It is not the employer who pays the wages. He only handles the money. It is the product that pays the wages.
—Henry Ford, 1922
Snapshot Takeaway
To build a culture of civility in manufacturing workplaces, you would do the following:
1. Implement Prong/Step #1 of the Trident Approach
Step 1—Part A: Assessment and Training—Start at Leadership Level—Fundamentals of Presence and Social Intelligence
o Assess leaders’ ability to:
o Be present and focused
o Build trust
o Use social intelligence
o Consider cultural components and nuances, e.g., organizational and demographic
o Convey respect in communications, e.g., when giving feedback and giving instructions
o Document appropriately, e.g., end in mind, fact-based, measurable
• Use tools like the culture Indicator continuum to assess leaders’ state, in terms of overall current civility.
• Deliver customized training in social intelligence and civil communications, and humanity-at-work training to the top levels.
Step 1—Part B:
o Assess the work teams, e.g., by individual skills assessment, the civility symptoms survey, the civility culture compass, the culture indicator continuum, etc. to identify skills gaps.
o Deliver adapted versions of the social intelligence training, civil communication training, and/or customized civility training (e.g., building trust) to all other levels of employees. Or, if budget is an issue, devise a plan including roll out, learning objectives, and evaluation strategies whereby the upper levels and leaders teach and coach their teams to be civil by leading with civility. (This has to be structured, required, and measured. For example, you can’t just say, “Go lead your teams.”)
2. Implement Prong/Step #2 of the Trident Approach
Assessment and Observation of Current Communication and Feedback Practice for Aspects of Civility
• Review job task lists and SOPs
• Conduct periodic job observation
• Assess overall workplace:
o Trust (a good indicator of engagement)
o Morale
o Wellness, e.g., deeper than morale and includes resilience and hardiness
o Continuous learning skills
o Systems thinking skills
o Cultural competence skills
o General metrics, e.g.,
◾ Absenteeism
◾ Error rates
◾ Quality
And, where causal factors for poor assessment outcomes are symptoms of incivility, apply the civility–incivility filter.
3. Implement Prong/Step #3 of the Trident Approach
Interrupt the Current Practice and Teach Masotti Behavior/Feedback Intervention Strategies
• Training to include:
o Asking questions (3)
o Identify conscious and unconscious bias
o Extend civility and courtesy, e.g., tone
o Give feedback that is quantifiable, targeted, and specific
o Focus on behavior versus the person
4. Continue the process: Coach next-level manager to use the intervention
• Employ coaching skills to train next-level managers and build their civility competencies. Do so based on experiential learning and on-the-job training.
Answer Key
Chapter 1—For Consideration: Forecasted Trends and Influences1
In reviewing the three significant events that changed manufacturing, how would you describe how these events impacted workplace culture in manufacturing organizations?
Topic 1: Industry 4.0 Comes of Age
How do you think this trend (robotics and the “Internet of Things” in manufacturing) will impact workplace culture in manufacturing organizations?
Possible Response
• People need to learn new skills, e.g., how to operate the robots.
• People might initially be afraid of the changes, or that they would lose their jobs.
• There would be potentially fewer jobs, or different jobs and potentially higher paying jobs for those who operate the robotics.
• It would potentially make costs of manufacturing higher initially, e.g., investments in robotics, and then potentially higher profits.
• There would be potentially higher efficiency.
All of these things might impact culture in that people might be fearful or have low trust or resist change and new learning. In addition, there could be potential fear related to shift time change, duration of shifts, number of persons on shifts, etc.
Topic 2: Customer Experience Is King
What types of new processes do you think will have to be implemented to help manage the people side of these new high-tech systems?
Possible Response
• Potentially more on-demand work—so training and shift change processes
• Processes to monitor and train production teams’ ability to deliver aspects of customer service
• Potentially different systems in sales and marketing to assess and evaluate customer needs
• Potentially more transparency in terms of how things are manufactured, e.g., sources and ingredients, suppliers, social impact, environmental impact, etc., so, processes to track and document and report all of these aspects
• Potentially more customization and so processes to enable special orders and custom elements, e.g., product details, inventory, costs, suppliers, quotes, equipment required, etc.
• Potentially need to incorporate processes to assess and evaluate costs and manpower related to delivering custom orders
• Potentially need to build teams’ ability to collaborate and communicate to work together to meet service expectations
• Potentially a process for sharing information with the team in advance of the surprise/change, etc.
Topic 3: AI-Driven Future
Given that many manufacturing organizations have large numbers of long-term employees who are sometimes resistant to change, what plan would you put in place to try to offset the potential fear, lack of change readiness, and general resistance to AI in the workplace?
Possible Response
• Share the benefit of the change to the individual employees—be honest.
• Give the details and information to the front-line, long-term employees, being as transparent as possible. Try to avoid surprises. For example, give the timeline, etc.
• Where possible, implement pre-training or raise awareness.
• Check in to see that the employees are adapting/adjusting.
Optional Assignment (Answers Will Vary; Discuss with Your Trainer and/or the Training Group)
Review the chart below and choose one of the trends listed. Write a 1,500-word essay detailing your findings about the specifics of this trend including:
• Causal factors
• Impact to employees
• Impact to employer
• Recommendations for mitigating impact
Civility Experts Inc. international team suggests that the following are the top issues/challenges facing manufacturing organizations as we head towards 2025 and into the next decade:
• Lack of skilled labor, e.g., there is a growing manufacturing skills gap
• Challenges due to a multi-generational workforce; specifically, attracting and retaining employees and meeting expectations for employee satisfaction
• Lack of “culture for quality” i.e., quality standards issues; specifically, a need to eliminate closed-loop quality management, e.g., problems being solved within silos but not shared/applied to larger organization
• Balancing project deadlines while still producing quality products; specifically, providing advanced project management and managing lower costs and rising quality, especially related to international/overseas suppliers
• Need for better supply-chain visibility/production workflow to improve performance and reduce costs (competitive pricing/increase revenue growth)
• Ability to effectively measure quality metrics/performance indicators; specifically, maximizing technological intelligence/data mining and ensuring readiness to handle exponential data growth
• Poor customer service, for example, related to self-service trends (use of technology), which results in a need to be customer- adaptive
• Difficulties integrating old with new technologies while maintaining/improving quality and efficiencies, e.g., cybersecurity
• Time loss due to regional and national compliance requirements
• Maintaining and monitoring safety mindset amidst increasing automation
Chapter 1—For Review
a) What are the possible benefits of a command and control management style?
Possible Response(s)
• You don’t have to train people to think, they just do what they’re told.
• You don’t need to build trust because you rule and lead by fear; people don’t ask questions.
• You can have supervisors and managers who are promoted from the floor with high technical skills, but no people skills and they are potentially still successful at meeting goals.
b) Why do you think command and control management style was/is prevalent in many manufacturing organizations?
Possible Response(s)
• Historically, during depression and hard times, people were just happy to have a job, so they did whatever they had to in order to keep it.
• In the past, people with no education or experience could work in manufacturing and learn on the job, and maybe they didn’t have a lot of other opportunities.
• The mentality was that production employees were lower in level in terms of what they had to offer, e.g., people knew and accepted their place.
• Manufacturing companies were owned by very rich families who behaved how they wished and could sometimes take advantage of wealth and influence, e.g., were not held accountable for poor people treatment.
c) What trends and influences might prompt organizations to move away from a power-focused management style?
Possible Response(s)
• Powerful unions holding management accountable for how people are treated
• Individuals with more access to, and understanding of, their rights
• Individual expectations for opportunities and growth, e.g., training, promotion, etc.
• Organizations implementing different management styles are seeing faster and greater improvements concurrent with cost savings
• Continuous improvement benefits of collaborative and happy work teams, i.e., there is a business case for treating people well
• Legislation such as respectful workplace policies, anti-harassment, health, and safety regulations
Quiz Answers
1. Traditional power-focused management style in manufacturing has resulted in what kind of workplace culture?
a. Overt controlling
b. Commander as leader
c. Command and control
d. None of the above
2. Team knowledge is:
a. information specific to the first manufacturing companies ever created
b. knowledge about processes that only the employees know
c. knowledge learning on the job that isn’t known to everyone
d. a and b
3. Traditional power-focused manufacturing workplace culture can create levels of trust sufficient such that the silo team shares information and “on the job” information that can be used appropriately because competence is assumed within the silo team. True or False?
4. Provide two examples of pivotal changes or events in history that impacted manufacturing.
Industrial revolution, steam engine, mass production, automation and the information age
General Interest
Supplemental Stats and Facts2—For Canadian Audiences (Because the Authors Are Canadian)
1. Auto manufacturing regularly contributes over $20 billion to Canada’s GDP.
2. Nationally, auto and parts production accounts for about 16.8 percent of manufacturing sales.
3. In Ontario, transportation equipment manufacturing is 20.2 percent of GDP.
4. Direct industry employment in Canada accounts for 130,000.
5. Manufacturing is a cornerstone of our modern economy. Accounting for approximately $174 billion of our GDP, manufacturing represents more than 10 percent of Canada’s total GDP. What is more, manufacturers export more than $354 billion each year, representing 68 percent of all of Canada’s merchandise exports.
All of this adds up to 1.7 million quality full-time, well-paying jobs—all across the country. And as the sector has modernized, manufacturers have become innovative and high-tech, relying on a highly skilled and knowledgeable workforce that includes designers, researchers, programmers, engineers, technicians, and tradespeople.
Canada’s manufacturing industry has huge potential for its economic future. The world is changing, and new technologies are not just opening new markets for Canadian goods, they are changing the ways these goods are produced. For manufacturing in Canada to remain a vibrant, innovative, and competitive contributor to our economy, business, and government will need to work together. A vibrant manufacturing community encourages industrial clusters that develop skills, knowledge, and technology. Success breeds success: when Canada’s manufacturers grow and compete, they act as magnets for new investment and for new young people wanting to be part of this great industry, making the products of tomorrow.
6. In 2017, the Canadian economy had the following relative weighting by industry, as percentage value of GDP:
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy—in 2009, net exports of energy products amounted to 2.9 percent of the GDP. Most important are the large oil and gas resources centered in Alberta and the Northern Territories, but also present in neighboring British Columbia and Saskatchewan. The vast Athabasca oil sands give Canada the world’s third largest reserves of oil after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela according to USGS.
| Industry | Share of GDP (%) |
|---|---|
| Real estate and rental and leasing | 13.01 |
| Manufacturing | 10.37 |
| Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction | 8.21 |
| Finance and insurance | 7.07 |
| Construction | 7.07 |
| Health care and social assistance | 6.63 |
| Public administration | 6.28 |
| Wholesale trade | 5.78 |
| Retail trade | 5.60 |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | 5.54 |
| Educational services | 5.21 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 4.60 |
| Information and cultural industries | 3.00 |
| Administrative and support, waste management, and remediation services | 2.46 |
| Utilities | 2.21 |
| Accommodation and food services | 2.15 |
| Other services (except public administration) | 1.89 |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting | 1.53 |
| Arts, entertainment, and recreation | 0.77 |
| Management of companies and enterprises | 0.62 |
Figure 17 Canadian GDP Chart, 2020
Chapter 2—For Consideration: Data Logistics and Real-Time Data
Question
a) What specific aspects of leadership (supervisor/manager) behavior do you think can impact an employee’s experience such that an employee will trust that leader?
Possible Response(s)
• Tell the truth.
• Be behavior
• Treat all employees the same.
• Make reasonable requests.
• Always consider the employees safety—physical, psychological etc.
• Focus on competence and behavior versus personality and personal qualities.
• Reward and acknowledge at least as often as you criticize.
• Ask questions and listen to the answers.
• Don’t make assumptions.
• Don’t engage in shop talk.
• Speak kindly, e.g., treat people like adults, don’t diminish others, acknowledge others, say thank you.
• Use people’s proper names, e.g., avoid nicknames and labels.
b) How and why do you think high levels of trust might support the needs of “knowledge workers”?
Possible Response(s)
• Knowledge workers need to know that their supervisor trusts them to make some lower-level decisions.
• Knowledge workers need to be able to trust their supervisors to react and respond in reasonable ways.
• Trust fosters confidence—knowledge workers will take responsibility for their own learning if they feel trusted.
c) How would building trust and having a team of “knowledge workers” be important relative to data logistics and real-time data?
Possible Response(s)
• Managers/supervisors can’t always get all the information they need, how they need it, when they need it—but if there is high trust, team members will help gather the data.
• Data is likely more consistent and accurate when there is mutual trust, e.g., less sabotage.
Optional Assignment (Answers Will Vary; Discuss with Your Trainer and/or the Training Group)
A) List at least three indicators of incivility in a workplace, e.g., how might employees behave.
B) Give two reasons employees might be dissatisfied at work, causing them to disengage.
C) How do you personally define civility? (Ensure that your definition is quantifiable.)
For Review
If you are employed, take the Civility Culture Compass Assessment© at www.civilityexperts.com and consider your results. If you are not employed, ask someone you know to take the assessment (no fee to do so) and review his or her results.
This assessment helps identify the current situation in your workplace relative to four cultural aspects that have been proven to predict successful outcomes for civility training. You receive a score from 1 to 60 in each of four compass categories. A low score (29 or lower) in any category means that you have low need for adjustment/preparation—that is, your workplace culture is satisfactory in that compass category and the likelihood that civility training will be successful is increased.
Figure 18 Civility Culture Compass Assessment© Civility Experts Inc. 2015
Quiz Answers
1. Stress at work accounts for what percentage of overall life stress (according to Quality of Life report)?
a. 10 percent
b. 40 percent
c. 73 percent
d. 67 percent
2. Gallup State of the American Workplace report found that what percentage of employees in manufacturing environments are disengaged?
a. 75 percent
b. 25 percent
c. 39 percent
d. 72 percent
3. The term for literally dropping dead at work is:
a. katsume
b. karoshi
c. burnout
d. disintegration
4. A knowledge worker is:
a. an employee who may know how to do aspects of many jobs
b. employees who are continuous learners
c. employees who take responsibility for their own learning
d. all of the above
Chapter 3—For Consideration: The Civility Indicator Iceberg
Question
Using the iceberg metaphor, draw an iceberg showing what might be below the surface for each of the following behaviors which would be observed in a manufacturing environment.
Scenario 1
Decision-making—Observed above the surface:
• Silence
• Eye-rolling
• Shrugging shoulders
• Disengagement
• Avoidance of making decisions
Possible Response(s)
• Mistrust of employer or whomever is asking for a decision
• Doesn’t feel competent to make a solution
• Personality issues, e.g., doesn’t like the other person
• Contempt, e.g., doesn’t believe the asker really wants the answer, as nothing will be implemented anyway
• Past experience, e.g., ignored, embarrassed, humiliated
• Stressed or time-pressured, e.g., not interested, too busy, etc.
Scenario 2
Errors—Observed above the surface:
• Employee appears to have correct equipment.
• Employee appears to know what to do.
• Employee continually makes unacceptable errors.
Possible Response(s)
• Employee/operator is not trained properly.
• Employee is afraid to say he or she doesn’t know the job.
• Employee is seeking attention.
• The process or procedure is being followed but isn’t correct.
• Goals and expectations were not outlined.
• Errors were not tracked or documented so continued.
• Employee is deliberately sabotaging to punish supervisor/manager.
• Employee wasn’t aware of impact of errors, e.g., key elements are not highlighted.
• Process was changed but hasn’t been audited recently.
Scenario 3
Failure to wear safety equipment (personal protection equipment)—Observed on the surface:
• Requirements are in the employee handbook.
• Other employees on the team are wearing PPE.
• Supervisor has asked employee to put PPE on.
• Employee has been provided with the equipment.
Possible Response(s)
• The equipment is broken or doesn’t fit.
• There is a personal, health reason for not wearing it.
• There is anger about another issue, e.g., management isn’t following the rules (wearing PPE, paying fairly, giving holiday).
• Employee has requested a new piece of equipment and/or a replacement, or a repair on other safety element. Possible response would be, “I asked you to fix the guard nine weeks ago and you are suddenly concerned about my safety glasses.”
• No consistency across managers/supervisors and enforcement, e.g., one shift lead requires it, one does not.
• No follow through or accountability, e.g., if people continue to break the rules and there is no discipline.
Optional Assignment (Answers Will Vary; Discuss with Your Trainer and/or the Training Group)
Optional Assignment
The American Management Association commissioned the Human Resource
Institute to conduct a global, in-depth study on strategic agility and resilience. The Institute’s series of “Major Issues” surveys showed that “managing change” was perennially ranked among the top workforce management issues throughout the 1990s and into this past decade and through to 2030.
Some of the main findings were:
• The vast majority of respondents (82 percent) report that the pace of change experienced by their organizations has increased compared with 5 years ago.
• A majority (69 percent) say that their organizations had experienced disruptive change—that is, severe surprises or unanticipated shocks—over the previous 12 months.
• There are meaningful differences among surveyed organizations in the highest- and lowest-performing categories. Compared with their lower-performing counterparts, higher performers were more likely to:
o View themselves as agile and resistant
o See change as an opportunity
o Say that the pace of change has gotten faster but remains predictable
o View themselves as having better change capacities at the individual, team, and organizational levels
o Engage in strategies such as training to improve managers’ change-management skills
Additionally, the Conference Board of Canada found that CEOs around the globe identify “speed, flexibility, and adaptability to change” as among their greatest concerns. “Adapt or die” seems to be a prevailing attitude. Accordingly, companies of the future will benefit by finding good ways of measuring their capacity to manage change—that is, their “adaptive capacity.”3 These organizations will be able to gauge their current agility and resilience and then determine additional needs. When gauging adaptive capacity, organizations will look at four different levels:
• The individual employee
• The team
• The organization
• The industry4
Write a 1,500-word essay describing what skills you think employees need in order to be change-ready. Be able to rationalize your viewpoint and don’t forget to provide sources and resources.
Quiz Answers
1. According to Gallup, what percentage of change initiatives fail?
a. 35 percent
b. 62 percent
c. 70 percent
d. 90 percent
2. The iceberg theory is sometimes called what?
a. The theory of everything
b. The theory of omission
c. Hemmingway method
d. Surface theory
3. According to Masotti & Bayer, workplace culture is “the habits, traditions, attitudes, tone of interactions, and general behaviors that make up employees’ day-to-day experience.” True or False?
4. In order of application, the three prongs in the Masotti Trident Approach are:
a. Assessment, training, feedback
b. Evaluation, training, feedback
c. Training, assessment, feedback
d. Feedback, assessment, training
QUESTION: Based on what you now understand to be incivility, what types of “events” (perceived issues, challenges, crisis, problems) that might be assigned as continuous improvement projects—what we can call “low-hanging fruit” could be resolved easily through civility, e.g., never get to the point where they are identified as “events”?
Chapter 4—For Consideration: The Civility in Practice Model
Figure 19 Civility in Practice Model©, Masotti & Bayer 2018
Possible Response(s)
• Employees not following day-to-day processes and rules; when it is identified that the reason they are not following the rules is tied to resentment or mistrust, avoidance, or sabotage, this is about civility.
• Employees are not engaging in required socialization activities, e.g., signing up for team softball, golf tournaments, book club, holiday charity events, etc.
These “issues” can all be resolved through building relational skills. These are not problems that continuous improvement resources should be spent on.
QUESTION: Why do you think some supervisors and/or employees would opt NOT to engage in civility best practices in spite of knowing the benefits?
Possible Response(s)
• Some people like to create drama so that they can be the hero and resolve it.
• Some people are just not comfortable with change and even positive things like engaging in civility require a person to change.
• Some people like to keep the power imbalanced, e.g., they like to have emotional or physical power and control over others.
• Some people have backgrounds or religious beliefs that justify them behaving in what might be perceived as uncivil to others but seems natural or okay to them, e.g., treating women differently than men.
• Some people truly have not experienced civility and so they do not recognize the values of it, i.e., they are accustomed to angry voices or humiliation etc., and so they see it as normal.
QUESTION: We know from the research that civility at work can increase innovation, retention, trust, and collaboration. What other, more personal or individual impacts can you perceive if civility becomes part of the employees’ day-to-day experience?
Possible Response(s)
Research also shows that civility at work can reduce stress and when we reduce stress we can improve how people react to situations, e.g., driving; we can impact their relationships, e.g., they don’t take the stress home; and we can impact their overall health, e.g., potentially avoid the need for avoidant behaviors or alcohol abuse, etc., as ways of managing stress at work.
QUESTION: What is the risk if civility best practices are not exhibited continuously, that is, before, during, and after an “event”?
Possible Response(s)
• Repairs happen too late or don’t happen at all.
• When behavior isn’t consistent, people don’t always trust the reason for the behavior when it does happen.
• When civility isn’t consistent, people may not immediately associate the positive behavior as causal, e.g., tie it to a positive outcome.
• Civility is less likely to become ingrained in workplace culture if it is not exhibited on an ongoing basis and across the organization.
Optional Assignment #1 (Answers Will Vary; Discuss with Your Trainer and/or the Training Group)
Consider an international turbomachinery manufacturer. In keeping with their culture of continuous improvement, the organization is seeking a new approach to training that can address bottom line business metrics related to key performance indicators, build team engagement, and improve workplace culture overall. As such, the organization has identified that they have good data and good methods/tools, but it is the people element that needs business excellence support.
In addition, there is good awareness of culture and performance issues as well as engagement at higher levels; however, there are perceived to be some engagement challenges where the focus seems to be on quick wins to deliver against targets. Team communication, collaboration, alignment, service, and performance are suffering as a result.
What would you do? What questions would you ask? How would you solve this problem and what specific solutions would you offer in order to do the following?
• Gather bottom line business metrics in a meaningful way.
• Track and/or improve key performance indicators.
• Build team engagement.
• Improve workplace culture.
Optional Assignment #2 (Answers Will Vary; Discuss with Your Trainer and/or the Training Group)
Applying the Continuum—Practice Activity
1. A supervisor is known for being indirect when interacting with his or her team. Due to a lack of clarity, employees are not always meeting expectations and then issues arise, e.g., the supervisor has to resolve the situation, the employees are angry, etc.
a. What behaviors might employees exhibit in this scenario to indicate that they are unhappy?
b. Based on the behaviors you might observe, listed as responses for a) above, what stage of the continuum might you place the employees on?
c. Based on your response to b) what behaviors or conditions did the supervisor contribute to create this situation?
d. What are the impacts if the supervisor does not accurately assess the situation?
e. Based on what you know about civility, if you were the supervisor, how would you resolve this situation?
Quiz Answers
1. Companies that openly promote civil communication among employees earn how much more revenue than competitors?
a. 22 percent
b. 87 percent
c. 55 percent
d. 30 percent
2. When embedded into workplace training, policy, procedures, and best practices, civility is:
a. retroactive
b. reactive
c. protractive
d. proactive
3. In the civility in practice model, “ROI” refers to:
a. regularly observed incident
b. return on currency
c. recommended occupation indicator
d. return on character
4. Calling someone names, accusing, and deflecting are behaviors that suggest an employee is at what state on the culture indicator continuum?
a. Withdrawal
b. Adaptation
c. Blame
d. Defiance
Chapter 5—For Consideration
QUESTION: Why do many leaders/managers/supervisors not properly leverage the skills and knowledge of their teams?
Possible Response(s)
• Old habits, e.g., related to hierarchy
• Ego, e.g., they want to keep perceived power all to themselves
• Fear, e.g., that someone will know more than they do
• Ignorance, e.g., they never asked about or researched the skills of their teams
• General stress, e.g., they just don’t have time to stop and consider these things
• Situational factors, e.g., a layoff is pending, so there is no point in getting to know people; there are other priorities, personal issues between leaders and other persons, etc.
QUESTION: What can happen if leaders do not agree that every person is equally deserving of respect?
Possible Response(s)
• Biased or unfair treatment
• Bullying or harassment
• Illegal hiring or recruiting practices
• Personal issues and mistrust
• Others
QUESTION: What happens if an individual is lacking in one of the four skills required to be civility-competent?
Possible Response(s)
• Sometimes he or she can get by, e.g., rely on social IQ to get support and help from others.
• It depends on which skill is lacking, e.g., lacking cultural competence in a diverse workplace can be problematic.
• Reliance on others can be an issue, e.g., “If I have low social skills, others can take advantage of me.”
• There could be mistrust due to perceived incompetency.
• Individuals can behave in uncivil ways without realizing it.
• Others
Notes on Homework
The two scenarios represent two large auto manufacturers. I worked for both of them.
• The difference between the two approaches was vastly different as far as return on improvements.
• It also provided two different cultures and approaches to improving the performance of supervisors.
• Peer pressure was huge at Company Y and people who took on the CI projects were ridiculed and commented on constantly. What should have been a positive step was looked on as opportunistic or negative and, in my opinion, most likely prevented others from attempting projects.
• At Company X, everyone had the opportunity to improve and be supported by others. They all had a common goal and worked together to help each other.
• The savings at Company X far outperformed Company Y.
Optional Assignment (Answers Will Vary; Discuss with Your Trainer and/or the Training Group)
Choose one of the Masotti communication strategies checklists and review the list from a “culturally considerate” lens. That is, think about which, if any, of the behaviors on the list:
1. Might be misunderstood by an employee with an international cultural background
2. Might be difficult for different supervisors to exhibit, e.g., does the behavior need to change if the supervisor is old or young, man or woman, less experienced or more experienced, etc.
3. Might be perceived by “old school” manufacturing employees as touchy-feely or ineffective in a traditional command and control environment
Quiz Answers
1. Social intelligence includes:
a. Social skills, social smarts, and social savvy
b. Social style, social knowledge, and social savvy
c. Social knowledge, social radar, and social style
d. Social radar, social skills, and social style
2. One behavior that builds trust when communicating is:
a. Always tell the truth.
b. Look people in the eye.
c. Say what you mean.
d. All of the above.
3. Respect means:
a. everyone is treated equitably.
b. everyone is treated as valuable.
c. everyone is trusted.
d. everyone is given equal opportunities.
4. In the civility value chain, what a person does (in terms of civility) is called:
a. action-oriented civility
b. civility in action
c. civil action
d. actionable civility
Chapter 6—For Consideration
Situation #1: Poor Performance—Specifically, Employee Is Just Not Completing the Work
On the surface, you might assume the poor performance is due to incompetence, but when you look a little deeper you observe that it is actually due to peer pressure. How would you handle this situation?
Possible Response(s)
I have experienced situations, especially in unionized environments, where people are poor performers due to peer pressure. To be fair it is mostly due to a poor culture. When determining why a person is not performing and investigating why a person is not performing, we have to ask questions if it is due to peer pressure. Sometimes people will perform at their minimum level because they do not want to stand out from the rest of the group. To combat this situation, you have to raise the performance of the group as a whole. Support the people you manage by first being civil and creating a personality or character that is trustworthy. Ask questions about procedures and equipment and look for suggestions that employees offer. Act upon those suggestions and improve their experience one bit at a time. Make the new culture where the standard is the higher performance of people. Make the new peer pressure be a higher standard of performance.
Situation #2: Poor Performance—Specifically, Task Completion Is Taking Too Long
On the surface, once again you might assume the poor performance is due to incompetence, but when you look a little deeper, you observe that it is actually due to employees being afraid to complete tasks because they think doing so will mean more work. How would you handle this situation?
Possible Response(s)
The experts on a job are the people that have been on the job for months, years, or even decades. You will never be an expert in all the positions you manage. You need to value that experience and support the people on those jobs. People over time have figured out the most efficient way of performing their job, and some people are afraid to show that their job has become streamlined, and fear that somebody will notice and use that opportunity to add work. When these people are asked questions on how to improve their job, they may be reluctant to offer information. Maybe their job cannot be improved much more. In this situation, ask questions from your observations, and learn how that person resolved their problems on their own. Let them know that they have achieved great success on their own and you would like to share that information with others to make their jobs better. Apply that process to other processes in your department and others will see that when you ask questions and make observations it is not always about how to possibly add work or make their job better, but that this process is making the work experience better for others as well.
Optional Assignment (Answers Will Vary; Discuss with Your Trainer and/or the Training Group)
Review the “Bear in the Woods” story and write a 1,000-word essay on what workplace culture conditions you think support or encourage this kind of mentality.
Bear in the Woods
This scenario is about survival of the fittest. The story is when two people are being chased by a bear in the woods, to survive you only have to be faster than the other person. This scenario can be applied to a group of employees in the same job description who are performing just enough to be ahead of the worst one or two employees. The thinking is that their job is safe as long as they perform just ahead of the worst one or two employees—“My job is safe as long as John and Carol are still here, they are struggling.” When looking at poor performance, the questions you ask about improvements may not be offered or completely up-front. It is possible that valid answers to your questions are withheld until needed when they need to improve their performance. Also, answers to your questions may be withheld when the poor performers are asked because others do not want them to perform above their own level. The goal is to show that the communal discussions and suggestions should benefit the group. It is not a good work environment, or strategy, to achieve goals when not everybody is attaining them. The new environment should be that even though the relatively lower performers are at the bottom of the group, they are still hitting their goals and objectives set by the company. They would no longer be poor performers, but continuously improving performers, showing upward trends and benefitting the group as a whole.
Quiz Answers
1. “Transfer” of learning refers to:
a. Sharing what you know with someone else
b. Using what you learn on the job
c. Mentoring
d. Using skills from one job at the next job
2. If you are speaking to someone and his or her eyes start to wander, he or she looks away or lowers his or her head, this may be a sign that the person:
a. is disappointed
b. is disinterested
c. is distracted
d. does not like you
3. The main purpose of an assessment is to:
a. understand why things are how they are
b. identify how things should be
c. figure out what needs to be changed
d. sort employees based on competency
4. A good time to assess employee performance is:
a. when employee is on a short, scheduled break
b. before or after regular scheduled work hours
c. when employee is just finishing break
d. during employee’s lunch period
Chapter 7—For Consideration
Question: Referencing the civility culture continuum chart below, at which stages/levels would you engage in feedback with employees?
Possible Response(s)
You would coach and/or give feedback at ALL levels. The timing and approach might vary but you provide feedback to all employees regardless of their level, i.e., both positive and negative scores.
Question: How much time should you spend with employees when giving feedback? Do you spend more time when addressing negative behavior?
Possible Response(s)
When you spend the exact amount of time on each person—regardless of where they are on the continuum—you are setting a consistent, standardized response. By not focusing on the nonperformers, you are not inadvertently engaging in a “reverse favoritism,” i.e., giving attention and reward for bad behavior.
Question: An employee is sleeping on the job. You catch him. It’s a 1-day suspension and he knows that he is caught. How do you manage this situation in a way that changes behavior but builds trust?
Possible Response(s)
Give the individual an opportunity to explain why the behavior happened. Do your job in terms of making sure the employee knows that the outcome could have been different, and that the behavior is not acceptable. Show that you are reasonable and that you are not interested in punishing just for the sake of punishing. Be sure to only use this approach when there is no harm done to the organization or another individual.
When it comes to safety issues, there is no tolerance or second chances.
A determined action is different than behavior. For example, smoking on the job is a behavior. Willfully putting on a wrong part or deliberately ignoring a workplace rule is determined action.
DON’T ASSUME that there is malice or some unfounded reason or rationale for the behavior, but wait to find out the reason. The individual might have a valid point or reason.
ASK WHY the person in engaging in the behavior. Try to start with a root cause approach and try to find out why the person is not performing appropriately.
Optional Assignment (Answers Will Vary; Discuss with Your Trainer and/or the Training Group)
Find three different examples of standard operating procedures (SOPs) from three different positions in manufacturing. Review the documents and make a list of all the components of information that you see are commonly recorded on an SOP.
Quiz Answers
1. What percentage of employees say the feedback they receive improves their work?
a. 75 percent
b. 26 percent
c. 14 percent
d. 3 percent
2. Here are some examples of behaviors. Put a checkmark beside those which are determined actions and would require corrective action. ALL SHOULD BE CHECK-MARKED.
• Putting the wrong taillight on
• Arguing with a supervisor
• Smoking in the plant
• Being drunk or drinking on the job
• Not wearing safety glasses when working with welding equipment
• Being 4 minutes late for shift
• Not doing what he or she was asked to do—this is the first time, e.g., move some steel coils from one part of the plant to another
• Mistreating another employee, e.g., harassing a coworker
• Using the incorrect tools
• Taking a shortcut that will impact quality
• Deliberately withholding information that will impact someone else negatively
• Regularly engaging in shop talk or negativity
• Stealing a piece of equipment or some supplies
• Failing to interact effectively with coworkers
• Not doing part of the job for the whole shift (missing parts or tools)
3. A communication tool that offers an opportunity for relationship building, tracking progress, and problem-solving is called:
a. Variance
b. Six Sigma
c. Reliant measure
d. Feedback
4. An SOP is:
a. Standard Open Position
b. Strategic Operating Plan
c. Standing Only Procedure
d. Standard Operating Procedure
Chapter 8—For Consideration
Key Questions to Ask to Initiate Interaction
A) Hello X, I just noticed (or Y mentioned), that you are not doing Z. Can you tell me why you are not doing Z?
B) Hi X, I wanted to check in and see how things are going. Let’s take a few minutes and run through your job description.
C) X, we have changed/updated your job description so I want to ensure that you can do Z.
Some of the Responses You Might Get
1. I don’t have time to do Z.
Recommended response:
When is the last time you read your SOP?
Let’s look at the SOP and see if you are following the steps.
As we read the SOP line by line, ask if you have any questions.
2. I don’t know how to do Z.
Recommended response:
Which part(s) of your job description do you not know how to do?
Do you need more training?
(The supervisor needs to confirm the responses, e.g., check if he/she was trained.)
If the person was trained, supervisor says, “What specific parts of the job do you need training in?”
3. I wasn’t trained to do Z.
Recommended response:
The supervisor says, “Okay, I will bring someone over to train you.”
4. Boss A told me to do Y instead of Z.
Recommended response:
(Employees are told to follow their last instruction. So this is a legitimate response, and they should not be reprimanded or punished for doing so.)
5. It’s not my job to do Z.
Recommended response:
Let’s review the SOP or job description to verify that this is not part of your job. (For example, the stock someone needs is 30 feet away from the station, sequenced in five categories on a skid. It is another person’s job to sequence the stock—he is out of parts a, b, c, and d. He has no item e, and it is someone else’s job to sequence and sort the stock.)
Supervisor should say, “You need to tell me when you can’t do the job.”
Then make the box smaller by saying, “You need to tell me when you have just 15 pieces left.”
6. I can’t do Z due to an injury.
Recommended response:
What is your injury?
How did the injury happen?
When did the injury happen?
7. I don’t have permission to do Z.
Recommended response:
The task is within your job description so I am giving you permission.
8. I don’t have the right tools to do Z.
Recommended response:
What tools exactly do you need? (Sometimes they have the tools, but they are not working at 100 percent.)
9. If I do Z, then X will happen.
Recommended response:
And what is the consequence of that?
What would you do instead?
10. I would do Z except I don’t want to help Y.
Recommended response:
Why don’t you want to help Y?
(Often the reason is, “It’s not fair that I do my job 100 percent and then I have to help someone else do his or her job.”) Supervisors who are paying attention will pick up on this and say, “Go do your job and address him versus me.”
11. If I help Y, I can’t get my own work done.
Recommended response:
So what work should you be doing and what is pulling you away from those tasks? Possible answer might be, “I can’t even do what I’m supposed to do, how am I going to help him or her?” or “Well, I have to walk 100 feet to find a printer that works.” (Recommendation here is to fix the printer.)
12. This is a new upgrade.
Recommended response:
Were you not informed of the new process?
Did you not receive training?
13. I know what to do but I’m not doing it.
Recommended response:
Why won’t you do it?
14. It’s not safe to do what you are asking.
Recommended response:
Specifically, what is unsafe?
Optional Assignment (Answers Will Vary; Discuss with Your Trainer and/or the Training Group)
Review the thinking skills assessments and rate yourself. Then write a personal learning plan outlining any thinking skills you need to develop. Include how you will acquire the skills, e.g., courses, resources etc.
Section 1: Self-Assessment
| PROBLEM-SOLVING | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| I can… | Yes | Somewhat | No |
| Identify the cause of a problem when I have all the necessary information given to me. | |||
| Follow existing procedures or instructions to identify solutions to a problem (e.g., the steps for fixing a broken machine). | |||
| Find information from a variety of sources (such as equipment manuals, policies, and procedures) that will help me understand the problem and identify solutions. | |||
| Use problem-solving experiences I had in the past to help me identify solutions to current problems. | |||
| Recognize key facts and issues related to a problem (e.g., identify answers to who, what, when, where, why, and how). | |||
| Identify and evaluate the pros and cons of each potential solution. | |||
| Make adjustments to existing workplace procedures to help solve a problem (set procedures may not address every type of problem). | |||
| Evaluate how well a solution worked. |
Figure 20 Problem Solving Self-Assessment, Masotti 2019
Section 2: Personal Development
Completing this section will help you identify your strengths and areas that you may want to improve with regard to your thinking skills. You can use this information to help develop your training plans.
Thinking Strengths
Look at the “Yes” column in Section 1 for each thinking skill to identify your strengths and record them below.
I am confident that I can…
e.g. apply past experiences to new problems or decisions.
1. _____________________________________
2. _____________________________________
3. _____________________________________
Tip: Consider using your strengths to help a coworker, friend, or family member improve their thinking skills.
Areas for Improvement
Look at the “Somewhat” and/or “No” columns in Section 1 for each thinking skill to identify the areas that you need to develop or strengthen and record them below.
I would like to improve my ability to…
e.g. make sure that minor interruptions do not interfere with my work plans.
1. _____________________________________
2. _____________________________________
3. _____________________________________
Tip: When developing your training plan, focus on improving one or two thinking skills tasks at a time.
Quiz Answers
1. “Variability” is…
a. inconsistencies, changes, or options in a typical situation or context
b. the way things change in a geographical area
c. how people adapt to change
d. the degree to which change can be managed
2. Step 2 in the “make the box smaller” method is…
a. embed civility
b. observe
c. set expectations
d. monitor and measure
e. provide feedback
3. To change workplace culture, it is a good idea to give feedback how often?
a. Once a week
b. Once a year
c. Once a day
d. Once a month
4. Civility Experts Inc. field research shows that what percentage of variability related to solving people problems falls in the outside/largest “box” and is related to trust?
a. 15 percent
b. 8 percent
c. 75 percent
d. 50 percent
____________
1 Manufacturing Global. 2018. “Manufacturing Sector Set for Significant Change in 2018.” www.manufacturingglobal.com/logistics/manufacturing-sector-set-significant-change-2018. 06/08/2019
2 Canada’s Manufacturing Sector. 2020. “Canadian Manufacturing Sector Gateway,” Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/mfg-fab.nsf/eng/home (Modified March 12, 2020).
3 American Management Association. 2006–2010. “A Global Study of Current Trends and Human Possibilities.”
4 The Conference Board. 2005.https://cmcoutperform.com/sites/default/files/AgilityandResilienceGlobalStudy.pdf 05/05/2019