[The following news item appears in the May 1994 edition of
_Quality_Progress_, pages 14 and 16/]

         SURVEY REAFFIRMS THE VALIDITY OF DEMING'S 10TH POINT  

     Of his famous 14 points in Out of the Crisis, W. Edwards
Deming's 10th point, "Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and
targets for the work force," was reaffirmed in a survey by Rath &
Strong.  

     The Rath & Strong Personal Initiative Survey found that
organizations that use slogans and vision statements can't force
their employees to take the personal initiative needed to effect
change. According to the survey, these activities might do just
the opposite.  

     The survey found that although managers increasingly expect
employees to take personal initiative, most employees do not take
the necessary actions beyond their job descriptions. Having the
right organizational climate might be the key to bridging the gap
between expectations and behaviors.  

     After polling 186 senior executives from FORTUNE 500
manufacturing and service companies regarding which activities
foster superior performance results for an organization, the
survey revealed that personal initiative, when combined with a
customer focus, has a positive influence on business success and
sales growth rate.  

     Alan Frohman, a Rath & Strong senior associate, said, "These
results are significant because they suggest that although people
are being expected to take personal initiative, most
organizations haven't figured out how to translate those
expectations into positive behaviors. The right corporate climate
can have a tremendous impact on how comfortable people feel about
taking action." 

     Although 79% of all respondents indicated that employees are
increasingly expected to take initiatives to bring about change,
40% of the respondents said most people in their companies do not
believe that they can make a personal contribution to the
company's success.  

Other survey results were:

     -- Only 29% of employees at every level believe that their
     skills and intelligence are fully utilized.  
     
     -- Half of the respondents said their training programs
     encouraged people to think beyond their companies'
     traditional ways of doing business.  
     
     -- Fifty-two percent of the companies said they could
     greatly accelerate the needed changes if more people would
     take personal initiative.  
     
     -- Slightly more than 50% of the respondents said there is
     an active effort to ensure that employees receive
     information on how their jobs affect customers.  
     
     Tom Thomson, Rath & Strong vice president, said, "These
numbers indicate that organizations are still not seeing the full
potential of their own employees. But it also means that we
should be optimistic--imagine the results companies can achieve
if they are able to tap into people's initiative. The trick lies
in learning how to build a climate that encourages initiative."
He added that a climate survey can be a powerful tool for
energizing people to take new responsibility for the business'
success.  

     The survey included five tips for managers to foster
personal initiative:  

     1. Make sure the link between your organization's mission
     and your employees' jobs is clear.  
     
     2. Foster communication between people with relevant
     problems and those who have the information to help create
     solutions.  
     
     3. Ask your employees how the company can benefit more fully
     from their individual skills and talents.  
     
     4. Encourage people from different parts of the organization
     to discuss problems together.  
     
     5. Encourage employees to maximize their personal growth and
     reward that growth.  
     
     If you're interested in receiving a free copy of "The Rath &
Strong Personal Initiative Survey" report, contact Hannah
Feldman, Rath & Strong, 92 Hayden Ave., Lexington, MA 02173,
800-622-2025. (617) 861-1700. ext. 243.