As a manufacturing plant manager, have you ever wondered what doubt costs you in your business?
You may say it's difficult to quantify. Or, you may believe there is no way to know. However, it is easily quantifiable. Here are some questions to answer that will give you an idea of the impact of doubt on your bottom-line:
What is your production efficiency target? Are you above, below or on target? What is the impact on your bottom-line?
Are you meeting your quality metrics? If not, how much are your losses worth?
What is your safety record? What is the impact on your bottom line if someone is hurt on the job?
Are you meeting your business objectives and financial goals? What are your goals? Where are you currently?
Your employees spend their working hours thinking about those 4 questions. They typically don't ask themselves these questions, but they think about them as they relate to their job.
When they feel doubt, they:
- become hesitant
- question their decisions and yours
- seek reassurance (often from past personal and professional experience)
- try to gather information to clarify their uncertainties
If you are familiar with lean manufacturing, you will know that all 4 are considered waste, and waste wastes your money where time is critical.
However, that is only one aspect of doubt. This aspect refers to what they think about their job. A more sinister, and less well known aspect, is self-doubt.
Self-doubt compounds this effect, because they are not only unsure about their job, but also about their ability to do something about it.
So, what are 3 simple steps you can take to help eliminate doubt about the job and self-doubt?
Be aware and respect that emotions are driving business performance, not facts.
Be willing to talk about the difference between the facts in your business, and what people think about it.
Create a safe space for the workforce to be challenged and grow. As competency increases, so does confidence. Confidence dispels doubt.
In manufacturing, there is a common misbelief or desire that facts drive performance or results. Not understanding what drives results limits performance, because the inputs are not known or controlled. If you want to drive results, your entire workforce must Own Your Results. On August 30th at 12:00PM ET, I will be doing a workshop titled Own Your Results, and we will take a deep dive into what that means.
In this workshop, we will discuss the disconnect between your business performance and kpis, what is driving your results, and what you would need to do to get the results you want versus results you don't want in your business.
Register for the workshop and share it with anyone you think would benefit. See you there!
Comments