Innovative culture in engineering - Siemens

Siemens is the engineering group that is behind many of the products and services people take for granted in their daily lives. The list of products designed and manufactured by Siemens is almost endless. It includes traffic lights, gas turbines, superconducting magnets in medical scanners, wind generators, automated factories as well as domestic appliances like kettles and fridges. It generates about 40% of the UK's wind energy and it hosts, supports and maintains the BBC's website including the development of the BBC iPlayer. The company has been operating in the UK since 1843 and employs more than 18,000 people. Across the world Siemens employs over 427,000 people.

Engineers use scientific principles to develop products or systems to solve real life problems. Much of engineering is about innovation rather than invention. This means that engineers transform creative ideas into improved products, services, technologies or processes.

Motivation is the driving force for a successful company and motivated employees are a company’s most important assets. Each individual is motivated through different factors and its as unique as one’s personality. A creative environment, such as that provided by engineering, can be very stimulating. Some staff at Siemens thrives on the problem-solving aspect of their roles and respond to challenges. Other employees find the varied nature of the work motivating having the opportunity to try different roles. Siemens employees also value the fact that they are allowed to be imaginative and can influence their own work. The structure of Siemens motivates individuals by empowering them to improve processes. Siemens provides the sort of environment where workers can learn new things and are given the opportunity to progress within the business. This culture demonstrates that Siemens values its employees and helps to recruit the next generation of engineers.

Perhaps the earliest attempt to design jobs came during the era of scientific management. Taylor’s scientific management theory involved observing workers to see how they carried out tasks. As a result of his work tasks were broken down into smaller scale units of work, requiring little understanding from employees of what they were doing. This job specialization meant that workers undertook tasks with a narrowly defined range, for which they were rewarded according to how much they produced. Payment systems rewarded those who produced the most. Today, engineering needs people with greater creativity, capability and flexibility. Taylor’s way of working is very different from the needs of the modern working environment. However his work has helped form a scientific understanding of how work is organized.

Siemens have succeeded in creating an innovative culture in the engineering process which is quite challenging in this particular industry. At Siemens, the culture encourages employees to be involved in their work, suggesting and implementing possible improvements. Control as originally suggested by Taylor, which removed personal responsibility, is not what modern engineering is about. Controls still exist but the person doing the job is encouraged to work as part of a team and become involved in deciding the best way to do or improve a task. This is because in engineering there is a continuous need to develop new and better products and processes. They cannot be confined to one way of doing things. For example, a new product or process may open the way to new markets.

One of the most famous theorists on motivation is Abraham Maslow. In 1954 he developed a “hierarchy of needs”. This he represented as a triangle. The most basic needs are at the bottom. The more complex needs are at the top.

Siemens provides their employees with opportunities to improve their higher order needs. Mostly, engineers have a high priority to fulfill such needs due the creativity demand of the job. Esteem is about having self-respect and the respect of others. Feeling that one’s work is making a difference can improve self-esteem. Recognition of an employee’s achievements by the employer also helps to meet esteem needs. For example, Siemens runs schemes in which suggestions and projects for improvements are rewarded. This could be financially, either individually or as part of a team, or in terms of peer or management recognition of their achievements.

Self-actualization refers to the need of becoming all you are capable of becoming. Siemens offers engineering staff training and development opportunities. This links with self-actualization as it helps engineers to extend their capabilities which may lead to a progression up the career ladder. Training and development also helps individuals to meet the changing demands of the business global markets.

Frederick Herzberg approached the question of motivation in a different way. By asking individuals what satisfies them on the job and what dissatisfies them, Herzberg came to the conclusion that aspects of the work environment that satisfy employees are very different from the aspects that dissatisfy them. Herzberg labeled factors that cause dissatisfaction of workers as “hygiene factors” (company policies, supervision, working conditions, salary, safety and security on the job). In contrast, motivators are factors which are intrinsic to the job such as achievement, recognition, interesting work, increased responsibilities, advancement and growth opportunities. Herzberg’s theory showed that managers need to attend to the motivating factors and personal development aspects to improve employee performance. They also need to ensure that hygiene factors are met or managed in order to avoid dissatisfaction in the workplace.

To remove dissatisfaction, Siemens follows the method where they raise awareness of issues with employees and encourage their involvement. They then understand and recognize the need for change. This has helped Siemens to manage change programmes. Motivators at Siemens are the factors that stimulate engineers to work in the best way possible. They enjoy the characteristics of their roles. Being empowered helps them to manage their roles and enables them to use this power to change things. Whether individuals enter the organization after they have taken their A-levels, as apprentices or as graduates, the work they undertake is stimulating.

By 

Sonu Soney Joseph