AES Organizing for Empowerment
AES Founded in 1981 by Chairman Roger Sant & CEO Dennis Bakke Based in Arlington, Virginia Currently 90 plants in 13 countries Approximately 40,000 employees
Four Principles that lead to Empowerment Fairness Integrity Social responsibility Fun
Fairness Performance evaluations Accountability
Fairness Compensation split 50/50 Survey of values Group evaluations Performance Evaluations
Fairness Penalizing mistakes Forgiveness Accountability
Integrity Chief Guardians “most of the time, our people guard the values without any input from senior people.”
Integrity AES admitted error example Indonesia example
Integrity Teams are responsible for both operations and maintenance. They do not want the two separated Employees are responsible for something from start to finish, they take better care of it, like it was their own
Social Responsibility Programs Values of upper management
Programs Reforestation World Wildlife Fund Cancer research
Social Responsibility Values Chairman Roger Sant CEO Dennis Bakke
Fun at AES Responsibility Involvement No hierarchy Parties
Responsibility The business is not just fun because of the parties they have Fun because people who work here are fully engaged People have total responsibility for their decisions and full control of them. India example.
Involvement They know what they do every day matters to the company Company sets itself up this way – Power and responsibility Gives employees empowerment and Trust
No Hierarchy No (real) bosses – just small teams Team example. Complete lack of hierarchy –2 coal plant decision example Eventually, they want a system in which each team has total responsibility of their plant in terms of operations and maintenance.
Parties Finally the company does have party’s Billion dollar deals call for a party! From team members to the owner, every employee loves a good party. These people love their parties because they feel like they’ve earned it and that’s what make the company truly fun.
Conclusion Four Principles –Fairness –Integrity –Social Responsibility –Fun Empowerment –Employees make decisions without top-down direction Accountability