Update on Excellence Bringing Down the Management/Union Walls for Competitive Advantage at John Deere Horicon Wor k s Long-term flexibility, quality, and customer service improvements. Lea A.P. To n k i n Your company may have a good thing going About Deere & Company and Its Horicon, WI Operations n o w, but are you sharpening your marketplace Deere & Company’s major divisions range from Commercial & Consumer Equipment strategies for what promises to be even more (including the Horicon, WI operations) to agricultural, construction, power systems, intense marketplace competition? And as you parts, etc. The company has more than 26 manufacturing facilities worldwide, and look for ways to boost your long-term nearly 34,000 employees. p rospects, are you involving e v e ry o n e in the Horicon operations started in 1861 as Van Brunt Manufacturing. Deere bought the o rganization? Several years ago, folks at John operation in 1911. It became John Deere Horicon Works in 1958, and in 1963 started D e e re Horicon Works, Lawn and Garden Pro d- lawn tractor production. Approximately 1700 employees work at Horicon; 1200+ are ucts in Horicon, WI realized the need to lead represented by IAM Local 873. competition in on-time delivery of high-quali- ty ride-on lawn care equipment and serv i c e . Getting buy-in among all employees, fro m Getting Along Has Its Benefits of having a long-term future together, he said. management and workers re p resented by the First of all, the idea that every o n e ’s best Leading competition in on-time delivery I n t e rnational Association of Machinists (IAM) i n t e rest (such as growth, profits, and jobs) of products and service will contribute to this Local 873 re q u i red honesty, tru s t - b u i l d i n g , hinges on mutually beneficial re l a t i o n s h i p s positive scenario, said Pat Geddes, training i n f o rmation sharing, and changes in behavior topped the list of relationship-building priori- a d m i n i s t r a t o r. He outlined the company’s and policy. Umpteen meetings (some painful), ties, according to Bruce Carver, general manag- strategic goals designed to make it happen: lots of training, much patience, and many er at Horicon. Management realized that infor- customer and market focus, human re s o u rc e s changes later, they re p o rted pro g ress so far and mation sharing on all shifts, a continual focus (HR), process management, information and what they’re still working on during a re c e n t on quality, and a cooperative management/ data analysis, leadership, strategic planning, AME workshop. Selected updates follow. union relationship would increase the chances and business results. A related vision statement is shown in Figure 1. Among the business results they envision Vision Statement a re “best in class” employees as measured by employee surveys, and better acquisition and John Deere Horicon Works will lead competition in on-time delivery of products and retention of customers as measured in market service. We will meet market penetration and profit objectives that ensure the long-term s h a re growth. Horicon employees also strive for health and existence of the organization. Key ingredients will include: i m p roved operating perf o rmance through con- E m p l o y e e s: Changes in behavior and policy that result in an organization where all tinuous improvement, measured by the employees will be committed to John Deere. They will be proud of John Deere and the sales/employee ratio. Their ideal future would quality of work life. Employees will be totally involved in the quality improvement include top financial perf o rmance, measure d process. Employees will be empowered to make decisions about their work. by their standings versus the competition. C u s t o m e r s: Customers will be totally satisfied with John Deere consumer products because they are the best products in the market place. John Deere will meet or exceed Need for Change, their expectations for price, performance, and quality. Customers will become strong Learning to Work Together promoters of John Deere consumer products. C reating this healthy future has been a work in pro g ress for some years at Horicon. Bet- Figure 1. ter communications about expected employee 40 Update on Excellence involvement in top perf o rmance, incre a s e d union meetings,” Evans said. d o n ’t fall into this question-and-answer baili- training in quality and other areas, and some Training for Quality Awareness, and wick. The team is coached by an HR superv i s o r. attitude adjustments are among the pro g re s s Telling the Truth Even When It Hurts Communication Across the Board, re p o rts shared by Deere re p resentatives. A work Management and union re p re s e n t a t i v e s by Department, and Individually stoppage in 1989 sharply identified the need for on a quality steering committee identified a Horicon folks find many avenues to a better way of working together. Horicon Works quality framework aimed at g reater involvement in the future of the busi- M a n a g e m e n t ’s concession in the early building shared responsibility for the success of ness. The operation’s five-year strategic plan is 1980s that they needed to do things diff e re n t l y the enterprise, according to Roger Hart w i g , s h a red with each department through Power- had brought improvements through Just-In- training facilitator. Total quality awareness and point presentations, cascading the plan’s Time (JIT), a technology focus, and more quality leadership were among the areas targ e t- impact on each work area. Day-by-day com- emphasis on people. Yet they realized that an ed for training programs. Also in the training munication and involvement are encouraged even more dramatic improvement in manage- lineup were team skills training, training part- t h rough training and all-employee meetings ment-union relationship was needed, among n e r s ,1 and personal improvement, the org a n i- held twice a year, and other sessions held quar- other things. “We had the beginnings of look- z a t i o n ’s commitment to making learning and t e r l y, monthly, or weekly. ing at total quality management and a more skill development a continuous pro c e s s . E ffectively linking employee activities p a rticipative management style — in anecdo- All Horicon employees participated in at with business objectives re q u i res clear commu- tal pockets,” said Chuck Evans, Horicon HR least 16 hours’ total quality (TQ) training and nication and diligent attention. Employees m a n a g e r. “Our journey began because we saw other training for teamwork, etc., based on want to know how Horicon’s goals such as that the industry was becoming more competi- steering committee recommendations. best-in-class employees plus topnotch cus- tive, and that we needed more long-term flexi- T h e re were some bumps along the way to tomer service, overall operating perf o rm a n c e , b i l i t y, continuous improvement (CI), and s h a red understanding of quality and key fac- and financial results affect their work. q u a l i t y. We had good quality, but we knew the tors in Horicon’s long-term survival. “We had HR, information systems, and supply quality bar was going to be raised almost daily to change not only our culture, but our management strategies are designed to bridge by customers wanting more for the dollars methodologies for changing the culture , ” any gaps in understanding about how each spent. We were a premium producer with pre- Evans said. “Employees had old questions and employee fits into the overall Horicon game mium quality and prices; we could no longer old tapes to run, not directly tied to quality. plan. Within the HR arena, for example, they pass increased costs on to the customer. ” “So managers and union re p re s e n t a t i v e s look to employee interaction, acculturation, “Looming Clouds” and Quality would come into a room and address these and team development specifics. Each one has Involvement questions,” Evans said. “It was brutal. Man- measurable elements that are tracked monthly. Calling all hands together for a Marc h agement was accused of lying. We said, ‘We ’ l l Goals versus actual perf o rmance are checked 1991 meeting at the local high school, Horicon tell the truth even if it hurts, and we’ll get the for training hours per employee, new employee management launched a “Quality Kickoff” as answers to all questions unless we are asked meeting participation, and other are a s . a means of involving all employees in the about confidential areas — and we’ll explain Working Toward Win-Win Labor f u t u re of the enterprise. “We drove a stake in that.’ Part of the deal is that tough questions Agreements the ground,” Evans said. “We closed the facto- re q u i re tough answers. Some of our original Meanwhile, Horicon’s sometimes-uneasy ry for half a day, and met with all employees i n f o rmation sessions got ugly.