🚀 go-pugleaf

On 22 Oct 1998 13:07:55 GMT   DoveCon wrote:

> >I have a section of ten operators and productivity is not good.
> >All efforts to improve it through involving, motivating, empowering etc etc
 are
> >failing because three of them are very negative, very subtle and important to
> >the process. They undermine everything we try but we cannot pin anything on
> >them. They seem to cause fear amongst the others and we cannot make the
> >breakthrough.
> >Any ideas other than transferring them or firing them?



I heard a presentation at an ASQ section meeting about this sort of
situation.  The staff in one manager's area of responsibility were not
getting contracts written and approved prior to the shipping dates of the
products for which contracts were needed.  Performance was an average of
120 days to get contracts completed.  The manager's target was 10 days.
The performance was a problem for the organization because without a
contract the firm's attorney could not determine who the owner of the
product was and who was responsible for problems with the installation of
the product at a job site.

The manager's solution was to:

        educate staff about their current performance,

        establish teams to document and improve the process,

        educate staff about the value of their contributions to company
        success,

        develop career paths for staff so they could see that they
        had employment opportunities and marketable skills should they
        need to take other jobs as a result of improved performance in
        the contracting process, and,

        offer assistance to find jobs for those who refused/resisteed
        (after education) to approach the performance problem positively.

This manager, after his efforts, had to transfer only one employee out of
his area because the employee was unwilling to go along with the focus on
improved performance.

What I took away from the presentation is that managers have an obligation
to educate their employees about what is expected, make substantial
efforts to help employees align their activities with the performance
goals, AND assist employees to relocate within the organization or to
another organization when they cannot or will not go along with necessary
changes.

This fellow did an excellent job of getting employees to understand that
they must cooperate or change jobs.  He was successful because he provided
them with alternative paths rather than a bald ultimatum.  This approach
had the effect of improving morale, even one when person was removed from
the department.

What I didn't hear in his presentation was how much support was needed and
how much support he received from Executive Management for this approach.

 -----------------------------------------------   ______________
 PATRICIA MALINEE                                 /              \
 Center for Health Services Research             (                )
 517-S Westlawn Bldg.                             \  Iowa City,   \_
 The University of Iowa                            \   Iowa     *   \
 Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1100   Voice 319-335-8275    \  U.S.A.       /
 patricia-malinee@uiowa.edu     FAX 319-335-8814     |_____________ )
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        Efforts should not concentrate on the
                Management of Quality
        but, rather, on the Quality of Management
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