FIGURE 2.3 Leadership Attributes Survey Results
It’s interesting to note that charisma, which used to be a key attribute of a leader in the past, is not an important factor any more. Other attributes such as creating a vision, energizing people, communication,etc., have become more important attributes of a leader.
Leadership plays an important role in creating a vision and energizing the workforce, as reported by this survey. One of the important factors impeding success in an organization is a lack of or not enough leadership support to implement changes. It has been found that successful leaders share a number of qualities needed to improve their processes. They support:
• Creating the organization’s vision and mission
• Ensuring resource availability
• Empowering line managers with authority and accountability
• Ensuring that both individual and group goals are aligned with the organization’s vision and goals
• Viewing training as an investment in developing the workforce rather than an unnecessary expense
• Aligning and integrating all changes and process improvements (the best practices) toward meeting the organization’s overall objectives
Strategic Framework: Vision, Mission, and Goals
Both the organization and its people need to establish a strategic framework for significant success. This framework, which is illustrated in Figure 2.4, consists of:
• A vision for the future. Where are the organization and we going?
• A mission that defines what we are planning to do. What will be accomplished?
• Values that shape our actions. Why are we going in this direction?
• Strategies that zero in on a key success approach. How will we get there?
• Goals and an action plan to guide our daily, weekly, and monthly actions. When will we get there?
FIGURE 2.4 A Strategic Framework for Success
An organization’s success and our success depend on how well we define and live by each of these important concepts.
It has been found that the organizations whose employees are engaged and understand company policies—vision/mission/goals etc.— enjoy a greater financial return than other organizations as reported in Watson Wyatt’s 2008/2009 WorkUSA report.
The report found that when employees are highly engaged, their companies enjoy 26 percent higher employee productivity, have lower turnover risk, and are more likely to attract top talent. Their companies have also earned 13 percent greater total returns to shareholders over the last five years.
The report said that highly engaged employees are twice as likely as their less engaged peers to be top performers. They also miss 20 percent fewer days of work and three-quarters of them exceed or far exceed expectations in their most recent performance review. Additionally,highly engaged workers tend to be more supportive of organizational change initiatives and resilient in the face of change.
Vision
A vision statement is a short, succinct, and inspiring declaration of what the organization intends to become or to achieve at some point in the future. Vision refers to the category of intentions that are broad, all-inclusive, and forward-thinking. It is the image that a business must have of its goals before it sets out to reach them. It describes aspirations for the future, without specifying the means that will be used to achieve those desired ends.
Corporate success depends on the vision articulated by the organization’s leaders and the management. For a vision to have any impact on the employees of an organization, it has to be conveyed in a dramatic and enduring way. The most effective visions are those that inspire, asking employees for their best, and communicating that constantly. A vision statement is a pronouncement about what an organization wants to become. It should resonate with all members of the organization and help them feel proud, excited, and part of something much bigger than themselves. A vision statement should stretch the organization’s capabilities and image of itself. It gives shape and direction to the organization’s future. Vision statements range in length from a couple of words to several pages. Sample vision and mission statements are shown in Figure 2.5.
FIGURE 2.5 Sample Vision and Mission Statements
Warren Bennis, a noted writer on leadership, said, “To choose a direction, leaders must have developed a mental image of the possible and desirable future state of the organization. This image, which we call a vision, may be as vague as a dream or as precise as a goal or a mission statement.”
SMRP is a leading, not-for-profit, maintenance and reliability society; it provides opportunities for its members to exchange best practices and other educational and networking opportunities through conferences, symposiums, online blogs, discussions, and workshops. It has taken the initiative to standardize maintenance and reliability definitions, including metrics. The certification arm of SMRP has the vision to have at least one Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional (CMRP) in every plant in the world. There are around 6,000 certified professionals worldwide. The author has been heavily involved in the development of this certification program and also collecting and documenting best practices and metrics since its inception in 1998.
Reliabilityweb and Uptime Magazine have also created a certification in this area called Certified Reliability Leader, which is also becoming popular among many professionals. The author was also involved with its development and in creating study material. Many organizations are working to get their technical people certified to ensure that they are aware of current best practices. The process validates that the person holding the certification has the appropriate knowledge of current best practices.
Sometimes a picture portraying the vision can convey the message very effectively. Figure 2.6 displays the intent of an organization’s vision statement. This organization developed its vision picture in the mid 1990s to become the best M&R organization. The buses (people) are lined up to see a very successful M&R program. This organization has come a long way from a reactive mode to a proactive, reliability-based culture; its journey to excellence continues in spite of several changes in the management of the M&R organization and the top management. It took the organization many years to build a reliability culture, but it is engrained in its DNA now.
FIGURE 2.6 Sample Vision Picture
Examples of some maintenance vision statements include:
Maintenance Vision Statement
To leverage a highly skilled workforce and employ effective maintenance strategies to position XYZ organization as the leading manufacturer across the industry.
Maintenance Vision Statement
A world-class maintenance system with a standardized approach to plan, execute, track, and analyze maintenance and production processes.
The vision must convey the essence of how the organization desires to accomplish feats that prove to be big, exciting, and compelling.
Mission Statements
Mission and vision statements are