RLG International Results Stories
A Success Story at an Aviation Company
Maintenance and Engineering - Door and Structures Shop
Key Objectives
In May of 2007, this aviation company's management and Transport Workers Union decided to bring RLG in to help support their "Working Together" process (bringing management and union to the table) and improve performance by coaching their front line leadership.
The initial assessment identified two areas for placement of an RLG performance coach. These areas were the [department name] (a series of four docks where aircraft enter one end of the building, are disassembled, upgraded or modified, and reassembled) and a critical backshop that supports the department.
The Door Shop was chosen as an RLG start point because of its critical role in supporting the process flow and its reputation as being one of the poorest performing shops on base.
The idea expressed by the union and management Joint Leadership Team was that, "If RLG could succeed in this area, they can be successful anywhere."
Key deliverables were identified for building a structure that would support effective communication through metrics development along with leadership coaching.
These deliverables became the Operating Rhythm©. A set of key interactions between leaders and front line operators was developed for this project to ensure leaders had the opportunity to significantly influence performance by allowing them to set specific behavioral expectations on a consistent basis. This consisted of: crew talks, hand-overs, business reviews, boardwalks and one-pagers.
Project Results
The results of this framework is impressive. By having the right metrics and a consistent means to communicate that information from upper management to the shop floor, the shop is able to focus on the things that drive performance. Performance improved from a 54% on-time delivery rate in 2007, to 81% in 2008.
To further leverage the success in the Door Shop, the Structures Shop was identified as the next opportunity to expand. This shop experienced similar positive results, from 91% in 2007 to over 97% in 2008 for on-time delivery.
By providing a framework to support the "Working Together" process, the leadership from both management and union have been able to get involved in an effective manner to support and sustain real performance improvement. This process has been repeated in 16 RLG led areas across the company's system and is instrumental in creating a culture of success by "connecting the front line to the bottom line.".
Testimonials
"One of the simplest and perhaps most successful skills I have learned has come from working with RLG. Operating Rhythm© starts out with a simple beat that explodes into a full symphony of attainable goals, transparent measures, and leads to success. Such a simple process has produced such great results. For the person that wants to succeed in their career this process will get results."
Crew Chief, Structures Shop
Tools / Methodologies
- Operating Rhythm© - crew talks, business reviews, hand-overs, boardwalks, and one-pagers