Implement and review
A few months ago, Burke began his day
announcing implementation of a substantial OFI at a companywide meeting.
“This was a huge one,” he says. “The OFI
was go to four 10 [hour work shifts per
week.] The employees will save 20 percent
on their gas costs and wear and tear on the
cars, and the customers will still get 40
hours of production. On Friday, we will
shut down the factory, turn off all the
lights, turn off all the air conditioning, and
the company will save some energy costs.”
Burke already knew that not everyone
was happy with the potential change in
work hours. Before making the announcement, he first had each department supervisor conduct a survey with his or her team
members to gauge whether or not they’d be
opposed to the change. Though 93 percent
of employees were in favor of the idea, it still
left 7 percent of people who weren’t.
“Of all of our employees in production,
they can’t all do that,” Burke says. “It’s not
great for everybody.”
When you embrace a culture of change,
certain people will always be unhappy with
a given decision. As Burke explains,
“Change isn’t comfortable. Most people
don’t like change. There’s no way that
100 percent of everybody will be happy.”
That doesn’t mean you should carelessly
implement any change as you see fit. Burke
says conducting an informal survey within
departments is a great way to avoid large-scale opposition when enacting a major
OFI. And as long as the majority of employees are for it, you shouldn’t hesitate.
“It’s going to change,” Burke says.
“Embrace it. Plan on it. Bank on it.”
Once you implement an OFI, regardless
of its size, you should always go back to
review whether or not it’s producing the
desired results.
“The supervisor’s responsible for verifying that 30 days after implementation, that
it’s doing what it was supposed to do,”
Burke says.
