NOVEL SOLUTIONS
Building Teams With Carrots Casting Scale
have become well known in the business world for their “carrot” philosophy of using reward and recogni- tion as employee motivation tools. Their new book, The Orange Revolution, takes that principle and applies it to building effective teams. Managers and team leaders who have been disappointed with the implementation of a team mentality at their own metalcasting facilities would fi nd many of Gostick and Elton’s tips useful. According to the authors, in order to be meaningful, teams
T
Relevance to Metalcasters Technical Diffi culty Self-Help Fluff Bottom Line
must exhibit strength in the following areas (what they refer to as the Basic 4 + Recognition): • Goal Setting (knowing where you are going); • Communication (wise use of your voice and ears); • Trust (believing in others and being trustworthy); • Accountability (doing what you will say you will do); • Recognition (appreciating others’ strengths). Gostick and Elton provide several examples of break-
through teams from organizations like
Zappos.com, the NBA and Pepsi. Much of the advice supplied by these companies and the authors will seem like a stretch for a conservative metalcasting facility. For instance, renting an inspirational movie for team members to watch on a Friday afternoon may not fl y. But many other team building methods (the book supplies 101) are feasible, such as giving team members fi eld trips to places where its products are used or setting aside a day or two where manag- ers work side-by-side with team members to gain a better understanding of the challenges they face. The Orange Revolution
offers three rules for cultivat- ing a team: 1) wow, 2) no surprises and 3) cheer. While the book spends a signifi cant amount of time on wow (im- pressing team members and
56
he term “team” doesn’t have to be a cliché, according to Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, who
customers) and cheer (rooting for team members), the rule of no surprises is backed by solid evidence and logic. “No matter how talented the
individuals on a team may be . . . if they are not communicat- ing with one another openly and honestly they can get off course,” the authors write. How true this statement
feels when you consider a molding machine operator continuing to churn out what
he suspects will be faulty molds leading to scrap castings because he believes reaching a molds per hour quota is more important than producing quality castings or a grinder who has an idea to improve part fl ow in the plant but is too intimidated to voice it. The authors of The Orange Revolution encourage man-
Metalcaster’s Translation “The year-end bonus
agement to empower team members to make decisions, question the status quo and speak up when a mistake has been made. “Breakthrough team members can make their own decisions, on the spot,” the authors write. On the fl ip side, the no surprises rule holds management accountable for keeping team members informed of the progress of the team and company as a whole. In the end, Gostick and Elton try to drive home the importance of making work and team-involvement fun. Ac- cording to them, employees who have fun and enjoy each other’s company will be more likely to attempt great things to both impress and sup- port their team members. The theory is supported by a survey of 350,000 people, performed by the Best Companies Group for the authors. “Do you like your job?
and the dangling possibil- ity of a once-a-year raise are not motivators, but satisfiers. And when used alone, without award programs, they give em- ployees the impression that monetary praise is everything.” If your metalcasting em-
ployees don’t feel like they are part of a team or fi nd satisfaction in their work, they are likely to leave the job for the next better wage offer.
Do you like the people you work with? If the answers are yes, you’re likely to work harder and smarter than if the answer is no,” Gostick and Elton write. The Orange Revolution
doesn’t supply all the answers to good team building, but it does offer several concrete methods to enhance team perfor- mance—all for the price of a book and a few carrots. MC
MODERN CASTING / November 2010
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196