I'm not even really sure what to say about the story I heard this morning. It's times like this I realize that I'm working with, and in charge of, people who are so totally different from me and have totally different backgrounds.
As I'm doing my morning walk through of the plant to make sure everything is up and running first thing, I get stopped by one of my employees who is requesting next Tuesday off. This particular employee is usually very upfront and honest with me and his intentions. He says that on Tuesday, he wants to go see his step son's sentencing. He wants to make sure to go because this will probably be the last time he sees him in 5 to 10 years.
So this peaks my interest and I simply ask, "What did he do?" To which my employee replies, "Murder". Now I start to think to myself, how did I get to this point in my life where I'm associated with the guy who has a murderer as a son. He says it was in self defence.
I'm thinking to myself that you don't generally get 5 to 10 for self defence. So I asked him what happened. He said that apparently him (the step son) and his two friends were getting robbed by a few guys at gun point. So he dashed into a back room and got shot in the back as he did so. He then came out with a gun and killed the guys. He says that if he didn't kill them, they would have killed his friends. I'm thinking that to get 5 to 10 would require many multiple shots to be fired into the victims to finish the deed, not just enough to disable them.
I constantly have to remind myself of my employee's socio-economic status to realize that building more chairs in a day is the least of their worries. I may try to make them think that it's the most important thing in the world, but the truth is, they have much bigger issues.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Clock Yourself In
So Monday morning, I show up at 7:00 which is when the plant is supposed to start working. I realize that two of my employees are unaccounted for. I don't have any messages on my phone. After about 20 minutes, I see the employees walk in to the plant out of my office window overlooking the production floor. Monday mornings I work on the payroll from the week before by reviewing all employee's punches in the time clock. This is all done on my computer since the clock is networked to my PC.
I'm curious what the punches look like for this morning for the two guys who walked in 20 minutes after start time. Hmmm, that's odd, one guy punched in at 6:58 and the other at 7:19. So I call in Employee A and ask him if he had just arrived at about 7:20. He said that he did just get there, he was late because he was stuck behind a train crossing. It's a pretty likely story considering our industrial park is surrounded on all sides by train tracks and the construction of a local suspension bridge has closed a number of the main entrances to the park.
I ask him how it could be that he punched in at 6:58 when he didn't arrive until 7:20. His response was that someone else must have accidentally clocked him in. To me this is very unlikely an accident since each of my 12 employees has their own card clearly marked with their name in large font hanging next to the clock. I also checked to see that everyone had clocked themselves in, so obviously someone clocked in twice with two different cards.
Then I ask him why he didn't clock in at 7:20 when he arrived. His answer was that he thought he did clock in. Again, this is very unlikely because there was nothing reported in the system. It's also very obvious to know when the card reader has been successfully punched because there is a loud beep and a voice says "thank you". So that sort of rules out that excuse.
In the employee handbook it says that falsification of company or personnel records results in termination upon the first offense. It's suggested to me that he be let go with a warning. I'm fine with this plan because it was originally suggested that we do nothing about it because there was not enough proof. If I have any say about how I run my plant, this will not get swept under the carpet. I've been with this company long enough to see all the shit that gets swept under the carpet and I'm not going to let that happen under my management.
So we had a meeting with Employee A about what was observed that day. He continued to deny any knowledge of someone punching him in and maintained that he did punch in when he arrived at 7:20. He got off with a warning this time. It was probably one of the most uncomfortable situations I've ever been in, but afterwards it felt great that I was finally making progress towards running a plant I can put my name on and be proud of.
What happens next is that Employee A will go out and tell everyone else out there how big of a load of shit it was that he was sat down and scolded for having someone else clock him in. Everyone will side with him even though they too know that he had someone clock him in. Nobody out there takes any responsibility for their actions. If they get in trouble, they blame whoever they can that caused them to get in trouble instead of realizing that they were at fault and they just shouldn't have done whatever it is they did.
Seriously, do I really need to have a meeting with all of my employees telling them that clocking in other people is wrong? How is this possibly something that is not just common knowledge for a bunch of adults?
I'm curious what the punches look like for this morning for the two guys who walked in 20 minutes after start time. Hmmm, that's odd, one guy punched in at 6:58 and the other at 7:19. So I call in Employee A and ask him if he had just arrived at about 7:20. He said that he did just get there, he was late because he was stuck behind a train crossing. It's a pretty likely story considering our industrial park is surrounded on all sides by train tracks and the construction of a local suspension bridge has closed a number of the main entrances to the park.
I ask him how it could be that he punched in at 6:58 when he didn't arrive until 7:20. His response was that someone else must have accidentally clocked him in. To me this is very unlikely an accident since each of my 12 employees has their own card clearly marked with their name in large font hanging next to the clock. I also checked to see that everyone had clocked themselves in, so obviously someone clocked in twice with two different cards.
Then I ask him why he didn't clock in at 7:20 when he arrived. His answer was that he thought he did clock in. Again, this is very unlikely because there was nothing reported in the system. It's also very obvious to know when the card reader has been successfully punched because there is a loud beep and a voice says "thank you". So that sort of rules out that excuse.
In the employee handbook it says that falsification of company or personnel records results in termination upon the first offense. It's suggested to me that he be let go with a warning. I'm fine with this plan because it was originally suggested that we do nothing about it because there was not enough proof. If I have any say about how I run my plant, this will not get swept under the carpet. I've been with this company long enough to see all the shit that gets swept under the carpet and I'm not going to let that happen under my management.
So we had a meeting with Employee A about what was observed that day. He continued to deny any knowledge of someone punching him in and maintained that he did punch in when he arrived at 7:20. He got off with a warning this time. It was probably one of the most uncomfortable situations I've ever been in, but afterwards it felt great that I was finally making progress towards running a plant I can put my name on and be proud of.
What happens next is that Employee A will go out and tell everyone else out there how big of a load of shit it was that he was sat down and scolded for having someone else clock him in. Everyone will side with him even though they too know that he had someone clock him in. Nobody out there takes any responsibility for their actions. If they get in trouble, they blame whoever they can that caused them to get in trouble instead of realizing that they were at fault and they just shouldn't have done whatever it is they did.
Seriously, do I really need to have a meeting with all of my employees telling them that clocking in other people is wrong? How is this possibly something that is not just common knowledge for a bunch of adults?
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
What Did I Get Myself Into?
It's important to note the general demographic of the plant before we get too deep into thought. There are 12 employees I'm responsible for. There are 8 black people and 4 white people. There are two women and 10 men. The youngest employee is 27 and the oldest is probably about 65. The average age is probably 46. The average length of employment of the folks in the plant is 13 years, the longest is 29 years and the shortest is 2 years. The hourly wage made by people in the plant is between $10-$15 per hour depending on how long they have been with the company. That equates to $20,800-$31,200 per year. Most of my employees only have a high school education if that.
What's even more important to note is my demographics. I am a white male. I am 26 years old. I'm literally the youngest person in the whole company, not just of those in the plant. I have been at the company a little over 4 years now. I get paid a salary of 2-3 times what my employees make. I'm well educated. I went to one of the city's best high schools, then to college and have since taken some masters classes.
These statistics alone put me at a monstrous disadvantage for accomplishing anything with these guys. I'm not on the same page as these guys. I live in a different part of town. My daily issues consist of making sure my son gets to daycare at the beginning of the day and home at the end. Their daily issues involve making sure their car starts so they can get to work and make money to pay their rent and bills. It seems like in their lives, when it rains it pours. Health issues, the law, family issues, or a combination of all three seem to constantly plague everyone and there's little hope they'll ever come out on top.
At work, I'm concerned about making my plant and its performance look good which means making the employees better at their job with regards to quality and efficiency. With all that goes on in their lives, I feel silly telling them that we HAVE to get these chairs out today or that we MUST get better quality results from our products. I'm just a punk kid who doesn't know what life is really about and the struggles they face in real life.
How can I relate to these people? What can I possibly do to get their attention?
What's even more important to note is my demographics. I am a white male. I am 26 years old. I'm literally the youngest person in the whole company, not just of those in the plant. I have been at the company a little over 4 years now. I get paid a salary of 2-3 times what my employees make. I'm well educated. I went to one of the city's best high schools, then to college and have since taken some masters classes.
These statistics alone put me at a monstrous disadvantage for accomplishing anything with these guys. I'm not on the same page as these guys. I live in a different part of town. My daily issues consist of making sure my son gets to daycare at the beginning of the day and home at the end. Their daily issues involve making sure their car starts so they can get to work and make money to pay their rent and bills. It seems like in their lives, when it rains it pours. Health issues, the law, family issues, or a combination of all three seem to constantly plague everyone and there's little hope they'll ever come out on top.
At work, I'm concerned about making my plant and its performance look good which means making the employees better at their job with regards to quality and efficiency. With all that goes on in their lives, I feel silly telling them that we HAVE to get these chairs out today or that we MUST get better quality results from our products. I'm just a punk kid who doesn't know what life is really about and the struggles they face in real life.
How can I relate to these people? What can I possibly do to get their attention?
Introduction
Going into college, I followed my strengths when deciding on a major. I knew I would excel in subjects related to logical thinking like maths and sciences. Engineering seemed like an easy choice for me.
Freshman year, I had an introduction to engineering course which was designed to help students decide which specific field they most enjoyed within engineering. Each week, representatives from each engineering discipline came to pimp their department. After several weeks of presentations, there was nothing that jumped out at me as being the perfect choice for me. In the middle of the semester the industrial engineering group gave their presentation and I was hooked from that point forward.
Industrial engineering was described as the study of work. Industrial engineers have to learn and implement best practices when it comes to the manufacture of goods or services. There are countless areas that benefit from the services of an industrial engineer. Manufacturing is the most obvious application for industrial engineering. These engineers in this setting deal with production flow and efficiency, ergonomics of workers, statistical quality models, production planning, forecasting, product design, economic budgeting and the list goes on and on. In a service sector such as health care or transportation, an industrial engineer looks at process efficiencies and complex logistics to help optimize the process.
For me, this seemed like a perfect fit. I love the process of 'how things are made', and this allows me to design those processes. It also helped that during the presentation, it was stated that industrial engineers end up in an upper management positions or owning their own companies more than 50% of the time. I love being the boss and telling people what to do and running the show. Perfect.
Upon completion of my degree I was offered a job as a manufacturing engineer at a small assembly shop making office chairs and distributing ladders and step stools. The only other engineer in the company was my boss who was also in control of the assembly plant and all other operations in the building. In my mind, I was perfectly poised to do great things with this growing company. I felt like I got in on the ground floor and was going to run the place in a few short years.
To my delight, my boss moved to another company 9 months after I started working there. I was ready to take over the place and run things my way. Management thought I was still a bit too green for that sort of responsibility and in retrospect, they were probably right. The position was eliminated and resources were moved around. A long time employee was left in charge of managing the plant.
3 years down the road, the company went through a significant restructuring process which was in large part led by me. Equipment investments were made, our physical footprint was cut in half, and our operations were streamlined which was a much needed makeover.
Finally, over 3 years of hard work left me in the position of plant manager. This is where my story begins.
Freshman year, I had an introduction to engineering course which was designed to help students decide which specific field they most enjoyed within engineering. Each week, representatives from each engineering discipline came to pimp their department. After several weeks of presentations, there was nothing that jumped out at me as being the perfect choice for me. In the middle of the semester the industrial engineering group gave their presentation and I was hooked from that point forward.
Industrial engineering was described as the study of work. Industrial engineers have to learn and implement best practices when it comes to the manufacture of goods or services. There are countless areas that benefit from the services of an industrial engineer. Manufacturing is the most obvious application for industrial engineering. These engineers in this setting deal with production flow and efficiency, ergonomics of workers, statistical quality models, production planning, forecasting, product design, economic budgeting and the list goes on and on. In a service sector such as health care or transportation, an industrial engineer looks at process efficiencies and complex logistics to help optimize the process.
For me, this seemed like a perfect fit. I love the process of 'how things are made', and this allows me to design those processes. It also helped that during the presentation, it was stated that industrial engineers end up in an upper management positions or owning their own companies more than 50% of the time. I love being the boss and telling people what to do and running the show. Perfect.
Upon completion of my degree I was offered a job as a manufacturing engineer at a small assembly shop making office chairs and distributing ladders and step stools. The only other engineer in the company was my boss who was also in control of the assembly plant and all other operations in the building. In my mind, I was perfectly poised to do great things with this growing company. I felt like I got in on the ground floor and was going to run the place in a few short years.
To my delight, my boss moved to another company 9 months after I started working there. I was ready to take over the place and run things my way. Management thought I was still a bit too green for that sort of responsibility and in retrospect, they were probably right. The position was eliminated and resources were moved around. A long time employee was left in charge of managing the plant.
3 years down the road, the company went through a significant restructuring process which was in large part led by me. Equipment investments were made, our physical footprint was cut in half, and our operations were streamlined which was a much needed makeover.
Finally, over 3 years of hard work left me in the position of plant manager. This is where my story begins.
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