Improving Performance Management
Chief Executive, David Currie believes strongly in the power of teamwork and has worked with Aquarius to become a world-beater in a very difficult market.
Rockware Glass the market leader in the glass container industry in Great Britain faces many challenges. There is constant pressure to drive costs down, the price of energy in this energy intensive process has doubled, there is too much competition and quality and customer service at the highest standard is a given.
Rockware’s products include bottles for spirits and beer, soft drinks, milk, as well as glass containers for the food industry including many innovative designs for customers like Nestlé. Their products fill our supermarket shelves yet theirs is a brand that may be unfamiliar to consumers. They hold the coveted “preferred partner” status for the millions of bottles they make for Budweiser.
Six years ago David Currie was Manufacturing Director responsible for four factories in the U.K. He had experienced focussed teamwork in his native Australia and was convinced it was the key to success in the U.K.
With Chris Garner he set about planning and executing a series of “Performance Planning Conferences”. These were 2½ day events where the management of a factory went away to a pleasant location, to take time out from the hurly burly of a 24/7/365 business to consider what was important. They plan what is to be achieved and how. You cannot stop a glass plant otherwise the molten glass solidifies in the furnace and you have an £10 million rebuild on your hands.
David wanted the management team of up to 20 people from each factory and this meant leaving a less senior team behind to mind the shop. He holds a major conference annually for the business and a shorter meeting (1½ days) for each plant to assess progress and produce action plans. Each plant holds quarterly reviews in-house.
The format of the conference has changed over the years, but elements have remained constant.
- Overview of the business, its market and the competition. This is always the opener and is delivered by those at
the top of the business who have responsibility for each functional area. It gives the factory management a view
of their business, which was previously rarely shared with them. - Analysis of their current situation by cross functional teams who challenge the status quo and are encouraged
to ask “Why can’t we……………..” - T eam building exercises with a competitive element which may be physically challenging or intellectually
stimulating exercises. (David is a practical manager who does not believe in “HR games”). However, they are all
fun and the teams they have built over the years are awesome. - Setting of Key Performance Indicators. The KPI’s are fairly common to the glass industry, but factories decide which are really key to their improvement and they set their own targets.
- Functional teams determine what needs to be done and individuals write action plans at the conference.
- Each individual shares with their peers what their plans are to be. At each subsequent conference individuals are encouraged to stand up and report back.
Actions have been both simple and business changing. In the early days plans involved understanding familiar
things with new eyes, it involved challenging the status quo and recently it has involved challenging technology
and management’s view of “best practice”. Some plans have failed; most have been successful.
The culture of the organisation has changed and they have control of their destiny. Their parent company, Ardagh has acquired new businesses in the UK, Germany, Poland and Italy, they are market leaders and they are recognised by their customers as top suppliers. In fact, they have recently involved their customers in the conferences to “see ourselves as others see us”. Another brave step in the evolution of this highly motivated company.