How to manage your managers
here are some promising new developments being
introduced to the drycleaning industry in the area of automated
systems. Automatic baggers help reduce labor costs and
automated assembly systems will help reduce mistakes and will
further reduce labor costs.
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During the introductory phase, owners who
invest in these technologies are truly pioneers. They are
people who are willing to take reasonable risks and willing to
invest the time and money required to fine-tune these new
systems.
As I travel around and observe these new
systems in action, a quote from one of my clients, Bob Cantner,
comes to mind, “No matter how hard I try I have never
been able to engineer management out of the
equation.”
With improved technology comes the need
for more sophisticated management. To improve the management of
any company, ownership must have a clear understanding of what
their managers and team leaders see (or perceive) as the
roadblocks that prevent them from doing their job and doing it
right.
Over the years I have interviewed
thousands of employees throughout the country. Recently, I
surveyed a large sampling of supervisors and team leaders in
the drycleaning industry. This survey was conducted to
determine the most effective method for training current and
future supervisors.
You will never realize optimum performance
from the best technologies or the best management systems
without competent front line supervisors. The most successful
drycleaners in 2005 and beyond will be the ones with the best
management structure.
While the companies that participated in
this survey represent a wide variety of management styles, the
respondents’ concerns and issues were remarkably similar.
The following questions were answered by individuals who have
been working as managers for a period of six months to ten
years.
The first question asks, “What was
the first thing you had to learn ‘right
away’?” Almost 80 percent responded that their
first challenge was to learn “what the boss really
wanted, what the boss really expected of me”.
Understanding the full magnitude of this
response required additional one-on-one interviews. How could
it be that these people did not know what was expected of them?
When I asked the owners what their
criteria were for selecting an employee for a management
position, the typical responses were:
• They care about their job and the
company.
• Their willingness to do any job
asked of them.
• They are not argumentative.
This is an age-old management trap that we
have all found ourselves in at one time or another. We assume
that the most cooperative people are the ones who understand
what the company needs. We also assume that by promoting these
people to team leaders, supervisors and/or managers, they will
instantly (through osmosis maybe?) understand what we expect of
them.
Our expectations of others always exceed
the amount of time and effort we invest in preparing them for
their new responsibilities. Before you can charge others with
specific responsibilities, you must write down those
responsibilities in order of importance.
If you decide to make your drycleaning
inspector the Team Leader of the drycleaning finishers and
assembly, that person must know the following:
• Quality is number one.
• Productivity is two.
• Keeping the lots together is three.
• All pieces that are rerouted for
repairs, re-pressing, or re-spotting are documented so they can
be found when an order is incomplete at assembly.
• The productivity of each presser is
posted daily.
• Drycleaning labor costs as a
percentage of sales are tracked weekly.
Your team leaders must know what you
require of them every day and they must know that you are, in
fact, tracking this information every day. You must document
this information and review it with your team leaders every
week.
You must go through the same task for
those in the position of CSR team leaders.
They must know what you are looking at
every day. You will look at:
• New customer counts.
• Customer retention.
• Customer complaints.
• CSR labor hours.
• Average price per piece.
• Errors in tagging or marking-in.
• CSR labor costs as a percentage of
location sales.
This information must be tracked weekly.
It should be reviewed with your CSR team leaders weekly.
Two other questions on this survey:
“What unexpected challenges did you face as a new
supervisor?” and “In what areas would you like to
improve?” elicited very similar responses. They revolved
around communications and how difficult it can become to manage
people who were once your “friends and co-workers”.
The following examples of responses to the
above two questions shows the lack of training people receive
once they become supervisors.
Unexpected challenges/areas to improve
oneself
• Delegating.
• Being stronger.
• How to be firm and fair.
• Getting people to see the big
picture.
• Getting people to cooperate.
• Getting my point across without
arguing.
• Being strong without looking like a
bad guy.
• Having to train and re-train the
same people every day.
As owners and managers, we only promote
people we have confidence in. We are hoping that their positive
attitude will become contagious and cause the other employees
to emulate them. This can and will happen — but only when
the new supervisor is trained in the science and art of
managing others.
Training new supervisors begins with
“forcing” them to “think” about the
employees who will be reporting to them. Ask the new
supervisors to write down the strengths of each employee.
Review this list with the supervisor. Do
not tell them what you think the employees’ strengths
are. After reviewing the strengths, have the new supervisor
write down areas of needed improvement for each employee.
Again, review this list with the supervisor.
When people write down their thoughts and
opinions of others, they will develop an honest and in-depth
analysis of the people involved. Once this task is
accomplished, it is time for the supervisor to create a
strategy for dealing with each individual in the department.
This preparation is work — hard work!
Most supervisory training starts and ends
with: show up on Monday morning and push the pieces through the
plant.
Fact: a supervisor’s primary
responsibility is to “get work done through
others.” This is much easier to achieve with the correct
preparation for the job.
As I said in the beginning of this
article, with improved technology comes the need for more
sophisticated management. Before investing in these “new
technologies,” invest time and money in training your
staff.
This year is ending with higher consumer
confidence than we have had in years. Consumer spending is the
backbone of the American economy.
Small to mid-sized companies drive
employment in America and employment drives consumer
confidence. The year 2005 will be filled with new challenges
and opportunities.
Happy holidays and may good health and
prosperity be with you and yours.
In the game of business the more you know
the better you can play the game.
Alan Robson is a private consultant
dealing with the specialized needs of the drycleaning industry.
Contact him by telephone at (941) 408-8819 or send e-mail to
him at: alan@bizbuilderonline.com or visit the Biz Builder web site: www.bizbuilderonline.com.
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