How to Motivate Shop Floor Supervisors

[palmer]

BTW, make sure your resumé is up to date.
Challenging the status quo goes rarely unpunished. :mg:
One of the reasons I started my own business 23 year ago...

Stijloor.

Isn't it the job of Continuous Improvement to challenge the status quo?

How can there be improvement if this is not so......... of course I've gotten myself in hot water many times.... but I always point out my job description as my defense....

That is probably why they created my position...

Resume is up to date but with the safety responsibility it would be very hard to not have this position in the facilities.

 

[Stijloor]

Isn't it the job of Continuous Improvement to challenge the status quo?

Absolutely, as long as you have Top Management support which is, based on your initial post, obviously lacking. This, by the way, is not a continuous improvement issue, this is a serious morale/behavioral issue that requires root cause analysis and subsequent corrective action.

How can there be improvement if this is not so......... of course I've gotten myself in hot water many times.... but I always point out my job description as my defense....

Job descriptions may not help if the culprits gang up on you.

That is probably why they created my position...

Including responsibility and most importantly; authority?

Resume is up to date but with the safety responsibility it would be very hard to not have this position in the facilities.

Trust me, everybody can be fired and replaced.... Seen it happen many times.

Wishing you good luck. The Cove Members are with you, but we can not pay your salary...

Stijloor.

 

[palmer]

Wishing you good luck. The Cove Members are with you, but we can not pay your salary...

Stijloor.

Can we take up a colection and put it in a trust fund for me or something?

 

[zekeQA]

Palmer,

A collection would be great...but many of us are in the same boat as you!

Maybe a Quality Fallout Fund for all of us ... We could have disbersments and an application process. It would be interesting to see the real reasons people like us get terminated...and what our termination papers actually say.

Hang in there and keep doing the right thing.

 

[CarolX]

One way to beat this is to have a uniform job rotation policy and to have this effetively done imparting additional skills and knowledge is vital.

This is a great idea - how about some cross-training...even get these supervisors on a machine that requires constant monitoring for 3-4 hours.

Maybe take a closser look at some of these supervisors - do they need some skill set upgrades?

 

[Groo3]

A lot of good discussion so far... If you are trying to change the culture / behaviors, the road to recovery can be years in the making. Culture change needs to start at the top, if the boss is unhappy with someone's performance, they need to set clear expectations of the workers. When / if people start to fall back into old habits, the boss needs to be prepared to back up their words with actions. I would not opt for drastic measures at first, but the repurcussions should be fair to the level of infraction, understood by all, and backed up by top management.

Sometimes, location can also play a factor in the behavior of employees. Is your company in a large population area? (one of many employers in the area) or Is it the biggest employer in the area? If your company / site is the biggest employer in the area, I would expect the local population to be eager to work there? If you are in a large population area, employees may feel there are tons of options (jobs) right down the street...

Regardless of what rights of passage may have existed in the past, employees need to understand that they are there for a purpose. That purpose is to work / perform a job.

I agree with Randy in that:

After awhile asking, pleading and begging are a waste of time

Instead of firing the most popular of the miscreants, how about demoting them and giving someone else a chance? If that doesn't work, it may be time to let someone go till the desired results can be achieved? Maybe fire the most popular of the miscreants, promote someone from within (if that's what you want to continue doing), then hire someone to replace the machine operator that you promoted.

 

[mehmetke]

Dear Palmer,

shop floor supervisors gets motivated by competition. You must give them clear targets and once achieved improve the target. Also, keep in mind
Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People®

<H2 style="MARGIN: auto 0cm">habit 1 - be proactive®

This is the ability to control one's environment, rather than have it control you, as is so often the case. Self determination, choice, and the power to decide response to stimulus, conditions and circumstances
habit 2 - begin with the end in mind®

Covey calls this the habit of personal leadership - leading oneself that is, towards what you consider your aims. By developing the habit of concentrating on relevant activities you will build a platform to avoid distractions and become more productive and successful.
habit 3 - put first things first®

Covey calls this the habit of personal management. This is about organising and implementing activities in line with the aims established in habit 2. Covey says that habit 2 is the first, or mental creation; habit 3 is the second, or physical creation.
habit 4 - think win-win®

Covey calls this the habit of interpersonal leadership, necessary because achievements are largely dependent on co-operative efforts with others. He says that win-win is based on the assumption that there is plenty for everyone, and that success follows a co-operative approach more naturally than the confrontation of win-or-lose.
habit 5 - seek first to understand and then to be understood®

One of the great maxims of the modern age. This is Covey's habit of communication, and it's extremely powerful. Covey helps to explain this in his simple analogy 'diagnose before you prescribe'. Simple and effective, and essential for developing and maintaining positive relationships in all aspects of life.
habit 6 - synergize®

Covey says this is the habit of creative co-operation - the principle that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, which implicitly lays down the challenge to see the good and potential in the other person's contribution.
habit 7 - sharpen the saw®

This is the habit of self renewal, says Covey, and it necessarily surrounds all the other habits, enabling and encouraging them to happen and grow. Covey interprets the self into four parts: the spiritual, mental, physical and the social/emotional, which all need feeding and developing.

Good luck
</H2>

 

[CarolX]

And don't forget the infamous Peter Principle


The_Peter_Principle

 

[Jim Wynne]

Palmer,

Your system caused this problem. Any one of us would be demotivated by a job that adds little or no value.

I recommend a book called Drive by Daniel Pink, it explains from research that motivation comes from within.

Too many of us think we can motivate others. All we can do is change the system so it enables the employees to motivate themselves.

Unless, of course, we are talking about motivation by fear.

John

Of all the responses in this thread so far, I think this one comes closest to the only sensible answer. At some level of the management hierarchy there is someone who could change the untoward behaviors of the supervisors in question, and it could most probably be done without firing anyone. The fact that this person chooses not to do so might be grounded in ignorance or lack of interest, but unless that person can be persuaded to change something, nothing will happen.

 

[Stijloor]

Of all the responses in this thread so far, I think this one comes closest to the only sensible answer. At some level of the management hierarchy there is someone who could change the untoward behaviors of the supervisors in question, and it could most probably be done without firing anyone. The fact that this person chooses not to do so might be grounded in ignorance or lack of interest, but unless that person can be persuaded to change something, nothing will happen.

Jim,

Have you missed this post?

Stijloor.