Sample scenario
The company, which employs 50 staff in a team structure, has had a settled workforce for some time and business is good. Over a period of time, the numbers of “sick” days has increased and production is reducing. Now you have received a letter of resignation from one of your longest serving team leaders – what is going on?
The first action was to issue a Staff Satisfaction Survey, which was completed on-line and sent directly to Clarify People. Staff were not expected to enter their names and nobody from the company had access to the individual returns. A response rate of 75% was achieved, which was high and encouraging.
The analysis of those surveys showed that there were management problems at shop-floor level. A new Production Manager had been taken on to add experience and new ideas but staff had not agreed with some of his enforced changes. He had not talked to them about the benefits of the changes, or encouraged them to come back with any alternative ideas, despite many of them having been with the company for a long period of time. The MD, who was out of the company for long periods in his selling role, was not seen to take an ongoing interest in the staff.
Staff felt undervalued and demotivated. There was a lack of any forum for talking through problems – team meetings were rarely held because the Production Manager felt these were a waste of time and hit production targets. Training for any new people was sporadic and the responsibility lay with any of the experienced staff, who didn’t have the time or expertise to train others. Team Leaders were not seen as first line managers, so they sided with the staff against the Production Manager. Appraisals, which had been in place, had not been done because they were seen as cumbersome and nothing ever happened afterwards.
Not difficult to see why the motivation levels had dropped and staff were now losing their enthusiasm for the job and the company.
As a result of the findings, the MD has taken decisive action. He now meets regularly and separately with all the Team Leaders, as well as his meetings with the Production Manager. He also “walks the talk”, increasing his visibility on the shop floor and talking informally to shop floor staff. The Team Leaders hold regular meetings with their staff and cascade any information gained from their meetings with the MD. Two experienced members of staff have received “Train the Trainer” training and now carry out all inductions and training against a newly devised Skills Matrix, which was developed by a working group of staff.
A simple Job Chat process has been introduced for shop-floor staff, with the old appraisal process being revamped, simplified and now being applied to Team Leaders and Managers. People in management roles were involved in looking at the processes and coming forward with the format, so there is ownership in the right place. The MD intends to introduce a confidential feedback system from other managers and staff in the management appraisals.
Exit interviews have been introduced so that all leavers are invited to comment on their experiences of working at the company and so providing valuable input as to how things could be improved.