As we move toward the need to implement a comprehensive management system such as TPM (or TPS, or LEAN MANUFACTURING, etc.), people must become thinkers and doers of the process. However, this transformation into "TPM workers" doesn't have to be the exclusive responsibility of the Human Resources department. General management, production management, and plant management, as well as those coordinating the program's implementation, must support the process.
Ultimately, what is impossible to ignore is that any improvement we dream of implementing in the company implies getting into the “business of developing people” at the same time as continuing in the “business of developing products/services.” Because only people have the capacity (and hopefully the possibility) to drive the process toward improvement and the achievement of objectives.
What is the change?
For this area, too, the implementation of TPM implies a change in the management approach. If we consider each of the key HR processes, we find that:
Regarding selection and induction: we look for people with the ability to think, not just act, with the ability to communicate and participate. We introduce them to the management system so they see that this is the way "we do things here."
Regarding training: there are no longer people who know and people who don't. All of the organization's knowledge is capitalized and shared through horizontal transmission.
Regarding performance measurements and compensation policies: they shift from an individual to a group approach, because it is the autonomous groups that learn to decide with whom to work and how.
Regarding the area's dashboard: Do we no longer measure absenteeism and turnover? Yes! But as indicators of "job satisfaction."
The implications
Reflecting on these processes, questions emerge that HR must answer for itself and then address internally within the company:
- What information should we transmit for the success of the process?
- What are the new role expectations across the structure for this implementation?
- Do people understand what these new roles entail?
- Have expectations and objectives been clearly communicated?
- Is everyone clear on what to do if quality issues arise, whether improvements can be suggested, or why we consider movement a loss?
- What training will be necessary and to whom should it be directed?
- How are we going to induct new employees into this process?
The answers will guide us in creating the plan, in designing the tools, and, above all, they will support us on the path ahead.
Who else but professionals in the field should be constantly aware that, when it comes to cultural change and self-management, improvements won't happen overnight, and that what's most necessary is what tends to be abandoned first: consistency and perseverance?
“Just because a way of doing things has endured over time doesn't mean it's the best way or the easiest. It simply means that no one has tried to find a better way.” Edward De Bono.
We'll follow soon
