The company needs to improve its leadership qualities, without which the company cannot exist. Changes and improvements in the current situation can be traced to the example of Welch and his colossal work at GE. Thus, the first necessary change and one of the leadership concepts is the opposition of the new CEO to the Statute Quo. Welch ordered the sale of some small businesses, which freed up the company’s budget.
Moreover, the Chief Executive Officer divided the small businesses of the company into major categories and coaxed them to work on a competitive basis, which was not done before. Welch also ditched a complex strategic planning system to combat the status quo. He proposed the introduction of real-time planning, which was built based on a five-month collection of strategies and lengthy discussions with leaders. Significantly, Welch redefined the company’s budgeting process entirely, and the company’s results began to be judged by external criteria based on competition (Barlett and Wozny 3). They reduced the number of employees and abolished the enterprise’s sectoral level by reducing the number of hierarchical levels.
In the restructuring, Welch also focuses on such an important concept as building trust with others. He organized a forum format that allowed employees not to stand aside and express their ideas on business strategies and the company’s further development. These sessions lasted several days, allowing workers and divisional managers to highlight the agenda and significant gaps. He set up a system whereby Welch and senior executives checked businesses.
The review lasted several days, and as a result, he got acquainted with those managers who had high potential. As a result, employees expected honest feedback from management regarding their professionalism and expectations for promotions. Thus, thanks to a similar system Welch, a trusting relationship was established between the company’s employees. Welch installed compensation packages for workers and also increased wages. This allowed for more vital workers’ confidence in the company’s management.
For a more dynamic and accurate explanation, Welch used his example to show ideas of the problem related to business development. Thus, he used his life examples for more successful business and enterprise development. In addition, leadership was based on his personal and direct participation in all changes in the company (Barlett and Wozny 7). Welch directly supervised the training of leaders and the development of new projects, which allowed generations of managers to observe leadership in the example of the Chief Executive Officer.
Later, Welch refined the leadership system by example and incorporated a feedback process. All workers, managers, and leaders of a particular department appreciated the work of each other and expressed their opinions, giving examples. This process has improved the leadership training program and the company managers’ general knowledge. Thus, he established such relationships in the team that managers can consider leadership skills on their examples.
Welch also understood the importance of inspiring employees to the company’s business. Thus, he organized the managers so that they still achieved the main goals set, but at the same time, those goals were adjusted so that they did not seem like a rigid plan. The system’s core was that managers also need to set more extended goals during the budget cycle. While managers were not responsible for additional purposes, Welch rewarded those employees who coped with the task and achieved them (Barlett and Wozny 10). The Chief Executive Officer awarded managers with significant premium payments or some stock options in the company. Welch explained this because people like to solve problems and move on to the following difficulty levels. Therefore, this approach becomes essential for the development of the company. At the same time, he used the principle of the absence of punishment from employees, which inspired them even more pain and allowed them not to give up in case of failures.
Thus, the principles and concepts applied by Welch at GE can serve as a good tool for the development of the organization. Leadership by example is a perfect indicator of workers’ strengths and weaknesses in a changing company structure. This system leads to the most harmonious and accurate work of different enterprise branches. In this case, the company’s ethics can include a process of discussing and evaluating the activities of management and managers, as well as taking into account the opinions of employees. It will also strengthen the relationship of trust between the organization’s leadership, managers, and the rest of the staff. In addition, management should consider introducing compensation packages, salary increases, or more sustainable bonuses to maintain employee confidence in a transparent payment system in the enterprise.
In the case of an outdated company system, dealing with the status quo can be a challenging but necessary introduction. This will allow the company to acquire new development branches for different departments and increase its annual revenues. What’s more, inspiring employees to meet their goals more accurately can be a budget improvement. Thus, encouraging employees to fulfill other goals positively affects income growth.
Work Cited
Bartlett, Christopher A., and Meg Wozny. GE’s two-decade transformation: Jack Welch’s leadership. European Case Clearing House, 1999.