Case Study: Self-Directed Work Force

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Question 1
PPG was trying to foster innovation, increase employees’ productivity and improve work system with “self-directed work force” when they built the new union-free glass plants and implemented the new glass making technology.

The human resource department supported the new work system in PPG. They used the new strategy to select the right candidates from interviews, train the employees, develop the workforce, and build up the team. HR department chose candidates who had both good problem-solving skills and interpersonal skills. The candidates had to go through three simulations in Assessment Center: 1) Learn how to do the job. It tests candidates’ ability to follow instructions, use available information and do the job with good work habits. 2) Train another person to do the same job. It focuses on candidates’ interpersonal and coaching skills and ability to improve the working process. 3) Build up a team and do the work together. It emphasizes the importance of teamwork and sees how people listen and make suggestions. The best candidates who successfully complete the assessment center were hired by PPG from 1990. The new employees got training for their work.

From 1991 support workers started a 36-week period job rotation to work all the support jobs in the plant. It helped the works …show more content…

To achieve PPG’s purpose of implementing self-directed work force, it has to be with self-motivated employees who have cross-functional skills and successful teamwork. PPG purposely hired the new employees who had learning abilities and a good team player and arranged 36-month job rotation for the support workers to all of the support jobs in the plant. It was very helpful to use the “self-directed work force” concept to achieve the desired outcome. However, PPG team has to work on the employee self-motivation

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