Management

  • Remote Work is Hurting Professional Growth

    • August 10, 2022
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Leadership, Management, Productivity
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    A group of people talking at the office.

    Last week, I wrote about how remote work is ruining water cooler conversations and making it harder for people to have those simple conversations that lead to great innovations. I said: Or they have a company culture where it’s acceptable to pop in on a colleague at their cubicle or desk. In open-concept offices, people

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  • We’re Missing the Water Cooler Conversations

    • August 3, 2022
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Management, Productivity
    No Comments
    Two men talking in an office. Example of a water cooler conversation without the water cooler.

    The American workforce has been largely working remotely for the last two years, and for the most part, everyone has loved it. (Well, almost everyone. I’m not a fan of it.) They love working at home, they don’t miss the commute, and many people are even leaving their jobs (without another one in the wings)

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  • Three Ways to Fix Your Supply Chain Right Now

    • November 17, 2021
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Business, Management
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    There are thousands of containers waiting to be offloaded cargo ships on the west coast, which is causing serious supply chain issues.

    There are shortages and inflation throughout the country, thanks to a number of supply chain issues. Container ships are stacked up outside different west coast ports, there are labor shortages to unload and reload container ships, and there are shortages of labor to make parts and goods here in the United States. But all is

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  • How Do You Manage a Disruptive Employee, Especially in a Union?

    • November 10, 2021
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Business, Leadership, Management, Safety
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    If you have a disruptive employee in a union, there are ways to deal with them and still have the union's cooperation.

    One of the most difficult things to do in a manufacturing operation is to fire union employees. Unions have historically played an important role in establishing workers’ rights and guaranteeing their safety. But there are some workers who take advantage of the union and hide behind it when they’ve been doing poor quality work or

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  • How Do You Find Leaders In Your Organization?

    • November 3, 2021
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Management, Manufacturing
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    Production worker on a factory line.

    There’s no one best source for hiring leaders for your organization. Some will insist on only promoting from within, moving people up the corporate structure as the opportunities arise. Others believe you need a fresh pair of eyes in certain leadership roles, so they’ll hire outsiders to come in and lead the organization. I often

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  • How Do You Get Executives to Clean Toilets?

    • October 27, 2021
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Leadership, Management
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    Photo of three sinks in a public bathroom. I made everyone clean the bathrooms at Robroy, including the executives.

    Years ago, when I was at Robroy, I made it a condition that everyone had a turn cleaning the toilets. And that went for the executives, too; I even took a turn. So someone asked me, how do you get executives to clean toilets? Short answer? It’s a condition of employment. If you don’t do

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  • Don’t Overlook Older Workers In Your Hiring

    • August 11, 2021
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Leadership, Management
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    Hiring older workers is a way to shore up the labor shortage

    We’re in a hiring crunch in the United States, especially in the manufacturing industry. Yes, there are issues in the fast food and service-related industry, as people aren’t going back to work even as states end their unemployment support of $300 per week. Many people blame the low salaries fast-food workers are getting (which is

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  • Is Slow to Hire, Fast to Fire Still Important in a Slow Job Market?

    • August 4, 2021
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Business, Management
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    Two women meeting for an interview. This is where slow to hire, fast to fire starts.

    Slow to hire, fast to fire as a management philosophy still matters, even now, in today’s labor market. The job talent pool is pretty shallow these days, with worker shortages in manufacturing, and there’s a concern that if you hold out for the best possible talent, those candidates may be gone by the time you’re

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  • How Can You Solve a Worker Shortage Right Now?

    • July 28, 2021
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Business, Management, Manufacturing
    No Comments
    A metal worker working on a hydraulic press. If you cross-train your employees, you can avoid a worker shortage

    There are worker shortages right now in all kinds of industries, from the restaurant industry to office workers to manufacturing. There are a variety of causes, like the fact that we’re paying people more not to work than what they were being paid to work. Or that some people don’t want to return to the

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  • The Annual Performance Review Is a Terrible Waste of Time

    • July 21, 2021
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Leadership, Management
    No Comments
    A calendar with a date circled on it. The annual performance review is a terrible waste of time and is totally useless.

    The Annual performance review is a terrible waste of time and a terribly inefficient method of creating improvements in your associates. For one thing, if you are measuring everything in your operation, from the associates working on the floor to the back-office staff, they know when there’s a problem almost immediately. They don’t need to

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