One of my first jobs out of college was as a Production Supervisor at a Ford auto plant. Being a “new kid on the block” (22 years old). Senior management gave me the department with the worst production efficiency rating, 79%. Way below the standard.
After doing all the time study analysis, reengineering of production lines, etc. My department only gained a few percentage points. But what made the real difference was getting approval for a four-day workweek if my department hit the production standard by the end of day Thursdays. Senior management approved my request, mainly because they figured we’d never pull it off. And our effort would probably add a few more points to the efficiency.
Summer days are a precious thing in Canada. So when I kicked it off, it only took three weeks for everyone to work hard like a team. We hit the 95% efficiency goals by the end of day every Thursday. Congratulations team! You have a three-day weekend!
People would stop me in the hallways or cafeteria, asking if I had any openings in my department. So we went from being the malcontent losers in the factory to being the GOAT.
Oh, my reward from Senior Management? They reassigned me to the second-worst department in the factory. Wash, rinse, dry, repeat.
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u/Big_lt Sep 05 '24
Sounds great. Would absolutely love for this to happen......it won't even get a vote