trends in automation
Impulse
26
–
27
Employee engagement is critical to
organisations that require any project to
be successful. Experience shows that if
there is a top down approach such as the
business telling employees what is
happening, there will be a low level of
engagement. Employees will be less
productive, potentially disruptive if
actively disengaged and would have no
hesitation in leaving, taking business-
critical knowledge with them when
they go.
If, however, a business engages a cross-
section of employees at the start of an
automation project to define the remit,
inform the specification and liaise with
the machine builders not only will
automation equipment be fit for purpose
there will be advocates across the
business who can communicate the
benefits of the project. Research has
shown that peer-to-peer communication
is much more trusted than management
down information.
The final benefit is that engaged
employees stay longer, are more
productive and conscientious, make fewer
errors and take better care of customers.
An automation project increases the
efficiency and effectiveness of production
so key employees can be well utilised
elsewhere in the business helping deliver
a better product for less.
Communication during change
“Customers expect a quality product and
this is why we’re automating,” says the
managing director. What your employees
actually hear is, “You’re not very good at
your work so it’s likely you’ll lose your
job.”
There’s nothing like poor communication
to quickly jeopardise the success of a
project. Communication forms a key part
of engaging your people. If employees are
engaged and involved in formulating the
strategy, communication has already
started. If not, don’t leave it to the last
minute.
Another pitfall is to confuse
communication with information.
Communication is tailored and specific to
each audience and their specific and
collective needs.
Another stumbling block to good
communication is our own reticence.
We are usually expert in creating logical
reasons not to do something when
actually we just don’t want to do it. It
might be because a leader thinks they’ve
got better things to do and
communicating is a waste of valuable
time. There might be personal issues such
as a fear of public speaking or many other
reasons.
For any project that is sensitive and can
disrupt people, there is only one channel
of communication that is of any real
value. That is face to face. Emails just
don’t cut it. Face to face is much more
challenging logistically with shift work
and a mix of employed and temporary
staff but it is absolutely essential.
Leaders need to speak personally, be
open to questions, and have a timeline of
when information will be available. Good
communication is always a conversation,
so have in place a system where feedback
can be given confidentially or one to one
with managers that is then passed onto
the board.
If redundancies do need to be made, you
will be judged as an employer by how well
you treat those leaving the company. Do it
well, as you’ll retain key people. Do it
badly and you will often end up loosing
the very people you wanted to keep.
Employees will always hear sensitive
information through the filter of self-
interest. So answer the ‘what does it
mean to me?’ question and what and
how you communicate will change
significantly.