Empowerment is...not having to ask your boss every time. Empowerment is...the power to do it yourself. Empowerment is...encouraging employees to decide and to dare.

Our approach is built on the belief that it is important for people to be able to influence their work situation as this leads to increased job satisfaction and productivity.

When flatter is better
An action plan on empowerment generally involves flattening the organisation; removing as many hierarchical layers as possible and delegating authority and responsibility. Cross-functional specialist groups are frequently formed and assigned to work with the plans by focusing on processes rather than functions. The groups also work out targets for the processes, such as the objectives for resource planning.

Empowerment in Brazil
Since the beginning of 1996, Novo Nordisk Bioindustrial do Brasil has worked actively on defining empowerment and working out an empowerment strategy involving all employee groups in the production area.

A matrix organisation has been established consisting of specialist groups from different departments. The groups consist of salaried and hourly-paid employees working with different processes to ensure streamlined production, for example, logistics management processes. The teams define their own goals and work towards achieving them.

Process operators were retrained
For an empowerment process to function satisfactorily, employees often need training in certain skills. The empowerment plan at Novo Nordisk Bioindustrial do Brasil is based on the upgrading of employees' skills in the production area in order to enable management to delegate decision-making power.

The main focus is on the process operators and upgrading their skills in their work in enzyme production. Usually specialists rather than process operators deal with mechanical problems such as breakdowns. The specialists only work in the day-time so problems arising during the night may have to wait until the next day before they can be resolved.

The training will give some of the process operators the skills, decision-making power and responsibility to solve the problems themselves as and when they arise. Furthermore, the idea is that they can spread knowledge about maintenance and laboratory operations to the rest of the operators on the shift.

During 1998, eight process operators received on-the-job training. These process operators were trained by their colleagues in either maintenance or laboratory skills. After six months of training, they are now able to solve many of the problems occurring when the specialists are not available.

Each of the five shifts consists of 12-13 process operators. By the year 2000, there will be at least one operator on each shift who is trained in laboratory analysis and at least one who is trained for special maintenance work.

The cultural context
Being empowered is new to many of the employees at the Brazilian plant. Brazilian companies tend to have a hierarchical structure and the average factory worker on the shop floor is not encouraged to take the initiative. The management climate requires employees to ask their supervisors before they take action. It has been a challenge for the Novo Nordisk Bioindustrial do Brasil management to introduce and implement the empowerment strategy and make the employees understand its purpose.

When asked about the process, Brazilian employees stated that they have become more motivated and that they understand and support the ideas behind the empowerment strategy. It can be difficult to measure the overall effects of an empowerment process, but we will continue to evaluate the process in Brazil.