Better Factories Through Role Playing

pacopico writes "A former Ford executive has taken his unique brand of factory training to the public. According to Businessweek, Hossein Nivi has set up a new company called Pendaran that forces people to endure a week-long, manic training simulation that's meant to produce safer, better workers. The participants — lots of people from the tech and military fields — get yelled at by actors while they try to assemble things like golf carts and airplanes in a simulation that mixes virtual tasks on computers with real world tasks. After their spirits get broken, the workers actually start functioning as a well-oiled team. It sounds both awesome and bizarre."

How much does it cost?

[hedgemage]

Sure, it may work, despite the dubious methodology, but who is actually going to pay to have their workers go through this? Since the bubble days of the 90's, training is an area that has been eliminated from virtually all budgets in favor of hiring only 'experienced' workers. No organization wants to pay for training anymore even when there is a shortage of experienced labor. I worked for a chip manufacturer that in the early-mid 90's put new production staff through a MONTH of 8-hour-a-day classroom training before they even got into the fabrication facility. After a couple years, it was down to 3 weeks, then 2, then 1, then layoffs. The modern management culture says that there is a limitless pool of cheap, experienced labor, so why train?

Re:The Marine Corps Called...

[Ignacio]

1. Business is not war.

It's (generally) bloodless and unarmed, but the basics are all there.

2. Corporations are not armies.

Would it really be such a bad thing to view them as such?

3. Corporate imitations of military training are almost invariably done by and for spoiled brat MBA types who love to think of themselves as macho warriors, but wouldn't last five minutes humping a pack and a rifle.

So then have them go through the training as well. The top military had to go through it to get where they are, so why not the top corporate?

Re:That does not sound awesome

[CODiNE]

That's what the summary makes it sound like, but that's not actually what they're doing.

The workers have access to help, safety information, proper procedures, etc...

Instead of using their resources to work correctly and efficiently they do what people tend to do which is ignore all the rules and safety training as much as possible until disaster strikes.

The course simulates disaster striking when procedures aren't followed. By forcing an instantaneous cause/effect environment they're making the workers see the effects of their actions. They fight and they fight until after a few days they stop running around cleaning up their messes and start to check the rules and do things the right way in the first place.

Yeah it's a bit pavlovian, but it's not crushing anyone's spirit, it's teaching them personal responsibility.

Re:That does not sound awesome

[asmkm22]

Depends. An awful lot of people really do need to have some fears, insecurities, and other walls broken down in order to really reach their potential. Without that, whenever something bad happens to them, like actually getting yelled at, or missing a deadline, or whatever, they just revert back to the good old human standard of denial and blaming others. Because that's what we do when confronted with something we aren't used to or comfortable with.

It's kind of like how anyone who wants to get into boxing will have to learn to take a punch, at some point. Doesn't matter how good you are, if you fall apart with a single punch to the face, you'll never go anywhere. Sounds like they're roleplaying social versions of punches to the face.

...military crap... there's better methods

[Mirar]

I believe I did this in the military, in the basic training (you know, the part where a drill sergeant shouts at you a lot).

It was called "team building exercises".

It did wonders to make us see all officers as idiots.

Sure, it also made us help each other along the exercises and get to see the worst sides of each other. But I don't think it made us a more lean team. Really not worth the cost of how much we learned to hate the military and it's idiots.

Doing that kind of crap to team up factory workers? Eh.

Send them out on a week long survival course (one where you actually learn something and get to enjoy the nature) or even better, have them team up in paintball teams for a week. Or build fighting robots together, why not, without the shouting.
Don't even have to involve actors. That would be enough to have them work together as a team, and they wouldn't actually hate the bosses' guts for the rest of their life.

Only idiots deserve to get shouted at. Ever.

Re:That does not sound awesome

[davydagger]

and the army, and the nation as a whole show some degree of loyalty back. The military is hardly a commericial outfit looking for exploit you for your labor.

You can't get fired from the army, unless your convicted of a crime, generally pretty severe one too.

Everyone gets no-cost healthcare. To include prescriptions.

Probably the most proggressive pay-rating system in the entire country. Generals make a tiny fraction of what corporate officers make with similar amount of employees and/or responsibility, by a far margin. Enlisted make far more than their unskilled labor equivilants. When you talk about skilled labor, and total compensation, its about even with skilled labor.

Not only is management pay more proportial, its also decided in a much more fair method, and its also far more transparent. Its all listed online in an easy to read convienant format, here from the official DFAS(defense finance and accounting services):
http://www.dfas.mil/militarymembers/payentitlements/militarypaytables.html

Essentially your base pay is decided by what your rank is on one axis, and how long been in the military on the other axis. Everyone gets the same base pay, regardless of race, gender, back room deals, how well they know top brass, etc...

Also, you get special pays for doing things like being various kinds of doctor, sea pay, being on jump status, hazardous duty pay, combat pay, and other special bonuses for doing special, but important roles. These pays are generally flat rate, and listed on the same pay chart. All completely transparant.

No-cost housing, formerly no-cost, but now dirt cheap meals provided, and subsidized shopping at the PX.

There are many hazerous jobs, that you could die, loose a limb, or otherwise get critically injured. There is no job that the general public will do more to help you for on the job injuries. The people who experiment with robotic limbs, give soliders who lost them the first pick, over cops, construction, deep sea fishers, demolition workers, and even other potentially more dangerous work. The army wil also pay in full any injuries you get while serving them.

After the army breaks you down, and makes you into a fighting machine, they are not going to just kick you to the curb after got all they could from you. Corporate America will.

But I agree, apples to oranges, you can't compare federal service to private employement.