Well I hope everyone is getting back into the work routine? My last couple of days have had some major ups and downs.
I have a couple of employees that work at the far end of our line, they are supposed inspect and take care the issues of the rear portion of the units as they moved down the line.
Every time you speak to them about stepping up some more you get flam bayed about "they don't have the time or there is just too much to get and so on and so on".
We work for a large automotive company and we face cut back challenges every day to keep competitive. We have been told about these two, from people outside of our department, who just happen to be passing through on their way to another area.
Well, we have been working with these employees for a couple of weeks now and we still do not get anywhere! They know the Union has their backs and they just don't care. They will keep their job even though someone who most likely deserves to, and wants to work, will lose theirs!
Yesterday our Plant manager was in our area and he just happened to watch these employees for about an hour, well the feed back I got was that I will be most likely be cutting 2 jobs from my area as these two employees only happened to work on about 5 of the 70 units that passed them during this time.
I do not like to discipline people but these two leave me little choice, now I have to document everything they don't do, so that when I do start this multiple step process I have everything in order. This takes weeks and months to complete and when the labor relations people finally put them out of the facility the union has them back in just a couple of days. It makes this whole process kind of a joke don't you think?
My philosophy at work is: "It is my job to keep upper management off my employees back and their job is to keep upper management off of my back! My employees can accomplish this simple task by just doing their job!" No more no less! A pretty simple concept when you look at it, don't you think? It makes me wonder to think about all of the times that I have stood up to my management for my employees! I keep my end of my philosophy all of the time. Now I just had this slapped into my face by the very top of the management food chain in the plant! Man do I look like an asshole right now! And we are only into day 2 of the new year!
Please do not get me wrong I am not anti-union at all!!! The unions of this world did their job and they did it well! The representatives at our facility do wish to work together, but it is their job also to defend the work force. We all have benefited from their work in the past with just the wage base we have in this country! We all share some type of job security and benefits, but at what costs?
Unfortunately the world has changed and we need to change with it! The big companies are moving out of the US and setting back up in another country so they can produce the same products at a much lower cost, due to the wages and benefits.
The republicans have not done the middle class any good at all, in this country, when President Reagan began this down slide with the open trade initiative with Mexico, now Bush too, has opened the door for quite a few other countries and now all their republican buddies are moving out, making bigger profits because they sell it for the same prices and it costs them much, much less to produce it now. The government does not care that this is putting people out on the street!
Now we have competition here in the USA with all of the foreign auto manufacturers. They are able to hire workers at a very good wage and benefits. They seem to be able to keep the employees happy. These employees have a great incentive to do their job! They get to share in the companies profits, when the company does good they all get compensated. They must perform at a certain level all of the time or they will be terminated, period. No two week vacation, no benefits, no nothing, nada, zip! No union working in the background getting them their job back!
I am a management employee. I have no representation. I have a yearly review and if I do not perform to certain standards then my job, my lively hood, is on the line!
One of the main reasons I left a union job, back in the 80's, was the simple fact that the only time I ever saw a union representative was when they were around to take care of the guy who did not do a damn thing to begin with! The rest of us were picking up the slack for this guy because most of us have a good work ethic that was instilled in us while we were growing up! And it just seems to make the day go by a little quicker when you stay occupied.
Unfortunately the we no longer have the luxury that our parents once had with a guaranteed income and job. We need to protect our jobs, not think that they are going to be there until we decide to retire!
Our facility has already gone through the major reduction pains that the rest of the corporation is facing and will be experiencing in the very near future. We have gone from an hourly work force in excess of 3,000 employees down to just over 700, in just over 2 to 3 years, and we still seem to produce the same vehicle. Yes there are issues with it but it is still being done! Not at the same production rate, but it is getting done! We as a plant have made great strides in both management and union to reduce the man hours it takes to produce a unit and the overall quality we deliver to our customers, but the reality is, we need to do more!
The plant I work at is slated to close in the next couple of years. The thinking of some of these people that work here is that by that time they will be ready to retire or they will get absorbed into another facility. There are only so many jobs and there are more cuts to be done at the other facilities. So where do they think they are going to go? And when the overall work force has been cut by more than 50% who is going to pay them the retirement? Just take a look at the business news section and you can see that retirement and health care expenses are the biggest issues facing corporations as a whole!
It is just a select few employees that can bring the entire organization down, that meager 20% of the work force! That does not sound that bad until you do the math and you see that approximately 140 out of 700 people don't really give a shit! This equates to at least 140 operations that are not being done properly, at 320 units a day off the shipping line there are at least half that have some sort of issue that could potentially affect the customer in some way. The best thing we have in place is the quality control at the end of the assembly process, they randomly pull units out of the system and these are gone over with a fine tooth comb. The results are then discussed with all the pertinent people so that the issues found can be brought under control.
Our plant still has the best numbers in the corporation and if everyone just did what they get paid for, all of the time, there is a chance we can keep our plant open!
In my department we need to get our through-put back up. Yes we have equipment issues and yes the areas that feed us have their own issues, but if we all just did our job, on every unit, our numbers would increase. If this select few would spend as much time just doing the job as they spend on figuring out how not to do it, we would be the best in the world. Then the chances of keeping our facility open will greatly increase.
The equipment issues most of the employees constantly bitch about only account for 10% of the through-put issue. If we are currently running at 70% correcting the equipment issues will only get us to 80%. We need to be at 85 to 90% efficient just to maintain!
So where then are we lacking in the big picture here? Where can we get this additional 10% we need to stay alive? We need to stop losing a unit because someone didn't wipe off the sealer they dropped on it. I didn't see that spot because I was too busy talking to someone outside of my area. Oh shit, I really don't feel like bending over to spray that lower section of the truck, the guy up the line will get it! I didn't sand that spot because I was too busy doing my home work! I was talking to my friend on my cell phone! Do you get the idea? If we did our jobs and made sure the unit was ready for the next operation we would be at the 85% we need to be at and even better. Then we would be able to absorb the equipment issues when they arise.
The money needed to fix the equipment issues would be there because we are not wasting it by working overtime to make up for losses, having to reprocess units that could have been saved the first time around, if only pride and the desire of: I need to do whatever I can, on my portion of this vehicle, to make it right. Just this one unit that is directly in front of me at this moment! This is what I get paid to do, and my job depends on just this one unit! I really don't care about anyone else I only care that my job is done right and I take great pride in what I do. I know it is a direct reflection on me as a person, it enhances my character along with my dignity! If only this kind of mind set could be instilled in everyone our whole world would be a much better place to live.
However, we don't live in this fairy tale world. Life sucks! But when you deal with it the right way, it really isn't that bad after all! It can make you feel good about yourself and your accomplishments, no matter how insignificant they may seem to other people! To you, they are greatest accomplishment there is!
A human being can only control what is happening at this moment in time! We cannot, as much as we would like too, change the future, nor the past for this fact. We are only able to influence life and the world around us one moment at a time. The only moment in time when life really matters and that moment is right NOW! The real fact of the matter is your job does depend on this! Life basically sucks and it is going to start sucking a lot harder! So you better figure out how you will be dealing with it!
Thanks for letting me get this off my chest.
God Bless,
Mike
I have a couple of employees that work at the far end of our line, they are supposed inspect and take care the issues of the rear portion of the units as they moved down the line.
Every time you speak to them about stepping up some more you get flam bayed about "they don't have the time or there is just too much to get and so on and so on".
We work for a large automotive company and we face cut back challenges every day to keep competitive. We have been told about these two, from people outside of our department, who just happen to be passing through on their way to another area.
Well, we have been working with these employees for a couple of weeks now and we still do not get anywhere! They know the Union has their backs and they just don't care. They will keep their job even though someone who most likely deserves to, and wants to work, will lose theirs!
Yesterday our Plant manager was in our area and he just happened to watch these employees for about an hour, well the feed back I got was that I will be most likely be cutting 2 jobs from my area as these two employees only happened to work on about 5 of the 70 units that passed them during this time.
I do not like to discipline people but these two leave me little choice, now I have to document everything they don't do, so that when I do start this multiple step process I have everything in order. This takes weeks and months to complete and when the labor relations people finally put them out of the facility the union has them back in just a couple of days. It makes this whole process kind of a joke don't you think?
My philosophy at work is: "It is my job to keep upper management off my employees back and their job is to keep upper management off of my back! My employees can accomplish this simple task by just doing their job!" No more no less! A pretty simple concept when you look at it, don't you think? It makes me wonder to think about all of the times that I have stood up to my management for my employees! I keep my end of my philosophy all of the time. Now I just had this slapped into my face by the very top of the management food chain in the plant! Man do I look like an asshole right now! And we are only into day 2 of the new year!
Please do not get me wrong I am not anti-union at all!!! The unions of this world did their job and they did it well! The representatives at our facility do wish to work together, but it is their job also to defend the work force. We all have benefited from their work in the past with just the wage base we have in this country! We all share some type of job security and benefits, but at what costs?
Unfortunately the world has changed and we need to change with it! The big companies are moving out of the US and setting back up in another country so they can produce the same products at a much lower cost, due to the wages and benefits.
The republicans have not done the middle class any good at all, in this country, when President Reagan began this down slide with the open trade initiative with Mexico, now Bush too, has opened the door for quite a few other countries and now all their republican buddies are moving out, making bigger profits because they sell it for the same prices and it costs them much, much less to produce it now. The government does not care that this is putting people out on the street!
Now we have competition here in the USA with all of the foreign auto manufacturers. They are able to hire workers at a very good wage and benefits. They seem to be able to keep the employees happy. These employees have a great incentive to do their job! They get to share in the companies profits, when the company does good they all get compensated. They must perform at a certain level all of the time or they will be terminated, period. No two week vacation, no benefits, no nothing, nada, zip! No union working in the background getting them their job back!
I am a management employee. I have no representation. I have a yearly review and if I do not perform to certain standards then my job, my lively hood, is on the line!
One of the main reasons I left a union job, back in the 80's, was the simple fact that the only time I ever saw a union representative was when they were around to take care of the guy who did not do a damn thing to begin with! The rest of us were picking up the slack for this guy because most of us have a good work ethic that was instilled in us while we were growing up! And it just seems to make the day go by a little quicker when you stay occupied.
Unfortunately the we no longer have the luxury that our parents once had with a guaranteed income and job. We need to protect our jobs, not think that they are going to be there until we decide to retire!
Our facility has already gone through the major reduction pains that the rest of the corporation is facing and will be experiencing in the very near future. We have gone from an hourly work force in excess of 3,000 employees down to just over 700, in just over 2 to 3 years, and we still seem to produce the same vehicle. Yes there are issues with it but it is still being done! Not at the same production rate, but it is getting done! We as a plant have made great strides in both management and union to reduce the man hours it takes to produce a unit and the overall quality we deliver to our customers, but the reality is, we need to do more!
The plant I work at is slated to close in the next couple of years. The thinking of some of these people that work here is that by that time they will be ready to retire or they will get absorbed into another facility. There are only so many jobs and there are more cuts to be done at the other facilities. So where do they think they are going to go? And when the overall work force has been cut by more than 50% who is going to pay them the retirement? Just take a look at the business news section and you can see that retirement and health care expenses are the biggest issues facing corporations as a whole!
It is just a select few employees that can bring the entire organization down, that meager 20% of the work force! That does not sound that bad until you do the math and you see that approximately 140 out of 700 people don't really give a shit! This equates to at least 140 operations that are not being done properly, at 320 units a day off the shipping line there are at least half that have some sort of issue that could potentially affect the customer in some way. The best thing we have in place is the quality control at the end of the assembly process, they randomly pull units out of the system and these are gone over with a fine tooth comb. The results are then discussed with all the pertinent people so that the issues found can be brought under control.
Our plant still has the best numbers in the corporation and if everyone just did what they get paid for, all of the time, there is a chance we can keep our plant open!
In my department we need to get our through-put back up. Yes we have equipment issues and yes the areas that feed us have their own issues, but if we all just did our job, on every unit, our numbers would increase. If this select few would spend as much time just doing the job as they spend on figuring out how not to do it, we would be the best in the world. Then the chances of keeping our facility open will greatly increase.
The equipment issues most of the employees constantly bitch about only account for 10% of the through-put issue. If we are currently running at 70% correcting the equipment issues will only get us to 80%. We need to be at 85 to 90% efficient just to maintain!
So where then are we lacking in the big picture here? Where can we get this additional 10% we need to stay alive? We need to stop losing a unit because someone didn't wipe off the sealer they dropped on it. I didn't see that spot because I was too busy talking to someone outside of my area. Oh shit, I really don't feel like bending over to spray that lower section of the truck, the guy up the line will get it! I didn't sand that spot because I was too busy doing my home work! I was talking to my friend on my cell phone! Do you get the idea? If we did our jobs and made sure the unit was ready for the next operation we would be at the 85% we need to be at and even better. Then we would be able to absorb the equipment issues when they arise.
The money needed to fix the equipment issues would be there because we are not wasting it by working overtime to make up for losses, having to reprocess units that could have been saved the first time around, if only pride and the desire of: I need to do whatever I can, on my portion of this vehicle, to make it right. Just this one unit that is directly in front of me at this moment! This is what I get paid to do, and my job depends on just this one unit! I really don't care about anyone else I only care that my job is done right and I take great pride in what I do. I know it is a direct reflection on me as a person, it enhances my character along with my dignity! If only this kind of mind set could be instilled in everyone our whole world would be a much better place to live.
However, we don't live in this fairy tale world. Life sucks! But when you deal with it the right way, it really isn't that bad after all! It can make you feel good about yourself and your accomplishments, no matter how insignificant they may seem to other people! To you, they are greatest accomplishment there is!
A human being can only control what is happening at this moment in time! We cannot, as much as we would like too, change the future, nor the past for this fact. We are only able to influence life and the world around us one moment at a time. The only moment in time when life really matters and that moment is right NOW! The real fact of the matter is your job does depend on this! Life basically sucks and it is going to start sucking a lot harder! So you better figure out how you will be dealing with it!
Thanks for letting me get this off my chest.
God Bless,
Mike
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