TABLE OF CONTENTS The agencies we reviewed undertook changes that represented a significant shift from their traditional operations and, as such, encountered organizational and cultural barriers that needed to be overcome as they sought to empower and involve employees. Some of the barriers included a lack of trust, resistance to change and a lack of buy-in, and implementation issues. Despite encountering these barriers, the employees and managers we met at each of the five agencies perceived benefits from the employee empowerment and involvement practices that their agencies had implemented. To address the barriers, the agencies used such strategies as open communication, a commitment to change, and providing performance feedback.
All of these efforts entailed cultural transformations, and therefore there was some natural resistance that took time and effort to overcome. Nevertheless, the experiences of these agencies demonstrate that organizations can make progress in addressing barriers to empower and involve their employees. The following are some examples of the barriers encountered and the strategies used to address them.
The agencies identified a lack of trust as a barrier they experienced in their efforts to empower and involve employees. A lack of trust can frustrate agency attempts to implement major changes in employees' day-to-day working environment. Throughout our review, managers, unions, and employees continuously emphasized the importance of trust in gaining acceptance for changes. For example, some employees feared for their job security as FAA's Logistics Center began to implement more business...
