Page 7 - Fedral Mogul News Collection
P. 7

What Do You Think Of It So Far? - continued from page 3             Issue 1 - Bradford United News



                       What’s               Key Goals Business Plan
                    Confusing?
                                            In one way or another, the Key Goals Plan covers every area of dissatisfaction also
                                   In any   raised in this survey and has put clear objectives and action plans into place for
                           survey, the results  improvements against each item.
                        can throw up some      The Key Goals plan is not just a bit  weeks and anyone who wants to have a
                    contradictory conclusions  of paper but is a major tool in actively  look at the detail can dial into the
                       which don’t seem to  changing those areas of the business  electronic bulletin board on their pc (and
                        make sense. For ex-  where we need to improve – be it in the  we know everyone hasn’t easy access to
                        ample, a very healthy  operational areas of the company such  a pc but we’re working on it) and see the
                        chunk of you, 70% of  as customer service, picking and packing,  plan exactly as it is presented to the
                       respondents, agreed  cost management, returns procedures, or  directors, along with full summaries of
                     that, all things considered,  in people issues, including training,  action plans for improvements. This
                     the company is a good  reward and recognition and keeping  includes a comments page where anyone
                     place to work (question 1)  people informed.              can write in their own comment or
                      but only 50% would rec-  The Plan is up-dated every three  suggestions for improvement.
                      ommend it to friends as
                      a good place to work
        (question 17). Sixty-nine per cent of you            Local Employee Survey
        think the company has a clear vision for its
        future development (question 27) yet only
        37% have an optimistic view of your own                    It is extremely unlikely that Federal-Mogul will conduct
        place in that future (question 31).                      a corporate employee survey more often than once every
                                                                   two years – the administrative implications are just too
                                                                    huge. However, that’s just too long to wait to see if things
                                                                    are improving so we’ve devised a local survey. It is  much
                                                                   shorter, only 30 questions and six categories, but each one
                                                                  relates directly to a key area, highlighted in the Key Goals
                                                               Plan under Key Goal 3 - Create a working environment which
                                                                promotes job satisfaction and develops the potential of em-
                                                                 ployees – which we intend to conduct on a quarterly basis.
                                                                    There are 10 rating slots against each of the 30 questions
                                            to provide a finely tuned view of exactly how you feel about what it’s like to work here.
                                            The results will be published on the bulletin board as an Employee Satisfaction Index
                                            (really just a score out of the possible 300 points). As soon as the first results are known,
                                            that will enable us to put down a target for improvement – both overall and against each
                                            category (for example, training) individually.
                                                                                   If that score doesn’t show improve-
                   What’s Easy To          The overall satisfaction rating of the  ment, between one quarter and the next
                                           question relating to the survey, produced
                      Misinterpret?       the second most favourable result at 62%.  then, either we’ re not doing what is in the
                                                                               plan or, we’re not doing it fast enough or,
                                            So, no problem there then? Well, not ex-  we’re not doing it well enough or, we’ve
                                     actly. Digging into the individual questions – and  picked the wrong area entirely on which to
                               this is one of the categories that only has three questions  concentrate the improvement activity.
                            to it (always a potential minefield statistically) – you see that  Whatever the results – you’ll be able
                             two questions specifically relate to whether or not respond-  to see exactly what the score is and make
                             ents believe that the survey itself was a good way of com-  your own judgements as to the success of
                             municating with top management, both at the global, Fed-  the improvement activity underway.
                              eral-Mogul, level and with local management.
                                  The response was overwhelmingly favourable at 80%
                                and 75%. But, the real kicker comes in the third ques-  Create a working
                                tion – which asked whether people believed that there
                               would be some positive changes on site as a result of the  environment
                               survey. Nearly 70% believed the answer to that was no  which promotes job
                               or else were neutral and only 31% thought there would
                               be positive changes. So, on the real crunch issue – is the  satisfaction and
                                survey of any use to anyone other than as a statistical  develops the potential
                                exercise – the answer is, probably, no.
                    The task now is to turn that belief around so that the answer becomes,  of employees.
                 probably, yes – positive changes will come about as a result of this survey.
                                          The survey has identified some critical  Then it’s up to you to get involved. Don’t
                   What’s Going        is that a lot already has changed or is in the  sit on the sidelines grumbling – open your
                                       areas which must improve but, the good news
                     To Change?
                                                                               mouth and put your oar in. Put your comments
                                       process of changing.
                                                                               on the bulletin board, lobby Council members
                                          So, although the overall results of the
                                       survey are disappointing in that so many people
                                                                               director in the  corridor, ask awkward
                               felt negative about some pretty fundamental issues in  to make their representations, nobble a
                 and around the business, there is some  encouraging news.     questions at the monthly brief, go to a
                    There is nothing that is raised as an issue in the survey that had not  birthday buffet and make waves.
                 already been identified by the directors and, separately, by the whole  Use your voice to make  7
                  management team, during the preparatory work during September and
                   October which resulted in the creation of the Key Goals Business Plan.  a difference.
   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12