Misconceptions about the American Worker

I called to talk to my brother after he posted about Saw Stop - an impressive safety device for table saws - on his blog.  During the discussion, we each remarked on the fact that we had, on numerous occasions, witnessed workers putting themselves at risk by ignoring or bypassing safety devices or procedures.  That got me thinking about the perceived laziness of the American worker.

I have a different perspective on this than many - I've worked in all kinds of production jobs, from the lowest-ranking guy on the line all the way to being the boss of the whole plant.  From what I've seen, workers in this country are anything but lazy!

If you want to make someone mad on the job, put up a stupid barrier that makes it hard for them to do a good job.  I've seen line workers scream at stock pullers because they ran out of material.  Why do they do this?  If they run out of parts, they have to stop working!  You'd think all those "lazy" workers would just be hoping for a chance to goof off, wouldn't you? 

I've seen the same thing with safety devices - employees who risk personal injury as well as disciplinary action because they don't follow proper safety procedure.  When you ask them why they do that, the answer is almost always, "that takes too much time".

At one time, I was Quality Assurance Manager at a manufacturing company.  We set up inspection requirements for operators to get the first part of each production run checked out before continuing the run.  Once again, the objection was based in the idea that stopping to look at the part would slow then down.

I've noticed that most of the talk about "lazy, good-for-nothing" workers comes from managers and staff members who have NEVER had to work on the floor (or, if they have, they were insulated from the real world by virtue of being related to the big boss).  Some of these folks will stand around bad-mouthing the help, without realizing that most of those folks want nothing more than to do a bang-up job.  Most of being a supervisor involves eliminating all the little things that keep people from doing their job.

Of course, I'd say the general good intentions of people go beyond the production floor.  In my current job as a Realtor, I've been impressed by how honest most sellers are - they genuinely want to let buyers know if there are defects in their home.  Believe it or not, they actually want the new owners of their home to be happy!

To be fair, all the misconceptions in the factory don't belong to the bosses.  Many rank-and-file workers believe their boss LOVES to fire people.  In reality, many managers are reluctant to enforce rules, and the LEAST favorite part of almost any manager's job is firing or writing up their employees.  Indeed, as a production manager, the most common problem I saw in managers who reported to me was their reluctance to demand high performance from their people.

So, I've painted a pretty rosy picture of life on the manufacturing floor, right?  All the workers are motivated and honest.  The managers - their only fault is that they're too nice - gently encourage all these blue-collar supermen to be careful, and have fun out there!  With all that going for us, U.S. manufacturing will be back on top in no time, right?  Well, not exactly!  There are still workers who don't want to work, or don't have the requisite skills to get the job done.  There are stupid, dishonest people out there - and some of them are the bosses!  Too many companies have poor procedures, weak designs, and flawed business plans.  Nothing in this life is perfect, and manufacturing  is not even close.  Other businesses share these issues, and the problem rarely lies in the willingness or motivation of workers.  Stereotypes are the product of a lazy mind - turn your brain on, and form opinions based on observable behaviors, not your own prejudices.  Come to think of it, that's pretty good advice in almost every situation!