Walking the Floor

Walking the floor

What is management?

Every manager has occupied a more junior position and almost certainly, looked upward to higher ranks and said “I could do it better”.
So what happens, when the opportunity to “do it better”, is given? Is it initial enthusiasm, overtaken by eventual apathy?

Pose the question;

“If all the directors left the business, could the shop floor personnel create output and profit?”

The answer is undoubtedly “Yes”.

Now pose the alternative question;

“If all the shop floor personnel left the business, could the directors alone create output and profit?”

The answer is more than likely, “No”.

So what do managers and directors do? What should they do? What “added value” do they contribute?

They should direct and manage resource, including people, to ensure that the output and profitability of the business is directed and managed to the greatest effect, adding value through improved efficiency and planned growth.

They should empower the shop-floor and create “transparency for growth and improvement”.

All too often, “KPI’s” are cited as the “Holy Grail” and the cornerstone of business improvement. All too often, managers and directors, rewarded by bonus based on performance improvement cite numbers and then massage them for the benefit of themselves.

As a management consultant, my first approach is to “Walk the floor” and talk to the people that matter and too often discover that they don’t know about business policy, company direction, growth strategy, imminent new products and even more surprisingly “KPI’s”. Improvement here is the best first step in any improvement process.

Even when surrounded by glorious coloured charts with clear upward or downward trends, they often don’t know why. In many cases, the charts are out of date on the shop floor but up to date on the manager’s laptop.

The best KPI’s of any, are “how often do the directors and managers walk the floor?” and “how often do they communicate personally with staff?”

Such two way flow is a key element in improvement strategy.

Don’t wait until “bonus time” or “pay review time” to communicate and take a careful look at your “KPI’s”. Do they really reflect reality and more importantly, does you greatest asset (staff) know of them and agree with them?

Peter Saunders
Director

Rubicon Developments Limited