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Re[2]: What does "lean" really mean
I swore after yesterday that I would give everyone a break, but I had
to offer my opinion one time on the staffing criteria.
I hope that everyone understands this.
In the 1950 and 1960 era, school kids got a helluva education
(intended - Big Grin - I graduated High School 1964). Today, my 7th
grader and 5th grader (I graduated my high schooler in 1994 - today he
is in the navy) bring home very difficult assignments, things that I
probably did not get into until high school (my 7th grader had an
assignment last night that delved into a development process on the
periodic table) HOWEVER, the teachers are not explaining the work.
Nor are the texts (usually a memeographed (?Sp -1) sheet of paper
instead of a text book). I have found in conferences with teachers
and administrators (the current ratio appears to be about 5 teachers
to each administrator, whereas the ratio in the 50's and 60's was
about 17 teachers to each administrator - catch my drift?) that the
Educational process is breaking down, because the I KNOW EVERYTHINGs
have decided that teachers need to spend about 5 hours out of every
school day completing paperwork to indicate how they completed the
Educational Objectives in the two hours they could teach.
It is the same problem that we face in our industry. As we become
"more technically competent" we have more and more paperwork to show
how we did the things we were supposed to have done (OOOOOH tense
shifts will get you an "F") if we were not filling out paperwork.
Instead of RIFfing (Reduction in Force) our people and DOWNSIZING,
lets look at what the overall problem is in getting work done.
Bureauracracy,
Let someone else do the work (This person we can downsize)
Government "influence"
Management (can managers manage or can they make busy work?)
Good working relations
Teamwork
etc. etc. etc.
I am finished now. Best regards and I bid you peace
(And I will try to keep mine)
Ron Goodwin
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: What does "lean" really mean
Author: radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu at Internet
Date: 4/8/96 8:43 PM
As per previous discussions, it's obvious that staffing levels have
absolutely nothing to do with utility performance. Here are a couple
of different thoughts:
Individual performance
In the end, it comes down to the performance and work ethic of
individuals. Like the Dallas Cowboy's commercial where Jerry Jones
talked about Deion,"Give me eleven men like that and I can rule the
world." That comment isn't to far off from reality. I have been
involved in some successful military units and sports teams and it
truly takes everyone giving it their best shot.
Bureaucracy
As a workforce starts to become to big with many layers, the ability
to get things done goes down hill.
Workforce management
Union vs non-union plant makes a world of difference... It's
difficult to be competitive when it takes three people to change a
lightbulb. No disrespect intended, but a union plant must work much
smarter to be competitive with the non-union plants to make up for the
inefficient use of personnel.
Ability to make process improvements
If a staff spends 95 percent of it's time just performing routine
duties, there is not enough time to perform process improvements which
would lessen the routine burded. Kinda like which came first, the
chicken or the egg...Vicious circle.
Good leadership
Some of the best lieutenants were once grunts... Often times managers don't
really know what is reasonable because they really don't understand the task.
Experience and common sense is key.
A few observations and a million disclaimers
Glen
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: What does "lean" really mean
Author: radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu at INTERNET
Date: 4/8/96 4:30 PM
This article was published in Public Utilities Fortnightly, 2/1/96,
page 54. I found it to be interesting, and, is presented here for
information only.
---------------------------------------
According to Mercer Management Consulting's 1995 utility Staffing
Survey, being the leanest utility around doesn't necessarily guarantee
success. All survey information was based on 1995 participants in the
survey:
The leanest utilities did not achieve superior growth rates in
operating profit. The survey found there was very little correlation
between staffing levels and growth rate in operating profit between
1990 and 1994.
Lean utilities generally did not enjoy superior stock market
performance. In fact, the highest growth rates in market value of
common stock occurred with utilities having the largest relative
staffs.
Large staffing decreases do not always translate into increasing
common stock prices. The survey found that the market value increased
the most during the 1990s for companies that increased staffing.
Utilities with staff increases experienced the highest rate of
operating growth.
This report also featured bar graph depiction's of the survey results,
showing the percentages growth in terms of staffing changes
throughout each year's quarters.
---------------------------------------
I do not have any information regarding how many utilities are
nuclear, or the mix. I will try and get a full copy of the article.
Sandy Perle
Supervisor Health Physics
Florida Power and Light Company
Nuclear Division
Juno Beach, FL
(407) 694-4219 Office
(407) 694-3706 Fax
sandy_perle@email.fpl.com
homepage: http://www.lookup.com/homepages/54398/home.html
DISCLAIMER: The comments and opinions are mine alone and do not
necessarily reflect those of my employer