Toward the end of my apprenticeship, I had the privilege of working for a company that practised “open book management”. (They shared the entire financial statements with staff except individual wages). It was a real eye-opener for me, not just that bonuses were shared amongst staff for the first time in my career, but that decisions to buy, retire, or refurbish equipment came from the factory floor. Many years after I left that company, I brought the managing director of another company with me to consider buying a second-hand CNC lathe. The Managing Director asked to meet with the owner and couldn’t believe the frontline workers made the decision to sell and did the negotiating. That company is still in business and has become a group of companies because they allow their workers to consult and make recommendations
Throughout my career, I’ve worked with people who could tell you more about an asset by listening to it for five minutes than others could learn from reviewing a month’s worth of reports.
That experience is valuable. Yet when organisations embark on major change initiatives, these same people are sometimes involved last.
We develop strategies, engage consultants, design systems and establish new processes. Then we ask the people expected to use them to attend training.
And we wonder why adoption is difficult.
An important distinction exists between consulting people and involving them.
Consultation can become an exercise in seeking feedback on decisions already made. Involvement lets practical knowledge shape the decision itself.
This matters enormously in Asset Management because the people operating and maintaining assets often understand the consequences of decisions that are not immediately visible in a business case.
Their knowledge can help identify impractical processes, missing information, unintended risks and opportunities for improvement.
Organisational Change Management should not be limited to helping people accept a predetermined solution. It should also help organisations develop better solutions through meaningful participation.
The challenge is balancing technical expertise, operational experience, and strategic objectives without letting any one perspective dominate.
Perhaps the question isn’t whether we consulted the workforce, but whether their involvement actually changed anything.
#WorkforceEngagement #AssetManagementCulture #KnowledgeSharing #ChangeManagement #OperationalExcellence #ContinuousImprovement #ISO55001