Part One Understanding the Supervisor’s Role
40
Management maintains a dialogue with employees during the start-up phase of PMP. A major discussion topic is the importance of serving the customer and producing competitive costs. When a PMP group earns its first bonus dollar, production costs are already competitive. As the group increases its earnings, the unit costs continue to decrease.
Working Committees. Each department or subunit of a large Motor¬ola department forms a working committee that may consist of the man¬ager and selected employees. The committee reviews ideas and recom¬mendations about problems with costs, quality, delivery, and other topics as needed. Committee members discuss ways to eliminate all types of inef¬ficiency, to improve quality or to solve any other manufacturing prob¬lems. Working committees meet-regularly, often once a week; frequent meetings help communicate the fact that employee involvement is an on¬going concern.
The Steering Committee. A higher-level steering committee receives recommendations from working committees that affect several depart¬ments or require major operational changes. The steering committee is composed of representatives from the major departments within Mo¬torola. Because the steering committee is a cross section of the organiza¬tion, it is a major forum for sharing information and solving major problems.
Employee Groups. Small work groups are the core of the PMP. Em¬ployee groups meet to solve production problems, to improve quality, or to find other ways to increase customer satisfaction. Group members are given frequent feedback on the cost-effectiveness of their suggestions in relation to the five elements described above. All employees attend a monthly communication session in which the results, major hurdles, and business outlook are discussed.
Bonuses are based on how well the group has met its target in the five measured areas—cost, quality, delivery, inventory levels, and housekeep¬ing and safety. Bonuses are paid monthly, if earned. If the bonuses are not earned, employees are told why. A maximum bonus of 41 percent of base salary can be earned monthly. The potential size of the bonus is consid¬ered attractive because base salaries are competitive with other firms in the area.
Motorola deals directly with employee concerns about their sugges¬tions resulting in higher standards. When an employee suggestion results in a tightening of standards, he or she receives a cost-improvement bonus. This buy-back bonus is paid for one year for all products that have a life expectancy of more than two years.
