and search them as they go home?
- Why do we think we are equipped to choose schools, doctors and politicians but don’t trust our capacity to lead ourselves at work?
- Why do we think that the future “is in God’s hands” and then plan every moment of it?
Who’s Asking?
Ricardo Semler’s his name. In 1980, at the age of 21, he took control of Semco, a company founded by his father in 1953. Since then he’s turned Semco into the absolute benchmark of employee control. In this time Semco has become a great commercial success both in terms of continued growth and profitability.
Semler’s Books
Semler has written two books about Semco. “Maverick”, published in 1993, describes how he changed the family company from a traditional top down rigidly managed corporation to something very, very different. “Maverick” has sold over a million copies.
His second book, “”the Seven Day Weekend” was published in 2003. It describes the growth, development and success of Semco under his guidance. It’s subtitled “The Wisdom Revolution: Finding the Work/Life Balance”
What Semler Says
“It’s very simple – the repetition, boredom and aggravation that too many people accept as an inherent part of working can be replaced with joy, inspiration and freedom.” He’s made it happen at Semco.
The Semco Story
I’m not going to bore you with masses of figures about Semco’s success. You can discover all that on Google. It’s not Semco’s commercial success that’s so important. It’s simply a consequence of how Semco operates. And Semco operates very differently from most corporations.
The Essence of Semco
“No management works like self management,” says Semler. Nor is Semco about a dominant, visionary leader. “What’s better in the long run?” asks Semler. “A charismatic central figure or a sustainable organization?”
Semler Also Says ……
“You cannot make a successful business by arriving early and staying late.”
“Most of the time, …. budgets…… are not much more than last year’s numbers projected forward ….. as good as warmed up coffee at 2 am.”
“You cannot breakdown the walls until you actually break down the walls.”
“It became accepted that large organizations could not function without hundreds …. or … tens of thousands of rules.”
“There is no way to treat employees as responsible and honest adults unless you let them know and influence what is going on around them.”
“Precise job descriptions limit worker’s potential and contain the possibility of job enrichment.”
“Profit sharing does not create employee involvement: it requires it.”
“It is possible to instantly teleconference with China and call home from an airplane in flight, yet most businesses today are still organized much the same way they were in 1633.”
“A company should trust its destiny to its employees.”
Conclusion
I’ve said it many times. Your staff are your most important customers. They should be responsible for at least all day to day operations. And they should be responsible for assessing their own performance.
What To Do Now
At the very least, check out Ricardo Semler and Semco on Google. Preferably buy and read both his books. Let me know what you think directly or in the comments.
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