Plant Services - October 2007 - (Page 74)

IN THE TRENCHES The scenario presented here is based on a true story; only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Crossing words Blending corporate cultures leads to an exothermic reaction B ack in its day, Nadir Corp. was a big industrial fish in a small market pond. Although a major employer in the area, a confluence of factors both economic and demographic has made it difficult for the company to prosper. Many of the old stalwarts, employees who had been with the company from the day they graduated from high school or were demobilized from the military after the Korean conflict, have been retiring. Then, sales have been a bit soft lately. An evolving marketplace has put the purchaser in the driver’s seat, and fewer of those capricious, demanding people want to throw their financial resources at Nadir’s big-ticket products, which can be arguably viewed as too dated to be successful in the 21st century. This led to the inevitable layoffs. The resulting brain drain slowed product development, and a vicious spiral engulfed the company. Upper management, with a keen perception of the obvious, cut its losses and accepted a buyout offer from Acme, a hot, young Silicon Valley juggernaut that wanted some manufacturing facilities on the cheap. With Nadir management desperate to get out from under its problems, the buyout was quickly completed. A new Acme management team, all tanned and fit, arrived to run its new plant. The first order of business was to add staff to fill the obvious gaps in the lineup. Next, to liven things up a bit for the bright future it envisioned, management needed to impose a new, dynamic culture. It wanted every employee, new and tenured, to embrace the successful California-style Acme culture of innovative, self-reliant, independent thinking. It wanted employees to focus their competitive tendencies outward toward the market while focusing cooperation inward. This explained the requirement that every employee attend a two-week corporate indoctrination course. Each class section had about 20 people selected at random from the company roster. Because the purpose of the training was to present the big picture (the underlying Acme philosophy), old and new employees, men and women, various ethnicities and ranks in the corporate hierarchy sat in the same room. As far as the trainers were concerned, everyone was equal, here to learn something important about their future with Acme. Mary Mack was a new employee, a black female, who seized the opportunity to work at Acme. Among her classmates was Mona Torr, another black female, who had been 74 with Acme for a dozen years, and Johnny Kaikes, a young white male, who came to Acme four years ago. The training class was more like a discussion group than traditional teacher-student interactions one would find in a school room. The trainer presented a concept and the class explored its meaning and value, its implications and ways it might be integrated into the job. Sometimes, these discussions became rather animated. For example, on the second day, Johnny took exception to the idea that maintenance technicians now must carry wireless GPS-equipped laptops. He was upset, arguing that part of successful teamwork is relationships and face-to-face contact. He also was outraged that Acme could now be so intrusive in its ability to track movements. It was worse than what the government is doing, he said. He claimed this merely indicated that the new owners didn’t trust any former Nadir employee. The disruption was short-lived, thanks to the trainer patiently explaining that the intent was to go paperless, not prohibit relationships and contact among teammates. Afterward, Johnny quieted down and promised to listen more fully before reacting that way again. October 2007 www.PLANTSERVICES.com http://www.plantservices.com/voices/in_the_trenches.html http://www.PLANTSERVICES.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Plant Services - October 2007

Plant Services - October 2007 Contents Monetize It Letters Step into the Blogosphere What it Takes to be a Leader Up and Running Crisis Corner What Works From the Summit Treat Them Right Access Control Out of the Woods Show Me, Don't Guess Condition Assessment Made Easy The Air Above the Floor Power to the Prime Movers In the Trenches Illuminating Maintenance

Plant Services - October 2007

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