Diversity / Inclusion Case Studies

More Effective Employee Utilization

Industry: Manufacturing

At a major manufacturing firm, the majority of product was coming from the day shift, with dramatic decreases in production in the “sunset” and “sunrise” shifts.

Critical Issues

• To increase production through more effective employee utilization

Solution

Novations conducted focus groups with plant managers and employees and learned that although the plants operated three shifts, two of these shifts were perceived by management as “trouble makers and misfits.” These second and third shift employees and their managers felt that since little was expected, little would be accepted.

Novations worked with all the managers to surface these positioning issues. Over a period of 12 months, we were able to help senior management create and communicate higher expectations from these groups, and to develop the skills of those managers of these shifts to do the same.

Results

The result of the intervention was the eradication of the stereotypes and resulting negative treatment and performance issues that had been around for 20 years.

At the end of the year, this company saw an increase in production from .5 million to .98 million units and production per day increased from 8,000 to 25,000 units.

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