Background
The point under discussion is the eighth principle proposed by Dr. Deming that suggests “driving out fear.” The key idea of this principle resides in eliminating those motivation techniques that rely on the employees’ fear to be punished or deprived of financial bonuses. According to Dr. Deming, fear cannot serve as a positive trigger of effective performance. As such, fear creates several barriers to enhancing outcome quality. First, it does not let employees express their ideas and come up with alternative solutions. Second, it causes employee resistance to the assigned tasks so that their motivation to complete them successfully falls significantly. Additionally, the sense of fear does not allow for consistent manager-employee relations.
Thus, the latter is afraid of asking for assistance or advice; as a result, the number of work-related mistakes increases which has a negative impact on the service quality. In order to drive the fear out of an organization, Dr. Deming suggests using effective communication and managerial techniques. As such, managers are recommended to encourage their employees to share their innovative ideas and proposals. Moreover, they should not impose any “punishments” on work-related mistakes; instead, it is useful to perform a common analysis of the mistake, examine its roots and point out the ways to avoid it in future. Most importantly, Dr. Deming puts an emphasis on the fact, that the sense of fear is commonly present in a lot of employees. As such, a managerial effort is required to drive it out – it is irrational to aspire that it will disappear naturally.
Current Condition
It seems that the discussed principle has not been adopted by Costco management. As such, no special effort is made to help employees to get rid of the fear of making a mistake or showing worse performance than in the last quarter. It is essential to note that managers do not develop this feeling intentionally. Thus, they do not warn employees against making mistakes or impose any restrictions on sharing innovative ideas. In the meantime, employees are still afraid of consulting their leaders. Instead, they prefer to ask their colleagues for help or advice. As a result, the assistance they receive is not always valuable in terms of decision-making. The reliance on unprofessional recommendations leads to operation mistakes that could be avoided with the help of a manager. Hence, it might be concluded that managers neither try to use the fear factor in their approaches, nor do they try to eliminate the natural sense of fear present in their subordinates.
Target Condition
Costco is likely to receive numerous benefits from the implementation of the discussed principles. First and foremost, driving fear out of the organization will have to establish effective collaboration between managers and employees. As such, a large number of operation mistakes will be prevented, improving, in such a manner, the quality of the service. Additionally, “fearless” employees are more likely to suggests some valuable ideas regarding the service improvement and the optimization of the operation flow. Thus, the company will receive a chance to implement positive change. Finally, eliminating employee fear will likewise signify eliminating their resistance to the assigned responsibilities and the proposed changes. As such, they will show a higher inclusion in the company’s processes and their organizational commitment will naturally rise. From a long-term perspective, the adoption of this principle is another step to continual outcome improvement.