Writer: When we talk about knowledge workers, we — Interviewee: I’m getting pretty sick of that term. Writer: Really, why? Interviewee: I’ve heard it defined as those who think for a living — which is pretty much anyone if you’re not a salamander. Writer: If you read the business press, it’s mostly white-collar folk. Interviewee: Kinda segregates so-called blue-collar work. Everybody wants flexibility and autonomy. And in this labor market, if they don’t get it, they’re gone.
resilient, agile, thriving organization is . . . by pushing power and decision making and agency as close to the edges of the organization as possible because at the edges is where most of the knowledge resides.” In its manufacturing processes, Toyota is doing just that. On the line in their Georgetown, Kentucky, plant, the largest Toyota plant in the world, the robotics are being designed by the line workers. “Machines are good for repetitive things,” said Wil James, President of Toyota Manufacturing Kentucky, “but they can’t improve their own efficiency or the quality of their work. Only people can.” Toyota’s realized that the people who do the work are the best designers of the workflow. Power and decision making has been pushed to the edges. The employees, empowered and respected, contribute to the well-being of the company; in other words, the outcome. That kind of empowerment does wonders for employee engagement and corporate culture. Writer: So, where does all this leave us? Interviewee: I n a lot of ways, where we’ve always been. Sure, the pandemic brought change, but the basics are unchanged. Employers and employees, we want the same things — respect, trust, engagement in a culture that has purpose. We want to learn and grow in a workplace that helps us do a good job today and a better job tomorrow. And… Writer: And?
Estimates vary depending on how you define the term, but knowledge workers make up about half of the total workforce. The other half — those who work in construction, manufacturing, mining, hospitality, healthcare, police, fire, retail, etc. — are required to be on-site even though they may want the same autonomy and flexibility. The result has been a migration of workers out of these jobs to office work, and an overall shortage of skilled labor. With the shortage, the price tag for skilled labor has increased. Walmart has raised the starting pay for truck drivers to $95-110K. But it doesn’t appear that money alone can slow the exodus. Those workers need at least some of the autonomy and flexibility their brethren enjoy. In the manufacturing sector, there’s been some experimentation with shifting work schedules, moving to four-day weeks and cross-training. A workday that runs from 6:30 to 2:30 avoids morning rush hour and lets parents pick up kids from school. A four-day week cuts commuting costs by 20%, and cross training, which allows workers to move among different jobs, offers greater flexibility for setting and changing schedules. Iain Roberts, COO of IDEO, a global design company, suggests that “the best way to build a
Interviewee: And world peace. Writer: Nothing wrong with that.
Harbert Business, Fall 2022 31
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