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plant operations workers
plant operations workers
plant operations workers
plant operations workers
plant operations workers

Why Don't Management and Workers Get Along?

Jan. 30, 2014
Forget the fancy slogans. Provide employees with the tools, materials and support they need to get to the root cause of problems and permanently improve the process.

There must be a level of trust between management and workers to make sure that programs, such as lean or Six Sigma are successful.

But getting to that level of trust is harder than it appears as there are rifts formed between the two groups that are sometimes difficult to bridge.

One of the biggest issues that needs to be addressed is best expressed by Dr. Edward Deming’s 14 points on quality management::

Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.

While many company leaders don’t how this is applicable to its management style, John Dyer, President of JD&A -- Process Innovation Company provides a case study on this point.

For more, read “What Drives Wedges Between Management and Workers?” on sister siteIndustryWeek.