Power to the people

Empowering your employees. It's easy to scorn the phrase as an Americanism – a star spangled banner that doesn't hang well outside the home of hyperbole. But cynics need to get over their very British hang ups, says Bob Davis of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME), a US-based group championing best practice among its 6,000-plus members. "I'm not sure that people here realise they've got to engage their employees in continuous improvement," he says. "Some companies are doing it. But is it a realisation generally? I don't think so." The upshot is a raft of manufacturing firms with lofty strategies – but little or no communication with the workforce on how to achieve these. "Every organisation large or small has got some form of strategy even if it's 'turn up on Thursday to get this order out'," explains Davis, a former MD?of manufacturing businesses before joing AME. "Yet they haven't grasped how to get the workforce to understand what the business is doing. So how do they engage the workforce beyond turning up at 8am and doing what they're told?" It's left a generation of British firms stranded on autopilot, explains Davis. "The big complaint that I hear is 'management doesn't communicate with us, we don't know what we're doing or what the targets are'. If you have that lack of communication, then people do feel like it's just a job. They won't go the extra mile." Davis uses an anecdote about a biscuit manufacturer to highlight the paralysing impact of management and shopfloor disconnect. "The company had complaints about biscuit packs being underweight," he says. "They took the finest manufacturing brains to examine the processes and spent fortunes on sensing equipment, which would ring a bell to stop the line if the weight was wrong." The system was a huge success, eliminating all complaints. But when the company's CEO toured the line to bask in the glory of the new mechanism, he was in for a surprise. "He looks at the line and spots a domestic fan. On the other side of the fan is a carton. He asks the operator what it's doing there. The guy responds 'I got annoyed with that buzzer going off so I put that fan there and it blows the biscuits that are underweight into the carton'." That, in a nutshell, is the windfall of empowering your people according to Davis. Run to traditional hierarchies, keep problem solving to the top bods and results will come at a premium. But unleash the shopfloor and you'll have better results for less cost. Just look at trailblazers like Toyota, says Davis. "The Toyota Production System is about training people, gaining their hearts and minds... Toyota has been one of the most successful manufacturers in the world over the past 50 years: doesn't that say something? Wouldn't you think people would look at that and try to understand what they're doing differently?" Inspiration can also be found closer to home, he stresses. The John Lewis Partnership – which sees workers given a stake in the company – offers a prime example of shopfloor-driven success, he says (a point echoed since by deputy PM Nick Clegg). "When you go into Waitrose, you can see that the people have been trained and want to help. If you ask about a product, they'll take you to it. They want you to buy because it means something to them." Christmas trading figures endorse the argument. Waitrose saw a 3.8% sales boost while rival chains, run the old fashioned way, struggled. "The people that create the wealth are those people making the product," concludes Davis. "It's got to make sense to tap into their knowledge to understand how you could do things better." Top tips for empowerment

1. Trust Trust is the lifeblood of an engaged, empowered shopfloor, says Davis – something that, historically, UK factories have been lacking. "In most factories, the first thing workforces do is clock in," he says. "People manage families, they bring children up, and they work in the community – they're responsible, yet we treat them like they can't be trusted."
2. Recognition Gestures from above can turbocharge employee performance and morale. And they don't have to cost a packet, stresses Davis. "Just say to the guys 'take your family out for dinner and give us the bill'. It's huge recognition as far as they are concerned because you've involved them in a way that's recognised by their family, too."
3. Get a sergeant Good things come to those who wait – but only the things left by those who hustle. Hiring someone to champion your CI plans will stop change slipping off the agenda. The position creates a focal point for improvement and can act as an effective go-between for frontline employees and senior management, says Davis.