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The art of managing layoffs: What to do when cuts are unavoidable
Prior to layoffs, you must maintain lines of open communication regarding the state of the company. The idea of keeping bad news from employees never works. They often hear through the grapevine or even the news media that the company is struggling. If you do not share this information with them, you
Three alternatives to laying off staff members
In this blog, I had intended to discuss the tips and strategies for retaining right-fit employees beyond the training process. It occurred to me that discussing employee retention when so many companies are in the midst of downsizing seems a bit contradictory. So, I thought it best to address the topic
How to enable process redesign and CMMS success
A blog from Kris Bagadia on “10 factors to a successful CMMS implementation” triggered a memory of attempting this in my preretirement days, long ago in 1990. I thought maybe my reply to Kris should be expanded, and this is the resulting blog posting. The United States Postal Service had
The supervisor must be more than a boss
My previous blog post began this rambling discussion about supervisors. I brought up the dilemma of what happens when we redesign work so that a portion of a supervisor’s duties are streamlined, thereby freeing up some of the supervisor’s work time. If, in the redesign, the process did not
Ask not … : What can you do for the M&R community?
President John F. Kennedy presented one of my favorite quotes in his inaugural address to the United States on January 21, 1961. I’m sure most of you have heard or seen this quote. The quote is: “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for
Maintenance and reliability improvement: People make the difference
Many of us may have gravitated to the maintenance and reliability industry because of the desire to work with machinery. I was trained in engineering and understand how machines operate and work. Machines behave in logical ways. They all follow the mechanical and electrical laws of nature. Engineers
In safety and reliability, zero is possible
One of the best reliability books I have read is “Making Common Sense Common Practice” by Ron Moore of the RM Group. Ron and I have become business associates and friends over the years. He has served as a reliability advisor and member of Cargill’s Maintenance and Reliability Steering
Developing the professional maintenance manager
In today’s environment of “lean”, TPM, reliability excellence, RCM, integrated maintenance/operations teams, new technologies and constant pressure to make maintenance more effective and elevate it to a prominent value-added position, the maintenance manager must become a business unit
One plant’s solution to the Sweet 16 dilemma. What’s yours?
My prior article posed the proposition that, to some employees, the typical organizational chart more closely resembles the bracketed final 16 college basketball teams when rotated 90 degrees with the perceived behavior of management
Is your plant organization ship shape? Probably not.
You are in the engine room of the USS Lincoln. Your job as an oiler is to perform the cleaning and lubrication routes for the steam turbines. You are watching a control panel that monitors all of the ship’s mechanical functions. You have trust that the folks up on the bridge are in agreement about
