Business and organisational research
Imagine a workplace where you came and went on your own schedule, did performance reviews for your boss, negotiated your salary every 6 months, could be fired by your peers and were encouraged to work in a different place each day so your boss couldn’t find you. Sounds impossible? Well one incredible company in Brazil has made this model work for over 40 years. There is more, they also support unions, provide mini-retirements, dating services for employees and 23% pre-tax profit sharing!
Semco is a maker of industrial machinery with roots in building equipment for the naval industry. They have now diversified into education, consulting, real estate and other areas. There are over 3000 Semco employees. Key to their success however is their participative management style,
At Semco, people work with substantial freedom, without formalities and with a lot of respect. Everybody is treated equally, from high-ranking executives to the lowest ranked employees. This means the work of each person is given its true importance and everybody is much happier at work - Semco Website
I feel that our British management style would do well to study this company. When I came across Semco it piqued my interes because it proved that it was possible to make work better while still having a successful business. The fact that it was in Brazil, an emerging economy who many predict to be a major player in the coming decades, and originating in heavy industry while having the almost libertarian values of a silicon valley juggernaught. There is no good reason why this model of openness and respect can’t be applied to British business.
Semco has a great deal of this information publicly arguably using it as a recruiting tool, This information includes a 43 point survival guideOP
Freedom
There is no space at the Semco Group for formalities. The doors are always open and people should say what they really think, without worries or...