Seaworks boss makes his point with a chainsaw

Abstract

PurposeConsiders how Bill Day, owner of ocean‐salvage company Seaworks, deals with issues of trust and employee disengagement.Design/methodology/approachIncorporates findings from an interview with Bill Day and literature on the areas of trust, employee disengagement and the need for a personal sense of control.FindingsReveals that key determinants of employee engagement are a sense of trust between employees and their managers as well as a sense of personal control. Trust must be communicated through the firm's culture and must start from the top of the organization. A major barrier between employees and managers is the managerial reluctance to delegate authority and devolve power.Practical implicationsPostulates that there may be a direct correlation between managerial reluctance to delegate decision‐making and employee disengagement. This defensive posture by management may harm employee‐management trust and reduce employees' sense of control in the workplace.Social implicationsSuggests a practical means of reducing the incidence of employee disengagement and thereby increasing productivity and performance, to the benefit not only of the organization but also of society as a whole.Originality/valueAdvances ideas for organizational improvement that could reduce workplace conflict and absenteeism and increase economy of effort, thereby lowering costs and improving profitability.