The Hiring Zone

Thomas McAnally Publisher

Do you know your Leaders?

Back when I was a production worker, in an offsite construction plant, my “Boss” was the Department Supervisor or “Lead Man.” His boss was the Production Manager. The Big Boss was the owner. Simple, clean, easy to understand, until something goes wrong, or you need help.

More than once, I asked my supervisor a question, only to be referred to someone else who was just another production worker like me. Still, that person was the one with the most experience and probably the best answers. He, or She, could not only tell me how to do something, but how to do it well, and what additional small efforts I needed that also would support the overall team. Eventually, I learned who to go to for help, and it usually was not my direct supervisor.

As I advanced through the departments, became a Supervisor and Production Manager, I learned to lean on the “Experts” when someone needed help. By delegating that responsibility, the department thrived, at least in cases where I could call on an expert who was genuinely interested in making the team effort better. When I did not have that person, it was my job to create or discover them. It usually did not take long. Before I picked someone, I saw who the team looked to when they needed answers. That person, not necessarily the Production Manager or Supervisor, was the informal leader.

Fast forward to my time as a GM – I would remember that the person put in a position by management wasn’t always the one people looked up to for that role. I had learned that, just because someone is in a position of authority, they were not always in a position to lead. Sometimes, another person who could be a department leader, team leader, or even a production worker was more trusted to advise and provide truth when management was presenting fiction.

For my last 3 years in manufacturing, before I started The JobLine, I was in Southern California. I was hired as a GM for a 40-year-old company that had 300+ workers and supervision over two plants in the LA area. There were already two production managers, two purchasing managers, two materials teams, and two inventory locations. Turf lines were drawn. The plants produced two different but similar products, commercial modular buildings. All they had was a fence between them.

After a few weeks, I began to question the layout of the more complex plant. The Production Manager had been there for years and was comfortable with his plant’s operation. What I saw, and wanted him to see, was how inefficient the layout was with multiple dead zones and people stuck in defined zones for specific stages of work. It was easy to see the problem, but hard to get him to even consider making changes.

I tried to get small changes over the next few weeks, but, as soon as I got something changed, it would revert to the old ways in a few days. Nobody was committed to the change but me. I saw the benefits; the Production Manager saw more work to retrain and maintain. It was frustrating. But then I remembered, seek out the informal leaders who had no formal decision-making authority, but who would directly benefit from the changes and help “Make it Happen.”

I got lucky, the Production Manager went on two weeks’ vacation and plant #2’s Production Manager was going to handle both plants. He was easier to talk to, more experienced, more trusted by the workers of both plants, and immediately saw the benefits of my ideas to restructure the line of plant #1. How did I know he was not only the formal leader of plant #2 but also the informal leader of both plants? I would walk the plants with him, while the Production Manager of plant #1 was on vacation, and watch how the workers would treat him, talk to him, and respond to his instructions.

It was like a breath of fresh air in plant #1. We started to implement changes to each department, cross-training workers to eliminate boundaries when production fluctuated, and eliminating dead spots. I saw a complete difference and positive change in how the production workers and supervisors responded as changes were implemented. It was if they had a savior who cared about them. Well, even I could see he did care and took the time to listen and answer questions. No longer a resistance to change, this person in the leadership role was embracing change and making additional suggestions to enhance the improvements I was making.

1992 Williams Scotsman Paramount Plant 1

In the end, Production Manager #1 saw the writing on the wall before his vacation ended, that or he just did not like me and wanted to go somewhere else. Whatever the reason, we ended up combining both plants and their support structures into one plant with two lines, one purchasing department, one materials group, and one inventory location. Not only did the plant benefit from the improved line and supervision structure, but production doubled. When a corporate VP sat in my office and asked how we constantly exceeded all other plant’s efficiencies, I told him that I found the informal leader and got obstacles out of his way. He was the one who combined individual strengths into one team effort when the formal supervisor failed. Same people, different leadership. I was blessed...