In the the best-selling book "Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment," manager Joe Mode enters the "12th Dimension," which enables him to take an outside view of his department.
Mode, manager of Department N of Normal Company, doesn't like what he sees. His employees watch the clock. All they care about is their paychecks, vacations and pensions. Hardly anyone is excited about his job.There is no light in Department N.
Yet, there is plenty of light in Department Z, where employees are involved with what they are doing. They work and talk with purpose.
"Zapp," Mode discovers, makes the difference.
Author William C. Byham describes Zapp as the "lightning of empowerment." In a recent telephone interview, Byham said the book's fable format teaches readers about the concept of empowerment or "zapping" others.
To "zap" others, managers need to help employees maintain self-esteem, listen and respond with empathy, ask for help in solving problems and offer help without taking responsibility, Byham said.
"The book gets across the idea what empowerment is and what you have to do to give it," he said. But Byham said the book is but the first step toward employee empowerment. Further training is required to implement the concepts.
To meet that end, Byham will present "Zapp! The Power to Excel," Wednesday, Feb. 3, from 8:30 to 11 a.m. at the South City Campus of Salt Lake Community College. Tickets are $60 each or $50 for four or more people from the same organization. Tickets are available at the door or by calling 461-3428.
The seminar is intended to help participants understand the positive effects of empowerment, identify reasons for creating an empowered work force, assess an organization's level of empowerment and understand how to increase employee motivation and commitment.
Byham is president and chief executive officer of Development Dimensions International. A psy-cholo-gist, Byham has conducted empowerment workshops for DuPont, General Electric, AT&T, Whirlpool, IBM and the American Heart Association.
"It's an investment more and more companies are making. It's a very hot topic. We have a list of people doing it that's a mile long. There's no alternative in a competitive market," Byham said.
Empowered employees are better employees, he said. Empowerment energizes people to handle challenges and to increase quality, customer satisfaction and productivity.
"If you get people to feel a sense of ownership in their jobs, they're not going to continually improve because their boss tells them to. They're improving because they have ownership."
Byham's management concepts also apply to interpersonal relationships, particularly in building self-esteem in children. "Parents need to empower them so they can succeed in the world by themselves," he said.