Equipped and Engaged

A recent poll narrowed the characteristics of a model employee. It says that our ideal employee is dependable, self-motivated, positive, collaborative, and adaptive—all delivered with effective communication. Now, most manufacturers I am aware of would accept a prospective employee with a much shorter list. My list has only two items: willing and capable. I believe that the advantage goes to the manufacturer that attracts and retains team workers with these two characteristics in mind. Strategy focused on these factors is easier to deploy. We must maximize the effectiveness of our current and future workforce. Each group brings its own set of trials.

Unwilling and Incapable

You will not need to worry much about this group. They are unlikely to approach you for a job. Their lack of capability may also be due to various factors. These will not concern you unless the employee or applicant is a family member.

Willing and Capable

Of course, you will employ this person immediately and develop a plan to keep them engaged. Is the individual ambitious? Do they have something to prove? Understanding their motivation and providing opportunity to move up or at least around the company may be important. Perhaps they want to belong to a team and stay in one assignment for some time. The point is that we need to work as much at developing and keeping these people as we do at finding them. While your investment in people may pay dividends for another employer, it is still worth the risk. If you do not invest, you guarantee that they will either lose their willingness or take it elsewhere.

A mainstream example for manufacturing is the person who becomes a team member right out of high school. By applying herself, she can achieve a livable wage presently. The person does a stellar job in her assigned position and puts her plans for further training or education aside. When marriage or children raise the level of required income, this team member may determine that it is time to move on. This would be too late to express your belief in her potential, too late to roll out the tuition reimbursement and development plan.

Unwilling and Capable

This group includes many of the temporary workers who disappear at the first break. The phenomenon happens often enough that I have requested that the employment agency require potential placements to view a video of people doing actual packaging industry jobs. This will keep the unwilling candidates out of your plant. You can use the time you save to focus on the unwilling people already in your employ.

What makes capable people unwilling to engage their minds along with their backs? Space does not allow for all the potential answers, but a brief list must include these four:

• “I just don’t see myself working in manufacturing.” If this person is already in your employ, then they see it as provisional. Promoting from within, providing career path help, and investing in continuing education can help to change this perception.
• “Other than the paycheck, what is the point?” Understanding the why behind the business is a key to engagement. Knowing what the product will be used for, what the company does for the community, and what is in it for the employee can convert some to the ranks of the willing.
• Rewards and recognition. True gainsharing plans can provide motivation for individual and team productivity. While carefully deployed financial incentives have a place, recognition is not to be underrated. A simple and sincere thank-you is a powerful motivator.
• “I don’t have a voice in the company.” Capable people who are asked to participate in problem-solving often become more engaged. Getting on the same side of a problem together, listening, and giving credit for good ideas will often lead to increased willingness.

Willing but Incapable

Inexperience, immaturity, and low or very specific aptitude are just a few of the reasons for incapability. This group constitutes most recruits and even seasoned team members moving into a new area. Assessing, enhancing, and matching aptitude to experiences will lead to increased capability. Even the most gifted operator, supervisor, or salesperson was once willing but incapable.

Investing time involving teams in process improvement pays dividends. Individuals gain understanding of problems from additional perspectives, including the owner’s. Team members find that they have a voice in the process. The capability of the entire team is improved when they practice disciplined observation of processes and use proven tools to search for root causes of their problems. Minds are engaged, problems are eliminated, and critical-thinking skills are improved.

Scott Ellis, Ed.D., provides the brutal facts with a kind and actionable delivery when a leader, a team, or a company needs an objective, data-based assessment of the current state of operations and culture. Training, coaching, and resources develop the ability to eliminate obstacles and sustain more effective and profitable results. Working Well exists to get you unstuck and accelerate effective work. He can be reached at 425-985-8508 or scott@workingwell.bz.