August, 2007

Get Smart

Training on day-to-day operations should start at the top. 

By Tom Fife

A couple of weeks ago, I had an opportunity to observe one of the best known but most seldom used methods of finding out what is happening within your company and the industry.

This particular opportunity came when I was presenting a program on Yard Foreman and Operations Management. When I went around the room for introductions, I found it interesting that one gentleman seemed taxed by responding to my simple list of “getting to know you” questions: Who are you, where’re you from, what do you do, and what topics do you hope to get help on today? He paused for a long time before tentatively responding that he was a warehouse manager. He just didn’t seem sure at all.

We spent the day learning how to be more productive and efficient with the workforce while keeping a close eye on the bottom line. We covered the involvement needed to get the culture of the company working together as a cohesive unit. As usual, the banter was lively, and filled with stories and ideas about how the diverse companies were dealing with the communication challenge of getting different areas and management levels on the same page.

The group had several examples where they thought that ownership was letting the management side slip away from their control. They talked about how ownership sometimes didn’t even know what was really going on in a day-to-day basis. We agreed it is all too common for the operations side of the business to feel at a disadvantage from the lack of adherence to operations policies and procedures. There were many stories of how they felt powerless when it came to dealing with the sales force or a manager’s friend.

Often, presenting an Operations Manager program, I hear: “I wish my owner or manager was here so that we could be on the same page instead of getting stopped from implementing the changes needed when I return to work.”

I have many programs just for owners and managers that both groups often attend with their people, but it seems that happens much less for the operations programs than for any of the others. I believe that of all the areas of a company, the “out back” operations are the least understood by ownership and management. It is empowering for a company when both management and workers learn from the same source at the same time what needs to be done to stay on the leading edge.

The gentleman who was so slow to answer my questions at the beginning of the day turned in his evaluation when the course was done. Amidst the positive feedback, he revealed that he was in fact an owner of the company, not a warehouse manager. He had come to the seminar on a reconnais-sance/spy mission—a present day Maxwell Smart, if you will. He said he wanted to find out how he could help his company grow and prosper. He knew his operations area was in need of repair but he had been away from it so long that he wanted a refresher course. His day was an eye-opener in the best sense! No, he hadn’t brought his people, but he was smart enough to know that he needed to learn some more before he sent his employees to do the same.

When it comes to training, it doesn’t make any difference whether you go with your people or alone. Try out any method that assures your people they are going to be able to use the new skills and education they receive to make a positive difference when they return to the workplace. Make it a priority to have time set aside for the sharing of good valuable education to be implemented ASAP.

A lot of things are the same in our industry but boy, others have changed a ton since you were regularly involved on a daily basis. If you want to know and fix the challenges of your operations, think about attending a program on Operations with your personnel—or by yourself!—and consider the impact that can have on the bottom line. That’s what I call getting smart!

If I can help, just holler.