SAVE OUR JOBS

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).

18 Jun 1984

To:

Dear Friends

Mr.  Sethna  (GM -  Gr.II) has  written  to me  (see  enclosed note).   Mr. Sethna  is a man  of  few words and  normally  he prefers  to say those  few words  face to face  - and  without mincing I

He could  have simply walked into my  room and said those  few words.

But he chose to write.  That could mean two things:

ONE

         His message is not meant  for me alone but for all 10,000 odd people in the

         Company.

TWO     

          The message is grave.

And what is the message ?

Simply stated, it says,

"If we don't  take serious notice, get-up  and fight back like hell,  the flood of international  competition which is about to  submerge Gr.II, may drown  the rest of Powai as well, before long !"

In  a  recent letter  to  the  shop  representatives,  I have narrated how the Rising Sun  (Japan) is about to wipe-out the American  Car  industry  -   and  how  American  Workers  are fighting back like hell  'to save jobs'.   Borrow this letter from your Shop Rep. and read it.

Then compare the situation in Group  II with the American car Industry and ask:

Will we be able to save our jobs ?

In  the past,  when  we  were  literally  driven out  by  the competition  from   the  manufacuture  of  drilling  a chinery (Madh) and packaging machinery, we  somehow saved the jobs of some  400 employees -  redeploying them in  other units which did  not need  them -  even  though this  meant  lowering the productivity of those  units and increasing their costs.  And one such unit was Group II !

And next  time when  the catastrophe  strikes, what  shall we do? or  better yet, is there  anything that we can  do NOW to prevent the occurrence of "next TIME"?

We can certainly do something (provided it is very soon) to prevent the "NEXT TIME " .

u    We can increase our productivity

u    Produce faster by working harder

u    Thereby reduce costs

u    Challenge Japan

u    Get orders

u    Keep busy

u    Save jobs

H. C. PAREKH

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).

12 Jun 1984

To:

Dear Colleague:                     

PRODUCTIVITY-DRIVE

Do you remember that we  conducted an "employee attitude-cum-compensation"  survey   some  18   months  ago?   An  outside consultant  (Marketing & Business Associates MBA) interviewed nearly  2500 unionised  employees  to  fill-in an  exhaustive questionnaire.  A comprehensive  report was submitted,  I had sent a copy  of the report to General  Secretary of our Union with a covering letter, nearly 15 months ago.

Since writing that  letter a lot  of things have happened  in Powai.  A 4-year settlement has been signed with the Union.

But certain things which  we would have liked  to happen, did not happen!   One of  the things mentioned  in the  letter (a copy enlosed  for your ready  reference) was -  Acceptance by the Union of the principle of "POST PERFORMANCE REWARD".

This is one thing we could not get through 10 The reward  has been 'given' but  the performance  has yet to be  "taken" ', And that is precisely what  is expected  of us now - "Take" the performance!

But the  employee must know what  (precisely) he  is expected to "give"! I can almost hear some of you thinking.

"Oh,  come now!  Don't  be  so naive!  You  mean  to  say the employees  don't know  what  is expected  of  them?  Everyone knows what he  (or she) is supposed to produce  at the end of the shift'."

I thought so too  - until I looked up table No. 20 of the MBA report, reproduced here.

                                      TABLE  20       

PRODUCTION  TARGET (FOR DAILY RATED EMPLOYEES ONLY)           

BY GROUPS

n =	Gr.ll	Gr.lll	Gr.IV	SER	Total
	552	937	202	147	1838
Opinion about Production Target
1. Satisfied (%)	05	12	04	-	08
2. O.K. (%)	02	02	01	-	02
3. Not Satisfied (%)	05	10	03	01	07
4. Do not have production target(%)	88	76	92	99	83

Did  you say,  you don't  believe it  or you  do not  want to believe it?

I am not  surprised because all of us see  and hear things we like to see and hear.   Human beings have an in-built defence mechanism  that  pushes  out  perception  of  all  unpleasant experiences.

But  that does  not change  things.   If anything  it creates misunderstandings.  .

So it is  far better to face the "experience"  (no matter how unpleasant) squarely, and do something about it.

In the current  instance, tell your men  (and women) squarely what is  the production expected  at the end  of the  hour or the shift or the week or what-have-you!

And if an employee  continues to be a  "poor" performer, call him up and  tell him where he stands - without  mincing words (nicely  but  firmly).   Three  times  confront  him  in  the presence of the  shop-rep and fourth time in  the presence of the  concerned  Joint-Secretary.   They  have  agreed  to  be present  -  as  witness  -  so  that,  should  an  unpleasant situation develop  at a later  date, the employee  cannot say "I was not  told".  Some supervisors have tried  this out and they say it works.

Having found  out what the employee  think about, "production - targets",  if you are  curious to  know what  our employees think about.

-    Their ambitions

-    Their retirement plans

-    Present working conditions

-    Relationship with co-workers. Supervisors & Management

-    Level of satisfaction Fear of stagnation

-    Job content etc.

Please  do let  me know,  and  I will  circulate  to you  the findings of MBA, through a series of such letters.

 

H.C. PAREKH

PRODUCTIVITY

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).

28 May 1984

To:

Dear Mr.

PLEASE, CALL A GATE-MEETING!

Sub: Productivity

I refer to my letter addressed to the Gen. Secretary of the BKS Union, L&T Unit, dated April 11, 1984 on the above subject, with copies to you and your Gen. Secy. and my subsequent  letter addressed to you dated May 9, 1984 with copy to Gen. Secretaries - Sena Bhavan &  L&T Unit, Powai.

As you are aware, all efforts are being made to achieve within three months from the date of signing the Settlement an improvement of 25% in productivity, over the productivity levels achieved during the currency of 1979 Settlement with the active cooperation of the local Committee members.

I am forwarding herewith copies of my recent letters addressed to the Shop Representatives on the same subject.

In the Powai-Level Productivity meeting held on 8th May 1984, the Gen. Secy. (L&T Unit) has offered to speak to the Shop Representatives in this matter and assured us of his team's fullest cooperation in the matter. He further assured that neither he nor his colleagues would defend such workmen who are unwilling to give increased production.

As mentioned in my letter to you dated May 9, 1984, I am convening the Powai-Level productivity Committee meeting on 8th June 1984 at Powai, and would greatly appreciate if you could make it a point to attend this meeting and address the participants on improving productivity to achieve the agreed levels.

I would also request you to address a gate meeting preferably on the same day to tell the workmen to live upto the commitment made by the Union at the gate meeting held on 29th March 1984.

To make it convenient for you, I am shifting the meeting of the Powai level Productivity committee to 1.30 p.m. in the afternoon, so that you will be in a position to address the gate meeting immediately thereafter. I assume you will issue the circular regarding the gate meeting.

Around the 4th or 5th of June 1984, I would be sending to you statements showing productivity levels achieved during the currency of the 1979 Settlement and April-May 1984 for your advance information which would be screened to the participants on 8th June 1984 meeting.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

H.C. PAREKH

COMMUNICATION

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).

May 22, 1984

To:

Dear friend,

I am inspired to dialogue with you once again. In the months to come, you will hear from me and I do hope you will also talk to me. A dialogue is a two-way traffic !

If you are wondering why I was "silent" for the last one year or so, the obvious reason is that the Union office bearers kept me awfully busy  and you cannot blame them since they were merely following your wishes!

Coming back to what has inspired me again, someone asked me the other day in the worker Education Class.

"Sir, why have you stopped sending us "Japan Works O.K.","Britain Works O.K." etc ?"

I turned around and asked others what they thought of these write-ups.

There were several voices, all at one time, saying that they had enjoyed reading these articles  and that they really missed these! Yes, they would like me to share with them what is happening around the world in the matter of productivity and in the matter of industrial relations (to me, simply "human relations in the industrial context"). So here we go again !

This time it is a real-life report on the American car industry - all the way from the city of Detroit.

If you have an atlas at home, try this evening to locate Detroit on the map.

Way back in 1956, I spent one summer vacation in this city, working as a draftsman in a tractor manufacturing company. Every Sunday (Saturdays I used to work overtime!) I used to take a long walk on a road called "Grand River Avenue". Mile after mile after mile, on either side of this road, one could see yards filled with thousands of second hand cars -some of these hardly one or two year old models and none more than 5 years old !

The thought that used to pass my mind was - How cheaply are Americans able to manufacture brand-new cars so that they can afford to buy a new car every third year? Apparently they were able to produce them fast (in fewer man-hours than any other country) and produce them cheap (at a lesser cost than anyone else).

This was 28 years ago when many of you were not even born and I had not heard the word "Productivity".  In those old fashioned days, the Americans simply worked "hard" and worked as a "team". They just had to be "best" and the "first" and in this one matter there was no difference of opinion between the Unions and the managements.

From the enclosed article you will notice how the American car industry has completed one full circle in these 28 years - from excellent Union-Management cooperation of 1956 to total confrontation of 1970's and back to the cooperative mood of 1984.

But then it is natural to forget the internal differences and unite to protect yourself against an external enemy. Could it be that this recent show of unity and cooperation is only because the workers and the managers - both are equally concerned about saving their jobs ?

And if this is the reason, what would happen when the Japanese competition slackens? Will the Union and the Management resume their attitude of confrontation? Today, both the Union and the management regard Japan as "Enemy No. 1". When they have defeated Japan through increased productivity (brought about by increased cooperation), will they start fighting each other?

If this happens it would be indeed very sad.

Sad, because this repeating cycle (of hate and forced love) cannot go on very long before it completely destroys the industry. I hope the American managements and Unions realise this and learn to love each other naturally and permanently.

In L&T, our products are not facing any competition from abroad because imports are not allowed.

But competition from other Indian companies is getting fierce. If you wish to know how serious is this competition, request your production manager to invite the concerned Sales Manager to your next unit level Productivity Committee Meeting. He will tell you that the Indian customer today has many "options" - other than L&T.'

In L&T, can we take a lesson from Detroit, and learn to cooperate naturally while we still have time?

Hemen Parekh

THE TRUTH ON PAGE

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).

18 May 1984

To:

Dear Shop Rep

THE TRUTH ON PAGE 3, PARA 4

Productivity

Months of negotiations are over and a copy of the Settlement is already with you – except that this time it is a cyclostyled copy and the colour is light blue!

I assume that you have read the Settlement carefully. You are expected to study and understand the Agreement. When a worker approaches you with a problem, it is your privilege to explain to him the relevant clauses.

If you have some doubt yourself, feel free to seek an explanation from either the foreman or the manager of your department. And as far as consulting your unit Joint-Secretary is concerned, I don't think I even need to advise you on that !

But there is one clause in the Agreement which I personally wish to draw your attention to.

You have guessed it right; This is the clause on page 3, para 4.

By now, I suppose you have also guessed correctly what I am going to say next.

And do you know why you were able to guess correctly ?

Because you know the TRUTH;

-     the truth regarding page 3 para 4

-     the truth that it is a commitment for increasing productivity by 25% within 3 months of signing of the Agreement.

-     the truth that relatively there is very little improvement in the productivity-levels anywhere in Powai during the 5 weeks since we signed the Agreement.

-     the truth that an L&T worker is quite capable of  increasing productivity by not a mere 25% but may be even 50% (as I mentioned at the Gate-meeting) if only he made-up his mind to do so.

I have brought these facts to the notice of those who have made this commitment (see enclosed letter-translated for you from the original English version). I sent it because I think I owe them a feedback. I also furnished shopwise details at the Powai level Productivity Committee meeting held on 8th May 1984.

Now I am writing to you because I feel, you too, ought to know my grave concern at this alarming situation. I am sure your unit Joint-Secretary must have also. spoken to you regarding his concern - after all he has signed the agreement on your behalf.

The point is - if the union has bargained hard (and I should know how hard!) and delivered unprecedented fantastic benefits to the workmen, they have also committed, on behalf of the very same workmen, to deliver 25% productivity increase.

If they have done this on your behalf given their word of honour - staked their personal reputation - will you let them down?

But this is exactly what will happen if productivity does not go up, as promised, by 25% !

A feeling of let-down; And the Unit committee will not be alone in feeling this way. I too will feel the same way!

There is still time. Can we, for once, prove to ourselves that we are men and women - of honour ?

H.C. PAREKH