Focus on training four-ability grassroots cadres

At the general manager's office meeting on April 2, 2020, Mr. Wang, general manager, explained that grassroots cadres are the cornerstone of internal management, and we should focus on cultivating four-ability grassroots cadres.

What is four-ability cadre? Ouhai's corporate philosophy define it as: the management cadre who can speak, can write, can see, can do are four-ability cadres, and the specific requirements of the "four can" has been elaborated: can speak, that is, good at communication and sharing, can transmit information in a timely manner, and can effectively train and motivate subordinates; can write means to be good at accumulating and summarizing historical experience and lessons; can see means to be good at discovering and analyzing things as well as be able to see the essence of things, discover patterns and potential risks, and seek solutions; can do, that is, be good at solving and making decisions, can do the right thing, and do things right without any excuse but showing the results.

At the beginning of the establishment of the company, Ouhai chose management cadres in the same way as other companies in the eyewear industry. As long as the employee is diligent and pragmatic, loyal and reliable, knows some technology, and is familiar with the processing of products, he can be promoted to a management cadre. There is not too high requirement for the quality of management cadres, and no systematic evaluation has been carried out. Basically, technology is used instead of management. At that time, the management style of the company was relatively extensive, as long as the output and lead time are guaranteed, there are no major returns and economic losses, this cadre will be qualified. Other aspects such as the behavior of employees, 6S site management, employee efficiency (which is basically based on personal piecework model, driven by a single economic interest), and employee training and education are not paid much attention to. With the development of enterprises, the deficiencies of its management gradually emerge. For example, the enterprise culture cannot be inherited, the enterprise system cannot be implemented, the enterprise internal management can’t form system, mainly rely on people to manage. In addition, the management way of cadres is too simple and rough, which also leads to the tension between the cadres and the frequent turnover of employees. Later the company tried the model of separating politics and technology, and let some employees with certain cultural knowledge serve as the grassroots cadres of the workshop. However, in actual work, this management model also highlights some problems at the production line. In particular, our production frontline cadres have poor hands-on skills and weak technical capabilities. For example, when the Spring Festival started in 2018, the printing machine operator of a production line of plastic finished products did not arrive on time, and our finished product manager was not able to do the printing machine adjustment, affecting the output of the production line for nearly 3 days. In addition, our company implements an assembly line model. Each position of the production line is a radish and a pit. If a certain employee asks for leave or has something to do temporarily during working hours, and no one comes to take the post, it will cause a backlog of materials in the entire assembly line, and even no output during this time. At this time, we need grassroots management cadres to have hands-on ability, be able to hold posts, and be multi-functional. For example, our finished product management needs to understand printing and relative processes, and be familiar with inspection standards and packaging requirements.

In recent years, the company has trained a group of middle- and high-level management cadres who can speak, read, write, and do, but some of the company’s strategies have not yet found a foothold. The transformation of the enterprise has not yet reached the expected results. Execution has not improved significantly. Why does this phenomenon occur? We think it is the company’s grassroots problems. If our grassroots cadres do not have the ability to upload and deliver effective communication, and do not have the ability to train and encourage subordinates, they are not good at finding and solving problems. The company's management level cannot be further improved. If the level of grassroots management cadres cannot keep up with the development needs of the company, there will be a stagnation of the company's vision, mission, planning, and requirements at the middle level. If it does not reach the grassroots level, it will not be effectively passed on to employees and reflected from the employees' behavior. So, how to solve these outstanding problems that affect the development of enterprises? In 2020, the company focused on the strategic project of "emphasis on surrounding areas and strong production", and put forward the management to return to the grassroots level, focusing on training four-level grassroots management cadres, so that the frontline team leader understands both management and technology.

How to strengthen the grassroots team and train more four-function management cadres? We will proceed from the following aspects.

1. Establish an objective and scientific qualification certification mechanism. Whether a grassroots cadre meets the job requirements, we cannot rely on impressions and relationships; we must have a set of scientific job evaluation standards, and then organize evaluation work according to the evaluation standards. In the past, our engineering department lacked scientific evaluation standards for the qualification certification of technical positions, and the evaluation procedures were not rigorous. Individual personnel waited for the salary to be paid before they hurriedly carried out the assessment work. This lack of systematic and hasty assessment methods is neither objective, comprehensive nor logical. Our job evaluation should start from the source for newly recruited employees, that is, they should be evaluated according to the evaluation criteria from the interview. We must not only listen to him, but also let him write, and let him do it, which is to assess his operational ability and skill level. As the saying goes, "To differentiate mule and horse, just take it out for a walk ", so as to avoid people who "just say everything without doing" into our company. The original grassroots management cadres should also be thoroughly investigated, that is, all grassroots cadres should be re-evaluated. For some grassroots cadres who do not meet the requirements, we can adopt relocations, re-agree on the probation period, and even dismiss them. For some grassroots cadres that are inadequate in some respects, we can train and use them, and make up for their shortcomings through training. After the training, the organization will re-evaluate. Only after passing the evaluation will the post be allowed to go on duty.

2. Organize training. The company organizes a number of training classes every year, such as the storage cadre class, youth cadre class, intermediate class, special training class, etc. The purpose is to improve the comprehensive quality and management ability of our management cadres. In the future training work, we need to make the training plan forward-looking, the training plan targeted, and the applicability of the training content. The forward-looking of the training plan means that the training plan should be based on strategic planning. For example, if the company's strategic plan has "full industry chain", then the training work should be ahead of the implementation of strategic projects, and the "full industry chain" "Talent and knowledge required for strategic projects such as logistics, e-commerce, and eyewear packaging materials. Targeting the training plan means that the training needs must be fully collected before the training plan is formulated, and the training plan should be formulated according to the training needs and the deficiencies within each department. The applicability of the training content requires that our course development needs to be grounded. The lectures on the tall are certainly good, but the employees don’t understand and can’t do what they need to teach, and they lose the meaning of training. In terms of grassroots cadre training, we must not only improve their communication, coordination, and execution abilities, but also train their technical skills and hands-on abilities. Our training methods should also be diverse and multi-channel, with classroom instruction and practical operation. We can train the language expression ability and logical thinking ability of grass-roots management through morning meetings and weekly regular meetings; we can train their communication skills through "one-on-one" activities and mentoring system; we can read a book every month to Enrich their theoretical knowledge; we can improve their "writable" by writing a summary of the plan and their experience. In short, we must let grassroots cadres learn at work and work in learning, not only to put theoretical knowledge into practice, but also learn to summarize and improve in practice.

3. Carry out performance evaluation. Whether the qualification certification is objective and scientific, and whether the training work achieves the expected results and requirements, will ultimately be reflected in the results, and performance evaluation is the best verification method. In the application of performance evaluation, we should not only apply it to salary increase, promotion, job rank evaluation, etc., performance evaluation should also be combined with the mechanism of educating, hiring, and retaining people. The company will establish a lighting mechanism for all personnel involved in the assessment. The lighting mechanism is divided into green, yellow, red and black lights. The green light is a qualified person, the yellow light is a person who has failed the assessment for one month, the red light is the person who has failed the assessment for two consecutive months, and the black light is the person who has failed the assessment for four consecutive months and the system recommends mandatory termination. Of course, according to the importance of the position and the arrival of new employees in the company, the company's senior executives have an opportunity to activate, that is, a month of relaxation.

Finally, if an enterprise wants to grow and develop, we must strengthen grassroots team building and train more four-energy grassroots management cadres. We must "focus on the grassroots and win on the grassroots." Only when the foundation is solid, can the enterprise's strategic planning be translated into actions and results, and can the true realization of the corporate philosophy of "creating benefits through management" be realized.