Introduction:
Rivethead is an interesting and intriguing memoir by Ben Hamper where he tells of the boring and rather terrible life of an automotive plant worker at the Flint, Michigan General Motors assembly line. Here one can observe Hampton’s excellent tongue in cheek style which merges quite brilliantly with the realistic problems which a worker had to face in those days of huge industrial production where men and women were treated as mere numbers or cogs in a machine wheel. It is basically the life of a worker who is solely interested in doing his/her day job and bringing home that pay packet when required.
Experiences by Hemper
Hemper achieved international fame and stardom almost immediately for bringing down his matter of fact style to the masses and showing that life in a factory was something quite boorish and one would find it extremely difficult to keep his/her sanity. His work as an assembly line worker focused on some very simple tasks but most of all the problem of delegation was something which appeared very much out of the equation.
On a personal note I had the same problem when I worked in a hospital as a junior dental technician where delegation was completely out of the window
A manager is always important in every work setting so this means that in the healthcare system this is particularly important. First and foremost, a manager in for example, a casualty department has substantial problems in making his/her presence felt if he/she is not assertive and motivational towards staff. The manager is always the person to whom everyone turns when there is some sort of trouble brewing and this means that he/she has to have capabilities to motivate staff to do their job with the least amount of blemish possible. This is also true from the patient’s perspective as if there are bottlenecks in operation, these may result in problems of an intrinsic nature which may hamper the patients in their cure and period of recovery. Hampton was very much his own man in this respect and had no respect for his managers especially in the time when he brought in Michael Moore as an undercover plant worker (Hemper p 75).
Most important of all however, managers have to learn how to delegate as this will mean that they can concentrate on the bigger picture whilst letting others do the smaller jobs and tasks for them. Delegation is definitely a hugely important function, particularly in the healthcare setting as this means that those who are overseeing management of operations can observe the wider range of activities and plan accordingly while those who have been delegated the tasks can perform them properly and to their heart’s content. When a manager keeps all the important tasks to him/herself, the situation becomes ever more problematic and the bottlenecks which arise mean that the hospital or healthcare setting will not function accordingly and this will eventually mean that the whole system will collapse with the predictably bad results.
There is a clear distinction between delegation and empowerment. In the former, the superior in charge of the department assigns specific tasks to an individual with a clear brief and these are executed according to the manager’s wishes. With empowerment, this can also include an equal in managerial standing who can carry out tasks according to his/her abilities. Empowerment also means allowing other persons who have certain skills hidden inside of them and which are perhaps not immediately apparent to come out and be more beneficial to others. Empowerment is also the capability to get the best out of others, something which delegation (especially of some mundane and boring task) will not manage to do. When one weights the two options within the context of a healthcare setting, it is clear that empowerment is the most desirable option here and this also means that it should be put into place far more than delegation as it focuses on the intrinsic merits of the individual in question and is not simply the boring assignment of a task. Hemper describes his job as completely mundane and without any sort of empowerment whatsoever but simply the capability to complete the task in hand and go on to the next one (Hemper p 130). This is actually what frustrates him the most as he cannot bring himself to accept this terrible and mundane situation.
In every procedure regarding handing over work to others there are obviously potential dangers and these need to be identified accordingly if something is to be done about them. The principal danger of delegation is the fact that the work being carried out may be different than the person who has been delegated it is normally used to and the end result will mean that it will not be up to scratch. Another problem with delegation is the fact that occasionally the instructions meted out are unclear and this means that they are not understood properly with the resultant disaster that then may occur if the task is not carried out properly. When one has a healthcare setting in context, the dangers of delegation especially that which is done shoddily can become very clear in an acute situation where people’s lives are at stake. Delegation obviously has an effect on empowerment as it shows the capabilities of personnel in a much clearer light and also indicates what may be done when situations are created which are faced off accordingly. It is always important that the right persons are chosen for delegation of certain tasks as this may also mean that the end result would be far better than if it had been taken up by somebody else. Essentially the relationship between delegation and empowerment is a delicate one and should be taken seriously as the consequences which can result from a botched task which is improperly delegated can be calamitous especially in a healthcare setting. In my personal capacity I have to observe that the smooth running of a hospital undoubtedly depends on the empowerment of its staff who should be made to feel motivated at every step of the way as working under pressure may create huge problems and this will mean that the whole hospital system could break down with the results that no one wants.
Conclusion:
Hemper’s narrative certainly gives one food for thought especially in the context of the declining quality of life for the automotive plant workers as Michigan and Flint in particular went from boom to bust. Comparing one’s situation with Hemper’s instructive as it shows the differences one goes through in the working life of many different persons.
Works Cited:
Hemper B; Rivethead, Tales from an Assembly Line, New York, Warner Books, 1991, Print
