Labouring

`When people talk about productivity, they usually mean labour productivity. When this is bad (i.e. declining), they may even blame ‘labour’ for their poor performance.

Yet those of us who understand productivity, know this is rarely the case.  When labour productivity declines, it is much more often the result of a failing ‘system’ which negates the honest efforts of the workforce.  Similarly national productivity may decline because the larger economic system is failing.

So, look beyond the simple productivity figures to understand what is happening ‘on the ground’. Read but then  analyse, interpret, challenge official figures.

Check the messenger

There are lots of blogs and press releases that tell us another productivity ’secret’. The key to success is a healthy building, an employee wellness program, or .....

If you read such an article/blog, make sure you check who issued it ... and the evidence provided. You are likely to find that the issuer is a provider of air conditioning or wellness programs or ..... and that the evidence is a survey of 200 companies.  

Not surprising - and definitely not compelling.

Its what you do AND how you do it.

 Many times, the distinction between effectiveness and efficiency crops up.

“Which should we aim for?” ask executive teams.

But this is not an either/or decision.

Good businesses need both.

They need to be doing the right things (effectiveness) and they need to be doing those things right (efficiency).

One description of an effective business is that everyone is on the same bus, facing the same way and heading in the same direction.  Achieving this is a major function of leadership.   An important refinement is that great (not merely good) leaders as well as getting the right people on the bus, also get the wrong people off the bus (a much more difficult task - and the province of management, rather than leadership.  The management team also oversees the pursuit of efficiency.

So, successful businesses need both good leaders and good managers - one out of two is not enough.

Golf Lessons

I was watching the PGA Championship (one of the major golf championships) on TV today when a thought struck me.

Golf players learn the basics, and then with a combination of coaching and practice, they slowly develop and improve the way they play.  In golf, the margins of error are very fine - a 1 degree off-aim error when striking a drive off the tee can result in a very wayward shot - and a difficult second shot. The aim of all the coaching and practice is to instil consistency in the golf swing, so that, for example, every 6-iron shot is the same as every other 6-iron shot, unless it needs to be different due to prevailing conditions (the lie of the land, the wind and so on). A role of the coach is to observe the golfer in play and identify things that can be worked on with further practice to make small, steady improvements - reducing errors and improving consistency.

All of this seems to me to be like a manufacturing process. The aim of tools and techniques such ad Lean and Six Sigma is to create a reproducible, consistent process that delivers consistent results.  Lean black belts are the coaches that oversee the design of the process. The operatives (and their supervisors) execute the process and get involved with their coach (say, in Kaizen activities) to identify small improvements that can reduce errors and improve consistency.

So, what else might we learn from watching/analysing golf?

Well, players are always reminded to:

avoid slow play (in golf as in manufacturing processes, delay is to be avoided)

replace divots and rake bunkers to avoid problems for following golfers (this ‘mirrors’ the 5S principle of maintaining a tidy, organised workplace)

play to the rules and  in order of who is furthest from the hole (in both golf and manufacturing processes, standard operating procedures should be followed).

be respectful to their playing partners (good teamwork involves mutual respect)  

I am sure you can think of other comparisons.

So, next time you are conducting an improvement investigation, imagine you are playing golf  - and, of course, aim for a sub-par round!

Do you need a consultant?

If you want to look at your energy efficiency, you might employ an energy consultant whose expert knowledge will hopefully short circuit any investigation or initiative.

However, what that consultant/expert will do is to take a look at your operations and your processes and try to identify where your energy usage and costs are high, and where savings might be made.

This is a bit like a ‘waste walk’ where you go round your plant/factory looking for signs of waste (preferably using ‘waste’ in its wider sense, as in the 7 wastes of Lean).

A waste walk is simply a focused inspection of what the your factory do and how it do it - using direct observation of the work involved.

An ‘energy walk’ can achieve similar results - the very focus on energy can reveal waste or savings opportunities - even without the help of an external expert.

So, why not establish a schedule of such walks with a different focus each time. Observe and talk to operators and supervisors about their views on the focus factor.

You might find you discover quite a lot about your organisation and its productivity - without spending money on consultants or advisers.

What’s have you got to lose?