by Carmen Polvere

Created on: May 08, 2010

  

   Accepting responsibility for your Team Member’s error is not often a matter of choice. During a twenty-seven year career in manufacturing I have been held accountable for costly mistakes made by Team Members who reported to me as I have held Supervisors accountable for mistakes made by their Team Members. No matter which side of the table you are on, identifying blame for costly errors is never pleasant. However what is expected is that the manager of the area where the mistake occurred accept direct responsibility. As they do when the Team performs flawlessly and praise is given. Once responsibility is accepted it is time to ask five whys and identify immediate corrective action to reduce the potential for future errors. Once immediate corrective action is in place, move on. Do not dwell on mistakes, focus on future success.

   Several years ago Alex was in his third year of supervision and in his seventh year as a member of my Team. Alex reported to a no compromise safety first manager with strong team based approach to problem solving. During the course of unloading a liquid shortening truck, which was pumping into a bulk tank at 400 lbs. per minute, Alex pulled the Bulk Receiving Assistant whose job it was to monitor the unloading of the truck, to clean another area, leaving the truck unattended for fifteeen minutes. During this fifteen minutes, the bulk tank over filled and 6000 lbs. of shortening spilled into the adjacent parking lot. The cost of the subsequent clean-up and lost product was $26,000.

   Company ownership demanded answers. Why did the spill happen? Alex pulled the Bulk Receiving Assistant to clean another area. Why did Alex have to pull the Bulk Receiving Assistant to another area? He was three people short. Why did the tank overfill? The sight glass on the side of the tank was frozen and not reading the correct level. Why wasn’t the spill contained in the containment wall? Sanitation had opened the drain plugs in the containment wall to clean the grease traps. Why were the plugs left uncapped? The previous shift neglected to inform next shift. Who was responsible? I was. Corrective action was in place immediately. A Bulk Receiving Assistant for unloading bulk shortening trucks became mandatory. Sanitation cleaning procedures were changed. Alex was placed on a sixty-day performance improvement plan, which he successfully concluded.

    Accepting responsibility for the errors of their Team Members allows managers to focus their skills on positive corrective actions which will in the long run help build stronger teams.

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