After completing approximately 39 years with Whirlpool Corporation and retiring as Senior Vice President of Operations responsible for over 22 000 employees, I felt a strong desire to capture in writing the basic principles that guided my daily approach and actions.
Everyone has a different personality, background, and experience, which guides and shapes their management style and approach. I offer the seven basic principles that shaped my approach to daily business challenges.
Talking to anyone, anywhere, anytime !!
As a leader, you must be accessible to talk with employees, especially those within your direct responsibility. Too many manufacturing plant leaders or any functional leader for that matter attempt to manage from the "corner office". You must realize as a plant leader; delegation is a critical managerial skill; however, you cannot delegate your personal presence on the floor.
I always challenged myself to "know" the people that had the most isolated job in a typical manufacturing plant the 3rd shift punch press operator. This individual works from approximately midnight to 7 a. m. (when most of us sleep), runs a loud metal stamping press and is required to wear ear protection. Too few plant leaders make it a point to regularly "visit" this shift let alone take the time to establish a relationship with the 3rd shift punch press operator.
The overriding theme of anyone, anywhere, anytime is one of discussing issues and/or problems in the employee's environment rather than your more comfortable office. An example still remains very vivid to me to help make this point. After discussing this type of personal approach (described in Who Are You? on page 5), I received a call at my house from a Paint Department hourly employee on the 3rd shift at 3:00 a. m. complaining of paint fumes. After she described the variety of steps that had already been undertaken to resolve the issue, I felt a personal visit to the plant was appropriate. Corrections were appropriately made; but the personal action to go to the plant at that time of day became well-known and helped develop a "caring" reputation.
Communication information is powerful !!
The need to effectively communicate both orally and written is one of the most critical elements for an effective leader of any size function and/or organization.
Employees within your organization need to know what's going on with the business, the challenges, the projects, your thoughts, your objectives, your frustrations, and most of all your expectations of them.
A well-informed employee, hourly or salaried, is on the way to being a more highly motivated employee knowing the focus and, hopefully, the results that are expected from their personal efforts.
What to communicate, in my opinion, focuses around the basic premises noted below The Good, The Bad, The Ugly be truthful and realistic about the business situation and status. If things are good and a competitive advant...
