The Employee Handbook (from an Operations Point of View)

Having worked in Operations for about 28 years, I decided to chronicle my experience with various types of colleagues I have worked with, along with my advice on how to deal with them (no success guaranteed!). I do want to reiterate that my intent is not to offend anyone, just to have some fun!!

The “Angry” Sales Guy: Usually male, and ready to blame Operations for all shortages of product, regardless of whether it was because the forecast was off or not. Holds Operations responsible for all financial shortages and doesn’t hesitate to let them know. Very vocal.

How to deal with them: Build relationships. Take the time to get to know them and what trigger points are. Do not overpromise what you can accomplish. Be honest and accept blame when you messed up. You can earn credibility if you visit customers and take the blame when there are product shortages.

The “Impossible Ask” Marketer: Conceptualizes an idea that may or may not be feasible and expects it to be executed yesterday. Will not take no for an answer. Updates packaging every 2-3 years and expects an uplift in sales (regardless of what issues it causes in the plant). Loves display cases that make no money.

How to deal with them: Educate, educate, educate. Explain what happens in plants. Get them to visit. Execute an idea with them if it is a good one. They can become a good ally to help implement cost savings for the organization.

The Empathetic Boss : I have been very lucky, most of my bosses have been in this category. They seek to understand, and support you fully, even against leaders from other functions.

How to deal with them: Embrace them! If there is one person who can make your work life enjoyable, it is your boss. Be honest and fully transparent. Most importantly, make them look good.

The Overcautious Quality Manager: The answer is always “no” when asked about releasing at- risk product. Doesn’t really understand the business implications when making their decision. Prioritizes quality and food safety all the time (which is not a bad thing!)

How to deal with them: I’ve had quality folks reporting to me through the years, and the best advice I can give is to stay out of their way. Let them make the decisions and intervene only if it is egregiously wrong. The best quality folks are those that can accurately assess risk and act accordingly.

The Finance “Moneybags” Manager: The finance team is very powerful in organizations. Has the ear of the CEO. Always trying to save money, even at the expense of progress and infrastructure improvements.? Always trying to balance short term and long term. One thing I have learned is that Financial Forecasts never match Marketing Forecasts and Operations gets in the way.

How to deal with them: Gain a financial understanding and learn how to think about project returns, metrics and budgets. Take a course of “Finance for Non Finance Managers” if needed. Get them on your side. Challenge when needed, especially if it helps the organization.

The Researcher in the Ivory Tower: Very important to the company as they drive innovation, along with the Marketing team. Don’t get out of their pilot plants and labs much and focus on understanding the interaction of various ingredients with each other. Tend to look down on Operations as they have advanced food science degrees.

How to deal with them: Bring them back to reality. Insist that they run plant level trials multiple times to ensure that the products actually work. Make friends with a few of them so that they can help you when things are not going right in the plant.

The “By The Book” Safety Lead: Play a very important role in the plant and the Operations organization as they keep employees safe. Try to put processes in place for everything. Deal with OSHA when there are safety incidents. Can be brusque and directive.

How to deal with them: Support them. Teach them how to deal with people better. Act on their findings quickly. Most important, make sure they have enough money to implement machine guarding and other safety programs.

The Plant Manager with Potential: Driven and delivers results. Understands what good safety and quality means. Manages plant budgets successfully. Is on the floor much of the time, excellent in interactions with employees. Delivers a high efficiency operation.

How to deal with them: Nurture them. Help them grow. After your boss, probably the most important to deliver good results year over year. Train, teach. Prepare them to take your role. Allow for some mistakes but not too many.

The Clueless but Demanding Boss: Every organization has a few of them. Asks for a lot of stuff, but often not value added. Protects themselves at their team’s expense. Very good politically.

How to deal with them: Run for the hills!

The Painful HR Partner: Have an overinflated sense of their own worth. Often sit on the sidelines and make unimportant decisions. Craft policies guaranteed to make everybody’s life more difficult. Don’t understand finance and the implications of their decisions.

How to deal with them: Bring them into the fold. Make employee based decisions together. Push back on policies that don’t work. Get them to spend time in the plants.

The Disgruntled Employee: Every team has 1-2 of them. Think they are superior to everyone else. Don’t understand that their toxicity is ruining the team culture.

How to deal with them: Explain clearly what is needed. Give them a few chances to change, especially if they do high quality work. If it doesn’t work, let them go.

The Friends Lunch Group: I left the best for last. After the pandemic, the concept of a bunch of co-workers getting together for lunch is fast disappearing, but this group plays a very important role in building camaraderie in an organization.

How to deal with them: These folks, even 15 years later, continue to be my closest work friends. Get togethers happen mostly every quarter, usually over margaritas and Mexican food. Make life worth living!