Synopsis: Communication For Productivity
Letters written to some 7500 Workers / Managers /
Union Leaders, following a period of strike / Go slow / Murders (1979 -
1987), at Mumbai factory of Larsen & Toubro Ltd. This direct / open /
honest communication led to a remarkable atmosphere of trust between
Workers and Management, which, in turn, increased productivity at 3% per year
(ave).
|
9 Dec 1986
To:
Group
General Managers
General
Manager (Finance)
MANAGERS ON THE RUN!
Twelve months from
today, we may have
received the next Charter of Demands (COD) from the Union.
From then
on, we are on the defensive! Onus of
proving, why the company cannot afford
another steep wage-hike will fall on the
management,
prove, prove, prove - as if
to prove our innocence!
This is a bad position to be in!
Especially when we know that we
have a point which, to us, seems "crystal-clear" and still we must
struggle to make the other party "see" it.
I have
gone through this - twice at Madh and twice
at Powai -for an agonizing number of months.
It is very frustrating.
It is for
this reason that
we must mount an
offensive already NOW - so that
the Union is on the defensive by the time they are ready with the Charter.
It may
be so much
wishful thinking that
through our initiative, we could
place the Union on
the defensive. But,in any
case, that (taking initiative) is our
only option! We can either wait for the COD - and then
"react" or become "pro-active" right now.
And being
pro-active in our
case is to
educate the rank-and-file worker.
It is sharing with him, every
single aspect of company-life whether it is
-
Sales/Orders/Competiton
-
Mfg. and other costs Financial data (including profits)
- Personnel Policies & Wages
- Automation & Redundancy
- New Business Plans
- etc., etc.
In a
nutshell, vigourously
implementing our "Project Information Share".
Do you remember
my note
"A TALE OF TWO MANAGERS" (AUG. 6, 1986) ? In this note
I had talked
about Rene
Mcpherson -Chairman of DANA
CORPORATION - who, at
times got into trouble with his bosses for sharing plant-profit information
with the workers !
- Sales went up by 500%
- Earning/share went up by 15% every year
- Productivity doubled
(adjusted for inflation)
And
after Robert Townsend
turned "AVIS-RENT-A-CAR" from a Company about-to-be-closed to a
highly profitable company, Hal Geneen of ITT (who took over AVIS) said
" I have never come across a company in which so many employees have such deep knowledge of
management".
Following
your suggestion at our first meeting on COD-1988, I have already done the following:
1. About 2
months back, convened
a meeting of the Personnel
Managers/General Managers
of 10/12 leading engineering
companies of
Bombay. We showed
them colour-slides of
-declining
profitability
-rising
wages
of all these companies and
asked them to share some
more productivity related
information of their
companies ( we showed our
willingness to share ours). They ail
agreed but subsequent
response is poor. We
are pursuing. When
all data is
analysed, it was
proposed to make a one-hour presentation, followed by a -one-hour discussion amongst
the
- Chairman
- VP(Personnel)
- VP( Finance)
of all of
these companies.
2.
On 18th October
and again on 6th December,
convened meetings of
various
companies. It was
decided to set-up four, bipartite committees
as follows :-
- Labour Laws
- Amendments & Introduction
- Wage Policy
- Modernisation & Employment
- Industrial Relations Harmony & Work Ethics
Within the
next 6 months, these committees are
expected to produce joint
"Draft Policy Statements" which will be discussed in
a General Body meeting
and possibly
"Adopted".
Productivity
& Efficiency". It 'will be
for a
sponsored-research project
on "Wage-Policy in Engineering industry
in Bombay City".
4.
I have stepped-up
issue of circulars to educate our employees on
wages/costs/profitability/viability/automation/surplus
labour/ voluntary retirement/
retraining, etc. etc.
5.
About 3/4
months ago, nearly 200
Foremen/Supervisors were shown
the film
"People & Productivity: We
learn from the Japanese".
After
seeing
the film, each person set for
himself a target, however small, for
improving
operations/work-ethics/attitudes, etc.
After a lapse
of 3/4 months, I am
meeting the same groups once again
.see a good deal of change in the
attitudes of our supervisors. There are
many "mini-success" stories
I We will
keep meeting every 4 months.
6. I have
planned to go to Lonavala
(DGM-JGM)
We will
leave Friday evening by 2/3 buses and
spend the whole of
Saturday
talking about our operations/issues/
attitudes, etc.
first group
as "observers".
We will be
making use of the BKS Training Centre
at Lonavala.
But, at best,
all these activities can be
termed as "peripheral".
At the
core, the
centre of these activities must be the "Project Information
the times
are good.
Can we meet
soon, to discuss the modalities ?
No comments:
Post a Comment