Woodworth & Baines is a retail chain that has taken up numerous measures to improve employee attitude, motivation, and organizational performance. New training programs, employee engagement initiatives, and an employee welfare council were the three main strategies implemented as part of the employee empowerment program. Norman Kilner was one of twenty employees nominated to the employee welfare council where they were required to interact with the management to promote the interests of the employees. Additionally, the job roles of these twenty employees were vertically enhanced to give them more autonomy in the organization. However, six months into the employee empowerment program, a survey by HR revealed no actual change in employee attitudes. Similarly, a survey conducted by the production manager revealed that work productivity had not increased by any substantial measure either. Which of the following, if true, would best explain this outcome?
A) Management strengthened the regulations relating to employee absenteeism in this period.
B) Management retained the degree of control they had in the organizational affairs.
C) The company moved from a merit-based to a piece-rate pay system in the last quarters.
D) The employees performed poorly because of the lack of training and development programs.
E) Management implemented a 360-degree feedback system for performance appraisals.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The lack of actual change in employee attitudes and work productivity despite the implementation of various employee empowerment strategies suggests that management may not have fully relinquished control over organizational affairs, which may have hindered the effectiveness of the program. Option A, C, D, and E are not directly relevant to explaining the lack of improvement in employee attitudes and productivity in this case.

Woodworth & Baines Is a Retail Chain That Has Taken