Truth on the shop floor

“The shop floor is where truth happens.” So has said Dick Kallage, FABRICATOR columnist and principal of KDC & Associates. Judging by many of the sources I’ve spoken with over the years, many agree with him.

Sometimes the truth on the shop floor isn't heard. Quite often it isn't because of some nefarious power grab or rampant mistrust. Often it’s because a shop grows with more orders and more employees, yet its structure doesn’t.

Consider a 10-person operation. The owner or top manager can keep track of a lot of the most important work in his head. If employees have a problem, the top boss is just a few steps away. Then orders increase, more people come on board. Gradually, top managers realize that that they don’t walk the shop floor as often as they used to, and they don’t know everyone’s name. They may know their core group of supervisors and managers, those who have been with the company since near the beginning, but they don’t hear from the shop floor.

On-time delivery rates may fall; problems crop up, but those are just growing pains, right? Besides, there’s no time to tackle these problems. Customer demands are just too great. Moreover, entry-level turnover increases, and it may stay high for years. Managers may start to think of it as the new normal. After all, you’ll always have some churn in the lower ranks, right?

In a new book, 7 Success Skills for Apprentices and Skilled Trades Persons, (which we’ll be reviewing in the May issue of The FABRICATOR), author James Sidney Harvey describes the issues faced by the entry-level tradesperson. His book addresses skills that aren’t often addressed in the classroom. One skill, “always learning,” addresses the need for knowledge, of course, but it also addresses the need to know the kinds of supervisor-employee relationships that exist in the shop. There’s the “master and slave” relationship; the supervisors tell, the workers do, period. He describes the “you’re invisible so I’ll just ignore you” supervisor, and finally the “master craftsperson: the great teacher … If you’re blessed to have one of these individuals in your job, consider yourself extremely fortunate.”

This describes the various ways a front-line worker can perceive his or her boss. Sometimes, that boss never intended to be a manager when he joined the shop decades before. If an entry-level employee has a bad experience, it’s really no one’s fault. The company’s structure just hasn’t kept pace with its growth.

Now some of those larger shops are restructuring. Actually, “restructuring” is the wrong word. Instead, they’re creating a company structure that’s designed to give a voice to those on the shop floor, encourage new ideas as well as clear, honest communication between worker and supervisor. Indiana-based General Sheet Metal Works is a great example of this, and more will be covered as part of this year’s FAB 40 coverage, coming in June.

If truth comes from the shop floor, everyone at the company should hear it.