Semi-autonomous working group
Semi-autonomous working groups (TAG) offer employees the opportunity to act and make decisions independently in socio-technical units ( work system ) in the sense of “ group work ”.
In addition to execution activities, a TAG is also assigned organizational, planning, maintenance and control tasks. The TAG consists of several employees from different hierarchical levels in the company. The group organizes itself independently, that is, it distributes the arising tasks independently to the group members. The concept combines the thoughts of the job Large Apartments (job enlargement), job enrichment (enrichment work). See also: work structuring . This usually improves the quality of the work.
Members of a TAG are usually formally nominated by the company management, or they come together themselves. The latter corresponds more to the idea of self-determination and would therefore be preferable.
The idea of semi-autonomous working groups was first implemented on a broader scale in Japan. In Germany there were many successful approaches within the framework of the research program “ Humanisation of Working Life (HdA)”, but it was not able to establish itself for a long time despite proven economic success.
Toyota in particular has successfully cultivated this form of cooperation within the framework of " lean production " and made it an essential work organization in its automobile plants. However, one has to note that the Japanese basic attitude towards work cannot be compared with the German one. Japan is one of the most collectivist countries. The Japanese often do not see themselves as individuals , but rather as part of a group. Here the group is a means of individualization . The Japanese concept of success can therefore not simply be transferred. In theory, semi-autonomous working groups are considered the “non plus ultra” of modern personnel development. In practice, however, the structures of the groups are sometimes to be viewed critically, as group members can join a working group with different intentions. It therefore makes sense to expand TAG's competencies to include personnel selection, which requires appropriate coordination competencies on the part of HR management.
It is certainly positive if the employees have a specific interest in the task. It becomes problematic, however, when group members think they can hide under the guise of the group and reduce their work performance (see free rider effect, sucker effect, ringelmann effect , social laziness, etc.). Furthermore, there is a risk that company management will misunderstand the work organization concept of TAG as a means of short-term profit maximization, or try to introduce it without the necessary preparation and willingness to delegate tasks. It can also happen that managers or group members want to distinguish themselves and see group work as a platform for this.
Not to be forgotten are "conservative" employees who have been satisfied with their work so far (problem of job satisfaction ) and who, due to insufficient empathy, are forced by management to perform extended tasks in a work group. Fear can spread here, especially among older employees or those in marginal employment, as they can no longer carry out their usual work, but are then often supposed to learn new things under pressure. The three keywords " job rotation ", " job enrichment " and " job enlargement " can be seen from work scientific as well as from the HR management perspective positive, but have in addition to the advantages of greater flexibility and responsiveness to customer and market requirements qua increased qualitative redundancy in the system, among others, the disadvantage that new, unproductive training time arises. Labor policy and administration in most countries usually provide funding instruments for this purpose, which HR managers who are willing to provide information can use. In the longer term, with a competent introduction, the clear advantages can outweigh any disadvantages for the company.