What is a Job Architect? And how is it relevant to modern HR practices?
Guest writer Sonya Law walks readers through organizational structures in “What is a Job Architect? And how is it relevant to modern HR practices?”
“Be an organisation who is leading from the front …find out what a Job Architect is and why it is vital to high performance teams” …
- It plays a key role in ‘attracting, retaining and nurturing talent’
- Gives people a sense of belonging and understands the ‘relational aspects of teams and connection’
- Provides insights into the ‘employee experience’ and cultural awareness.
Job Architecture has been given more attention, post pandemic. For the reason that, people are wanting more from their jobs, getting paid is no longer enough. If a job does not meet their need for purpose and meaningful impact there is another job, just around the corner in this buoyant tight-talent market.
Those experiencing burnout are also opting for the eject button, to return to a role that suits their skill set and need for making a difference.
Job Architecture, acts as strategic backbone
“Connecting the entire Human Resources ecosystem for a consistent Employee Experience that, ultimately, impacts the customer experience. Job Architecture helps you: Develop and align talent segments, job families, capabilities, and accountabilities across the organisation.”
Job Architecture is work design
Post pandemic, we want to create workplaces as magnets for people to attract them to return to the office. We need to re-think and look at new ways that work can be done and job architecture enables us to do this. As well as think of the relational aspects, of how we collaborate and solve problems as a team.
Job Architecture is an underutilised part of our HR toolkit
Job Design is a HR fundamental but what is different about Job Architecture is that it is smart design that takes in design thinking principles. Which brings focus to the employee experience and the way work gets done in context of the whole eco-system.
Recently in Melbourne, Australia a Job Summit was held with business leaders such as CEO of Qantas Alan Joyce and Andrew Forest as well as many more, one of the key outcomes was the need to increase productivity. Job Architecture and work design affects every outcome that matters in a workplace, including performance and productivity. Full utilisation of our most expensive resource, being human beings is essential to achieving high rates of productivity and a way to do this is through Job Architecture.
The next points are based on an article written by Chris Sheedy for HRM Magasine and provides key insights into Job Architecture, by Professor Sharon Parker.
Job Architecture involves creating work for employees that is:
Stimulating
As human beings, we like to do things that are interesting, feel meaningful and have some variety.
Mastery
Allows for mastery, most people want to do their job well. So how can we encourage a sense of mastery? What are the things that help people to do their job? Role clarity, regular feedback, tap into their ‘native genius’ a term coined by Liz Wiseman, author of Multipliers, how the best leaders make everyone smart.
Agency
Agency, or autonomy, is based on the fundamental human need to have control over one’s own world. In a work context, this is the degree to which an employee feels they have control or influence over the work that they do and how they do it. Low agency also usually equates to low innovation. Agency is not anarchy. Its purposeful and goal directed. It requires a high level of trust throughout the organisation.
Relational
Impactful and relational aspects are considerations in Job Architecture. Clarity of what our job is and the impact on other jobs is fundamental. What is vital to high performance teams is the relationships and the connections with each other. The level of support we receive from within and from each other will give us our sense of belonging, make us feel safe and valued.
It creates a high level of accountability, responsibility, ownership and also reliability which are all fundamental in building trust and present in high performing teams. A strong relational culture, does not support toxicity and bullying and harassment, it supports high levels of engagement.
Tolerance
Builds tolerance; in 2022 there needs to be a focus on building tolerance for organisations to thrive. High work demands and burnout, leads to feelings of overwhelm and can be a key factor for people leaving their jobs and not taking up leadership positions. Thoughtful consideration needs to be given to how we build tolerance to increased work demands and recognise the early signs of burnout and support people’s mental health in their job i.e., coaching.
Strategic workforce planning is key:
The starting point, is understanding where your organisation is at, what it values and needs to execute the strategy in terms of the:
- Skills and capability
- Digital transformation
- Cadence of change
And assess the levels of fatigue in the organisation which will determine the receptivity to and success of change.
Having a workforce planning strategy in place that is considerate of your current workforce and job design and constraints will improve outcomes. A tool used to evaluate constraints in achieving the strategy is the PESTLE, which gives consideration to political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors. This will be the best predictor of the future workforce required to execute your strategy. Then for Human Resources, the detailed work is in drilling down on job design/job architecture alongside, budgetary and growth expectations, and headcount.
As a senior leadership team, its good practise to complete quarterly:
- Talent Matrix (performance and potential)
- PESTLE is political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors.
- Align people strategy (work force planning/Job Architecture) with business strategy.
How well we do in these areas will define the success in attracting and retaining talent in a tight market now and in the future and achieving our business goals.
‘Take care of your people and they will take care of business’
Did you enjoy this blog? Read more great blog posts here.
For our course lists, please click here.
Becoming Successful
Becoming Successful
In this week’s installment on Lifelong Learning, our Founder shares a blog post on all of the professional steps involved in becoming successful.
Everywhere you look and a large amount of what you read people are talking about attracting, finding, hiring, developing and retaining talented people. It would appear, at least from everything that is out there, that it would be easy to find a rewarding and challenging place to work. It appears that you would be able to show your talents and potential to these desperate employers.
Good luck with that.
Like most other things in life if you want to become successful you have to put in the work. That is easy to say, but what do you mean?
Let’s be systematic and outline some steps. But first, please remember success is not a reflection of your job alone. It is a reflection of who and what you are as a person.
Phase One
Here, you have to do some serious self-reflection on what you think you need to do to represent the best person you can be. This is very personal, isn’t it? There is only one of you on the planet. Let’s be systematic; what are your values, your strengths and weaknesses. Are there things that you already know you need to improve on. Write them down. Is there anything that you have wanted to do forever, but never had the time to do? What about your physical being. Do you need to improve your health, your weight, your condition? Be brutally honest here. Never forget that the easiest person to lie to is your reflection in the mirror.
Next let’s establish some action items and goals. There are many sources that tell us that setting goals is an important aspect of becoming successful. So, make it real, write it down. Make a list of what you want to get done, what you want to achieve. This is where you have to remember that your goals need to be achievable. Don’t be unrealistic. In this area it is extremely important that you are very specific.
Finally, for this first phase, you have to make a commitment to yourself that these lists are things you are going to work on every day. No slacking off. In leading a team we have to be able to communicate to a group of people what you are trying to do. Then you have to have the discussion, the debate, as to whether or not that is the right thing to do. You MUST have that debate. Once everyone has had their say and you have reached a common understanding then and only then will you and your team be committed to make it happen. This time you are the team. You have to be all in, totally committed to making this happen.
Phase Two
Find someone or something to be your lighthouse, you beacon, your spiritual guide. Don’t laugh at this. It is important. Find someone with whom you can talk. You will get discouraged and they can perk you up. Make no mistake, you are the one that has to get this done, but there will be times that you will need help and encouragement. I used to find a piece of music that motivated me. Those of you that have listened to any of our Podcasts know that the song “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” is one of those inspirations for me. Another thing that has helped me often is to have a pad handy or talk to your phone. When something strikes you record it. It is much too easy to forget those brilliant ideas you had in the middle of the night. A long time ago, I was a Data Processing Manager at a dealership. We were open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I used to go to bed with a pad and a pen on the nightstand so that when I woke up with that brilliant idea, in the middle of the night, I could write it down I wouldn’t lose it. Isn’t that strange? Of course, I am sure you guessed it, I couldn’t read my writing in the morning, so I stopped doing it. Oh well.
Remember your goals from Phase One. Now might be a good time to go back and review those goals and break them down into more manageable chunks. Allow yourself the opportunity to succeed at those goals. Make them shorter and more easily achieved. As you begin to have more success at achieving those goals you can make them bigger. Remember Collins and Porras in their book Good to Great. They wanted us to create BHAGS. Big Hairy Audacious Goals.
Similarly remember those aspects from Phase One that had to do with your appearance. Dress for success. Exercise regularly. Eat the right food. And don’t be surprised if you have to make some changes. Sometimes you will have external influences over which you have little if any control. Focus on those things in your plan, in your activities, over which you have control. The things that you can influence.
Phase Three
Things are building you can feel a difference. You feel more in control of your life. This is a good time and it is a good place where you have your mind. However, you will have setbacks, you will fail at some things. Don’t get discouraged. Failures and failing are part of life. Edison famously said “I have not failed I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
One of the things that has worked well for me is even though I knew I had failed I never took it personally. Remember that the mission you have is important. It is not necessarily going to be easy. Not everyone can be all they want to be. This where you might need that support figure. You don’t need to do this alone. Finally, trust your instincts, trust you gut. Intuition and contemplation are best when they work together.
NEVER STOP.
Achieving your potential is a lifelong process. Your skills and abilities are dynamic, they’re constantly changing. That is true because you are constantly learning. Samuel Beckett wrote “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” If you follow his advice and continue on the path to lifelong learning you will achieve your potential and you will have become successful.
The time is now.
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Friday Filosophy v.10.21.2022
Friday Filosophy v.10.21.2022
In Friday Filosophy v.10.21.2022, Founder Ron Slee shares quotes and words of wisdom from the economist Ken Galbraith.
John Kenneth Galbraith OC (October 15, 1908 – April 29, 2006), also known as Ken Galbraith, was a Canadian-American economist, diplomat, public official, and intellectual. His books on economic topics were bestsellers from the 1950s through the 2000s. As an economist, he leaned toward post-Keynesian economics from an institutionalist perspective.
Galbraith was a long-time Harvard faculty member and stayed with Harvard University for half a century as a professor of economics. He was a prolific author and wrote four dozen books, including several novels, and published more than a thousand articles and essays on various subjects. Among his works was a trilogy on economics, American Capitalism (1952), The Affluent Society (1958), and The New Industrial State (1967). Some of his work has been criticized by economists Milton Friedman, Paul Krugman, Robert Solow, and Thomas Sowell.
Galbraith was active in Democratic Party politics, serving in the administrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson. He served as United States Ambassador to India under the Kennedy administration. His political activism, literary output and outspokenness brought him wide fame during his lifetime. Galbraith was one of the few to receive both the World War II Medal of Freedom (1946) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2000) for his public service and contributions to science. The government of France made him a Commandeur de la Légion d’honneur.
In autumn 1972, Galbraith was an adviser and assistant to Nixon’s rival candidate, Senator George McGovern, in the election campaign for the American presidency. During this time (September 1972) he travelled to China in his role as president of the American Economic Association (AEA) at the invitation of Mao Zedong‘s communist government, together with fellow economists Wassily Leontief and James Tobin. In 1973, Galbraith published an account of his experiences in A China Passage, writing that there was “no serious doubt that China is devising a highly effective economic system,” “dissidents are brought firmly into line in China, but, one suspects, with great politeness,” and “Greater Shanghai … has a better medical service than New York,”. He considered it not implausible that Chinese industrial and agricultural output was expanding annually at a rate of 10 to 11%.
In 1972 he served as president of the American Economic Association. The Journal of Post Keynesian Economics benefited from Galbraith’s support and he served as the chairman of its board from its beginning.
During the shooting of The World at War, a British television documentary series (1973–74), Galbraith described his experiences in the Roosevelt war administration. Among other things, he spoke about the initial confusion during the first meeting of the major departmental leaders about kapok and its use. Galbraith also talked about rationing and especially about trickery during fuel allocation.
In December 1977, he met the Palauan senator Roman Tmetuchl and eventually became an unpaid adviser to the Palau Political Status Commission. He advocated for minimal financial requirement and infrastructure projects. In 1979 he addressed Palau’s legislature and participated in a seminar for the delegates to the Palau Constitutional Convention. He became the first person to earn honorary citizenship of Palau.
In 1984, he visited the USSR, writing that the Soviet economy had made “great material progress” as, “in contrast to Western industrial economy,” the USSR “makes full use of its manpower.”
In 1985, the American Humanist Association named him the Humanist of the Year. The Association for Asian Studies (AAS) conferred its 1987 Award for Distinguished Contributions to Asian Studies.
In 1997 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2000 he was awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom. He also was awarded an honorary doctorate from Memorial University of Newfoundland at the fall convocation of 1999, another contribution to the impressive collection of approximately fifty academic honorary degrees bestowed upon Galbraith. In 2000, he was awarded the Leontief Prize for his outstanding contribution to economic theory by the Global Development and Environment Institute. The library in his hometown of Dutton, Ontario was renamed the John Kenneth Galbraith Reference Library in honor of his attachment to the library and his contributions to the new building.
On April 29, 2006, Galbraith died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, of natural causes at the age of 97, after a two-week stay in a hospital. He is interred at Indian Hill Cemetery in Middletown, Connecticut.
The Time is Now.
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Coaches Corner v.10.20.2022
Coaches Corner v.10.20.2022
Learning Without Scars is pleased to present the next installment in our series, Coaches Corner. Please feel free to click the link to read the welcome post authored by Floyd Jerkins.
Coaches Corner v.10.20.2022
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What is a Job Architect? And how is it relevant to modern HR practices?
What is a Job Architect? And how is it relevant to modern HR practices?
Guest writer Sonya Law walks readers through organizational structures in “What is a Job Architect? And how is it relevant to modern HR practices?”
“Be an organisation who is leading from the front …find out what a Job Architect is and why it is vital to high performance teams” …
Job Architecture has been given more attention, post pandemic. For the reason that, people are wanting more from their jobs, getting paid is no longer enough. If a job does not meet their need for purpose and meaningful impact there is another job, just around the corner in this buoyant tight-talent market.
Those experiencing burnout are also opting for the eject button, to return to a role that suits their skill set and need for making a difference.
Job Architecture, acts as strategic backbone
“Connecting the entire Human Resources ecosystem for a consistent Employee Experience that, ultimately, impacts the customer experience. Job Architecture helps you: Develop and align talent segments, job families, capabilities, and accountabilities across the organisation.”
Job Architecture is work design
Post pandemic, we want to create workplaces as magnets for people to attract them to return to the office. We need to re-think and look at new ways that work can be done and job architecture enables us to do this. As well as think of the relational aspects, of how we collaborate and solve problems as a team.
Job Architecture is an underutilised part of our HR toolkit
Job Design is a HR fundamental but what is different about Job Architecture is that it is smart design that takes in design thinking principles. Which brings focus to the employee experience and the way work gets done in context of the whole eco-system.
Recently in Melbourne, Australia a Job Summit was held with business leaders such as CEO of Qantas Alan Joyce and Andrew Forest as well as many more, one of the key outcomes was the need to increase productivity. Job Architecture and work design affects every outcome that matters in a workplace, including performance and productivity. Full utilisation of our most expensive resource, being human beings is essential to achieving high rates of productivity and a way to do this is through Job Architecture.
The next points are based on an article written by Chris Sheedy for HRM Magasine and provides key insights into Job Architecture, by Professor Sharon Parker.
Job Architecture involves creating work for employees that is:
Stimulating
As human beings, we like to do things that are interesting, feel meaningful and have some variety.
Mastery
Allows for mastery, most people want to do their job well. So how can we encourage a sense of mastery? What are the things that help people to do their job? Role clarity, regular feedback, tap into their ‘native genius’ a term coined by Liz Wiseman, author of Multipliers, how the best leaders make everyone smart.
Agency
Agency, or autonomy, is based on the fundamental human need to have control over one’s own world. In a work context, this is the degree to which an employee feels they have control or influence over the work that they do and how they do it. Low agency also usually equates to low innovation. Agency is not anarchy. Its purposeful and goal directed. It requires a high level of trust throughout the organisation.
Relational
Impactful and relational aspects are considerations in Job Architecture. Clarity of what our job is and the impact on other jobs is fundamental. What is vital to high performance teams is the relationships and the connections with each other. The level of support we receive from within and from each other will give us our sense of belonging, make us feel safe and valued.
It creates a high level of accountability, responsibility, ownership and also reliability which are all fundamental in building trust and present in high performing teams. A strong relational culture, does not support toxicity and bullying and harassment, it supports high levels of engagement.
Tolerance
Builds tolerance; in 2022 there needs to be a focus on building tolerance for organisations to thrive. High work demands and burnout, leads to feelings of overwhelm and can be a key factor for people leaving their jobs and not taking up leadership positions. Thoughtful consideration needs to be given to how we build tolerance to increased work demands and recognise the early signs of burnout and support people’s mental health in their job i.e., coaching.
Strategic workforce planning is key:
The starting point, is understanding where your organisation is at, what it values and needs to execute the strategy in terms of the:
And assess the levels of fatigue in the organisation which will determine the receptivity to and success of change.
Having a workforce planning strategy in place that is considerate of your current workforce and job design and constraints will improve outcomes. A tool used to evaluate constraints in achieving the strategy is the PESTLE, which gives consideration to political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors. This will be the best predictor of the future workforce required to execute your strategy. Then for Human Resources, the detailed work is in drilling down on job design/job architecture alongside, budgetary and growth expectations, and headcount.
As a senior leadership team, its good practise to complete quarterly:
How well we do in these areas will define the success in attracting and retaining talent in a tight market now and in the future and achieving our business goals.
‘Take care of your people and they will take care of business’
Did you enjoy this blog? Read more great blog posts here.
For our course lists, please click here.
Creating Solutions to Reduce Waste
Creating Solutions to Reduce Waste
Guest writer Sara Hanks takes readers through the process of finding solutions that work for a team in “Creating Solutions to Reduce Waste.”
Although it has been 15 years, I remember the day clearly. It was my first opportunity to participate in a manufacturing Kaizen event, facilitated by a Japanese Sensei consultant. 20+ participants were divided into smaller teams of 4-5 people, with each team focusing on an area of the shop. I was selected as the team captain, as I was the most vocal person. After a couple days of analyzing the waste associated with the current state, we were instructed to identify solutions. I shared my perfect idea for a solution and the team agreed with the recommendation. My competitive side wanted to be the first team to accomplish the task, so I was relieved that the team was onboard.
The Sensei, along with the leaders, would spend time visiting each team. When they stopped to check in with our team, I proudly shared our perfect solution. The Sensei was not happy, and I was mortified to be corrected in front of my leaders. He explained the 7 Ways Idea Generation methodology and requested that we return to brainstorming. My team generated 6 more ideas and used criteria such as impact and effort to down select to a single idea. It turned out that my perfect idea was not the final decision of the team.
Hey, failure is one of the best instructors! While I learned a few things that day, the most important lesson was the power of divergent thinking. Specifically, divergent thinking from a diverse group of individuals will create the best solutions. In my process mapping and continuous improvement action workouts, I use creative thinking exercises, silent brainstorming, and an evaluation process to select the best solutions.
Leveraging Creative Thinking for Developing Solutions
“It turns out that creativity isn’t some rare gift to be enjoyed by the lucky few—it’s a natural part of human thinking and behavior. In too many of us it gets blocked. But it can be unblocked. And unblocking that creative spark can have far-reaching implications for yourself, your organization, and your community.”
― Tom Kelley, Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All
When it comes to solutions, we tend to default to the ideas that have already existed. It’s hard to think outside of the box and be innovative because people tend to stop at the obvious solution. Introducing unrelated, creative exercises into an action workout can unlock creative thinking and help create new ideas. One of my favorite ways to spark creative thinking is to solution the worst possible idea first. Creating the worst idea does two things: 1) removes barriers by allowing the craziest of ideas to exist and 2) loosen up the team and help them feel more comfortable brainstorming ideas.
There are several exercises available on the internet, so I recommend selecting 1-2 that fit within the context of the solution building. A coloring activity may not work for a meeting that is conducted virtually, for example. Once you’ve warmed up the group using one of these exercises, brainstorm solutions.
Silent Brainstorming for Idea Generation Equality
Silent brainstorming is used to generate ideas individually, while everyone is quiet. Participants can think without distractions or influence from other people. Groupthink is avoided and everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute to the solution. If the group is in a conference room or other common area, sticky notes are a good place to record ideas. Limit one idea per sticky note. If the group is located remotely, then ideas can be written down digitally. Remember the intent is to brainstorm without sharing, so make sure the ideas are captured locally vs. a shared platform. I recommend at least 30 minutes of brainstorming to ensure people can think their ideas through. After the silent brainstorming is completed, everyone can share their ideas with the larger group. As the team shares ideas, similar solutions emerge, which can be combined into single solutions. Once the solutions are identified, it is time to down select the idea.
Selecting the Best Solution
Selecting the best solution can be done a few different ways. Here are three examples:
After the solution(s) are selected for implementation, create a set of action items, owners, and dates for the critical next steps. Schedule follow-up meetings to ensure the actions are closed and identify any unforeseen roadblocks. Most importantly, don’t forget to enjoy implementing the innovative solutions that you and the team created!
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Want to Become More Resilient? Learn Something New.
Want to Become More Resilient? Learn Something New.
In this week’s installment of Lifelong Learning, we are pleased to introduce our new guest writer, Kari Bogdan. Kari Bogdan has nearly 20 years of experience in the training and development industry. Her expertise is design and development of engaging instructor-led training, online education, and curriculum development. Currently, she is a Learning Specialist for Children’s Wisconsin. In her first blog post for Learning Without Scars, she challenges readers with her title: Want to Become More Resilient? Learn Something New.
Kari serves on the Board of Directors for the Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter of the Association for Talent Development (SEWI-ATD) as Vice President of Professional Development. She is also a member of the Milwaukee Chapter of the Women Leaders Association.
Kari has worked in a variety of industries with a focus on health care over the past 10 years. From 2003-2007, she was the Manager of Continuous Education for the Associated Equipment Distributors. Previously, Kari was a video and multimedia producer for over 9 years working on training, sales, and corporate communication.
Kari holds a Master’s Degree in Adult Education from Capella University in Minneapolis, MN and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Radio-TV-Film from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Want to become more resilient? Learn something new.
Before 2019, I didn’t realize how much it meant to me to talk to my coworkers about projects or even their life experiences on a regular basis. It struck me the other day that, besides the companionship or the environment of a physical workspace, the thing that I was also missing was the opportunity to learn and grow. It wasn’t until I sought out new ways of learning that I began to feel a little better about what was going on around me.
Numerous studies have pointed to the benefits of life-long learning. One of them is a higher level of resiliency or the ability to cope with change. Resilience is defined as the ability to cope and thrive in the face of negative events, challenges or adversity. It can lead to improved self-esteem, a sense of control over life events, a sense of purpose in life, and improved interpersonal relationships1,2. The result is a more fulfilled individual. Organizations have also found that resiliency contributes to greater job satisfaction, work happiness, organizational commitment and employee engagement.
Think about the last time you met someone who had a really interesting hobby or a cool job. You found yourself asking, “How did they do that?” You decided to learn more.
You took on a challenge, you overcame an obstacle and you did it! The feeling you experienced was really good. That is a demonstration of resilience.
Becoming more resilient is something that you can achieve. There are more opportunities to learn than ever before. It does take some effort. In the end, however, I have no doubt that you will find is worth it. If you want to learn more, this article can provide you with some good insights and advice. Click here.
Here are some key things that I have learned about trying something new. You may have heard some of these before, but perhaps it has been a while.
If you have done this before, then you know that you are capable. Find your motivation and get to it.
References
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Friday Filosophy v.10.14.2022
Friday Filosophy v.10.14.2022
Milton Friedman; (July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the complexity of stabilization policy. With George Stigler and others, Friedman was among the intellectual leaders of the Chicago school of economics, a neoclassical school of economic thought associated with the work of the faculty at the University of Chicago that rejected Keynesianism in favor of monetarism until the mid-1970s, when it turned to new classical macroeconomics heavily based on the concept of rational expectations. Several students, young professors and academics who were recruited or mentored by Friedman at Chicago went on to become leading economists, including Gary Becker, Robert Fogel, Thomas Sowell and Robert Lucas Jr.
Friedman’s challenges to what he later called “naive Keynesian theory” began with his interpretation of consumption, which tracks how consumers spend. He introduced a theory which would later become part of the mainstream and among the first to propagate the theory of consumption smoothing. During the 1960s, he became the main advocate opposing Keynesian government policies, and described his approach (along with mainstream economics) as using “Keynesian language and apparatus” yet rejecting its initial conclusions. He theorized that there existed a natural rate of unemployment and argued that unemployment below this rate would cause inflation to accelerate. He argued that the Phillips curve was in the long run vertical at the “natural rate” and predicted what would come to be known as stagflation. Friedman promoted a macroeconomic viewpoint known as Monetarism and argued that a steady, small expansion of the money supply was the preferred policy, as compared to rapid, and unexpected changes.
His ideas concerning monetary policy, taxation, privatization and deregulation influenced government policies, especially during the 1980s. His monetary theory influenced the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy in response to the global financial crisis of 2007–2008.
After retiring from the University of Chicago in 1977, and becoming Emeritus professor in economics in 1983, Friedman was an advisor to Republican President Ronald Reagan and Conservative British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. His political philosophy extolled the virtues of a free market economic system with minimal government intervention in social matters. He once stated that his role in eliminating conscription in the United States was his proudest achievement. In his 1962 book Capitalism and Freedom, Friedman advocated policies such as a volunteer military, freely floating exchange rates, abolition of medical licenses, a negative income tax, and school vouchers and opposition to the war on drugs and support for drug liberalization policies. His support for school choice led him to found the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, later renamed EdChoice.
Friedman’s works cover a broad range of economic topics and public policy issues. His books and essays have had global influence, including in former communist states. A 2011 survey of economists commissioned by the EJW ranked Friedman as the second-most popular economist of the 20th century, following only John Maynard Keynes. Upon his death, The Economist described him as “the most influential economist of the second half of the 20th century … possibly of all of it”.
The Time is Now.
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Preventative Maintenance Agreements: A Great Thing Deserves Great Execution
Preventative Maintenance Agreements: A Great Thing Deserves Great Execution
Guest writer Dale Hanna continues his writing on preventative maintenance with this week’s blog post – “Preventative Maintenance Agreements: A Great Thing Deserves Great Execution.”
In our last blog, Preventative Maintenance Agreements – A Necessary Hero, we spoke about the important contributions PM agreements can make to dealer bottom line. They can drive high quality revenue, income and customer satisfaction.
They key word is “can”. As with all great things, they are only as good as the execution. In this blog, we will focus on four areas of PM agreements and how we might increase the efficiency we deliver the services to our customers. This has always been vital, and especially now with the significant labor shortage.
Do Not Miss a PM Service and Do Not Lose Sleep Over It
There is nothing more stressful than missing a PM service on a customer’s machine under a PM agreement. There is nothing more annoying than trying to call customer multiple times to get the hour reading. How do we do better?
For newer machines, more and more of them are coming with factory installed telematics devices. Factories provide software system that can usually alert you about PM coming due or past due. The common problem here is when you have PM agreements on multiple brands. Each factory system works differently, and you will likely need to log into multiple different systems. Through a technology called API (Application Programming Interface), computers can talk with each other. Most factory systems offer APIs for you to use. If you have the right software system, hours, and other information, from all the brands you carry can flow into one system and all assets can be managed the same way.
How about the machines that do not come with factory installed telematics devices. Aftermarket devices are available, and the data can flow into the same aggregating system mentioned above. The cost of the aftermarket system is low comparing to the cost of doing everything manually.
Now you have all the PM information in one place, issuing alerts, and potentially managing workorders from one system, will drastically increase your efficiency.
Fault Codes, When It Rains, It Pours
Fault codes are great, they give us valuable information to keep the machines from suffering major failures. The three common problems are there are too many fault codes to be handled manually, some of the fault codes are not useful but take up bandwidth, and the formats are different from different manufactures.
Here are what some of the tech savvy dealers are doing to maximize the benefit efficiently.
Inspections, You Can’t Fix What You Do Not Know
Fault codes can’t tell you everything that can go wrong with a machine. For example, they can’t tell you a belt is about to break, or a hose is about to leak.
Inspections fill in the gap. To do so efficiently, the inspections need to be electronic instead of paper based. Paper inspections can days to get to the office. They can be hard to read, and it will be hard to attach pictures and videos. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Electronic inspection results, including pictures and videos, show up in the office real time as long as there is Wi-Fi or cell connection. SN or VIN can be scanned in accurately and linked to customers stock unit ID.
With an all-in-one system, the inspection results can be viewed and managed with PM’s and fault codes. Workorders can be issued to handle one, some or all the problems. The addressed and unaddressed problems are always tracked so the status is clear, and nothing is forgotten.
The Devil Is in the Fluids
The last piece of the puzzle is fluid analysis. As we all know, it is a requirement for most warranty to be valid.
Fluid analysis results are still predominated delivered via lab’s own websites or through PDF’s. One of the biggest complaints we hear in the field is that the information is hard to aggregate and use efficiently, even though the information itself is very useful.
As the world moves forward, more and more labs are offering APIs, just like how other information, such as fault codes, hours, etc. are delivered. Again, we can use the same all-in-one system to aggregate the fluid analysis data with PM alerts, fault codes, electronic inspection. This way, PM agreements can be managed well, and other services can be delivered efficiently and giving customers the best experience possible. A triple win for you.
PM agreements are a necessary hero to drive high quality revenue and customer satisfaction. It will only work well if it is executed well. The only way to do so in today’s labor shortage and data explosion world is to leverage the right technology.
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Is the Preventative Maintenance Business Part of Your Business Plan?
Is the Preventative Maintenance Business Part of Your Business Plan?
Guest writer Bill Pyles writes this week’s blog post on preventative maintenance: is the preventative maintenance business part of your business plan?
I sure hope the answer is a resounding yes! The PM business adopted by OEM equipment dealers goes back to the 1980s and is a win-win for both dealers and contractors. A properly maintained machine, that’s documented, is worth more when the time comes to replace it.
I can still remember the day the subject of our dealer doing in the field PMs was brought to the table. I had a strong objection that contractors would not pay the dealer to do their PMs. PMs were perceived by many as a necessary evil not requiring a higher-level tech from a dealer. By the way, this type of thinking was also applied to undercarriage management; more on this in another blog.
Not taking the PM program seriously can lead to unplanned downtime and poor machine availability, which could be a perceived reflection of the equipment and the dealer. A machine model with poor availability will more than likely not be considered when replacement time comes.
PMs were something the contractor would take care of on the weekend or after hours. Unfortunately, too often, due to the demands of the job the machine was on would delay getting a PM completed on time. I have seen engines go 300 to 400 hours past due on a PM service. Unfortunately, the additional wear caused by the contaminated fluids and excessive hours cannot be put back into the engine. And if this trend continues, the engine is certain to fail at an earlier hour meter reading than expected. Times this scenario over the entire fleet and you’ll quickly realize that PMs are critical to your operation and machine availability. This applies to contractor’s and dealer’s rental fleets.
So how do we make sure your PM program is on track? The first thing you’ll need is a good PM scheduling tool. It will take some time to load all the equipment into a scheduling tool, but it’s time well spent. A good scheduling tool will keep track of the machine hours, create alerts, list the items to be serviced on each PM along with a parts list when a machine is coming due as well as keep maintenance history and oil sample reports in one convenient place. It will also interact with your telematics to keep hours current. A good place to start is to flag the machine when it’s within 40 hours of being due. This should provide ample time to schedule the PM due. I would also flag a machine over 40 hours due as a past-due PM for tracking purposes. Your goal should be 95% or higher for on-time PMs.
Next, you’ll need a dedicated PM vehicle. If you try to do PMs out of a service truck, hauling buckets of oil, you’ll have issues capturing the drain oils for proper disposal. The size of the truck will depend on the number of machines you’ll be servicing. Your vehicle could be a smaller truck with a lube skid. A lube skid works well in a rental operation with smaller machines, skid steers, small rollers, loader backhoes, etc.
If you have a medium fleet of small to larger equipment you may want to look at a dedicated PM truck. These trucks can be custom-made to provide you with adequate new fluids as well as waste oil tanks. Oil recovery systems that pick-up waste oil quickly and efficiently and metered oil reels to quickly refill lubricated compartments. Be generous with external lighting around the outside of the truck; required for doing PMs at night. Be sure to add an air compressor to blow out radiators and some air filters. Work with a reputable truck vendor for building a truck that will fit your needs. I’ve worked with a few truck vendors thru the years and the one I could always depend on was Nichols Fleet Equipment in Chattanooga Tennessee. Experience does count!
So now we have a scheduling tool and for the vehicle to do the PMs we’ll need to add the PM Tech. This person does not need to be your number one technician, nor should this person be right out of technical school. The PM tech needs to understand all the items that make up the various levels of PMs. A 500-hour PM is much more than changing the engine oil, and fuel filters and looking at the air filter, lots more! The tech needs to understand how to properly take an oil sample. I suggest taking all the oil samples at each service. Some suggest taking an oil sample only when the fluid is changed. I do not see much value in taking the first hydraulic oil sample at 5,000 hours. An incorrectly taken oil sample will result in erroneous results. Erroneous results lead to bad decision-making and could result in catastrophic downtime. Taking oil samples at the time of a PM service will create a history of the components of the machine that will show trends, good trends when the oil sample report comes back with no alerts, and bad trends, for example when sodium in the engine is trending upwards. Sodium in engine oil could be an indication of a small coolant leak into the engine. You can schedule the machine down, fix a minor problem and go back to work. Or you can ignore the sodium in the engine and have unplanned downtime, a possible engine failure event that usually happens on an important time-sensitive job. Be sure to have someone on staff that can interpret oil sample reports!
Most equipment OEMs market their brand of fluids. This presents a problem if you have a large mixed fleet. Substituting Cat Drive Train oil for hydraulic oil is not recommended. Mixing different types of hydraulic fluids can cause serious damage to the hydraulic system. Mixing different types of long-life coolants can cause problems. When setting up your PM vehicle be sure to review the correct fluids needed for your fleet. You do not need to use the OEM recommended fluids if the fluids you are using meet the OEM spec. I suggest using quality fluids and fuel to maximize your PM intervals. You will notice most OEM PM intervals are “recommended” intervals. If you have a machine working in a quarry, transfer station, or any other domiciled location, you can extend the PM interval if the oil samples indicate no issues. Remember, the oil does not wear out, rather the additives deplete causing the fluid to not perform as it should. A good oil sampling program keeps your fleet in good operating condition.
Your PM tech should do a walk-around inspection and a safety inspection during each PM interval. Therefore, the PM tech must be familiar with the machines he or she is servicing. The inspection form can be custom-made and part of your PM scheduler or work order system. The intent is to keep small problems small, document all machine issues and follow up with corrective action. If there is an issue that can wait till the next PM, it should be noted in the scheduling tool and pop up as a reminder at the next PM interval. Pictures are very helpful in documenting machine issues or damage. I recommend the PM tech also take pictures of the filters replaced during the PM service clearly showing the date and hours the new filter was installed. And while we are talking about filters, I do suggest using genuine OEM filters. Experience has shown me that many filters look the same on the outside but are a world different on the inside. Installing an aftermarket filter with the wrong micron rating will allow larger wear particles to pass through damaging critical components. OEM filters are specifically designed for your equipment!
The PM tech should also look at and document all machine fault codes. Then the codes should be cleared allowing the tech to determine if the fault codes are active or logged. Reacting to an insignificant code could prevent the machine from going down hard tomorrow. It may be a good time to do a forced regeneration to keep your diesel particulate filter operating normally.
Bottomline, be sure to put a person who is knowledgeable of your equipment, fluids and coolants, oil sampling and oil sample interpretation, and a repair before failure attitude in charge of your PM program. Set machine availability goals to measure the effectiveness of your PM program. Set on-time PM goals. Keep electronic records and make them available to a potential buyer of your used machine. This is especially important for a dealer’s rental fleet. It would send the wrong message if a potential buyer of a dealer’s rental equipment asks to see the PM history and oil samples and there are none or hit and miss.
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Intellectual Capital
Intellectual Capital
In this week’s Lifelong Learning post, Founder and Managing Member Ron Slee continues to look at employees as assets. Read on to learn about Intellectual Capital.
In an earlier post on Lifelong Learning, I posed a question to you – “Are your employee’s assets or expenses?” I hope every one of you said they are assets. Today I am wanting to look at your employees from a different perspective. I want to look at your employees as an “Asset on your Balance Sheet.” Imagine if you took all of the knowledge, skills and experiences of your employees and were able to put it into a container?
Look at the skills required to operate your business.
Selling. Leading. Buying. Repairing. Maintaining. Data Storage. Warehousing. Shipping. Receiving. Transportation. Ordering. Purchasing. Stocking. Paying Bills. Payroll. And there are many more.
On top of that you have the specific skills within each discipline. Take selling as an example. The function requires Research, Goal Setting, Asking Questions, Overcoming Objections, Explaining Benefits, and Closing the Sale. Each job function can be dissected into the differing skills required to perform it. That is one of the byproducts of our Job Function Skills Assessments. Most of us view a job simply as that. I would ask that you look at it in a different manner. Each job is a composite of a lot of different items. Let me go in a different direction for a moment. Let’s look at the job of a surgeon. What is it? Is it simply using a scalpel and cutting. Or are the years of training given to the surgeon expecting that they will see with trained eyes and identify problems inside our body and then knowing what to do about it? Of course, it is the latter, isn’t it?
So, when people take our assessments, they are taken aback at some of the questions. A typical comment coming back to us after the employee completes their assessment is that I wasn’t aware that was part of my job. If we look at the telephone and counter selling job function, most of the employees have done it for a long time. They typically are on autopilot. However, they are often extremely busy. They don’t have time for many niceties. That is a shame. That is a result of not having enough people to do the job properly. That is the negative result of sales per employee. (Too many “bosses” think that a high sales per employee is a good thing. That is totally wrong. Completely wrong) Customer retention. Customer loyalty. They are critical measures of your success as a business. Market share is another.
Well in the parts business over the past forty years market share in parts and service has dropped by more than 50%. Many of you will argue with me as a result of your sales revenue continuing to go up. Perhaps many of you will point to the proliferation of competitors as the cause of this reduction. I will respectfully disagree. This drop in market share is a direct result of too few people serving customers doing too much work.
Look at your service department as a good example. Surveys done by industry associations point out that 15% of the customers who purchase labor from an equipment dealer “defect” each year. Let me express that another way for you to better make my point. 15% of your service customers STOP buying labor from you on an annual basis. That means that you lose 50% of your customers over a five-year period. Don’t believe me? Check it out. Get a report in name sequence. Alphabetically. Compare the list from five years ago in a calendar year to the current year. In our case today compare 2021 to 2016. That is a gap of five years. Get the total number of customers in 2016 and compare that to 2021. In many cases the number will be very close to the same. Now go through and compare the two lists side by side. Name by name. How many names purchased labor in 2016 that did not purchase in 2021. I suspect you will find the number to be a very sobering illustration of the point I am trying to make with you.
In parts it is not as stark a defection rate but it is equally as disturbing.
Your employees are assets for your business. They are the people that create the glue, that bond your customers to your business. Too many of you view, these employees, your heroes, simply as tools in a toolbox. Nothing could be further from the truth. The sales per employee metric is given lip service. It is not the trigger that it should be used to hire people. In the 1980’s the sales per employee number, widely accepted in the industry was $600,000/parts employee/year. That number did not include the Parts Management nor the Product Support Sales team. For many of the dealers with which I have worked over the past five years that sales per employee number exceeds $1,000,000/employee. That means that the people working on your counters and telephones serving your customers are overworked. From the 1980 metric 5 people were required to do $3,000,000 per year. That job today it is being done by 3 people. How can this be allowed to happen?
There is a very old expression. “You reap what you sow” The market share reduction is a direct result of this excessive sales per employee. It is a result of the employee NOT being viewed as an asset but as simply a tool to be used. This is wrong. It needs to change.
The time is now.
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