Monday, 12/09/2013
During the drive back to the Hotel tonight after a typical long day, to which I must become accustomed, and as I drowsed and drooled on my backpack, an amazing question dawned on me: What motivates Hospira Vizag Production Personnel? This question for McPherson personnel has been near and dear to my heart in recent months after realizing how low the morale was on the production floor. Ultimately, this obsession resulted in my applying and interviewing for a Production Supervisor job so that I can personally 'Motivate the Troops' and drive First Pass Quality (making a batch of drug without any errors) by supporting production, and my own staff within it. I want to get people excited about what they do; making life saving medications, a job to be proud of indeed! After a bit of contemplation, I realized that I'm able to motivate the workers back in McPherson because they are hard-working Americans like myself and have many of the same motivating factors; but I never realized this was cultural until witnessing the Hospira Vizag environment and learning about some of their biggest hurdles to starting production and passing their FDA audit, which are almost entirely due to cultural difficulties. I can't give any details as it's confidential information but I can share this: McPherson produces quality medications because our personnel profoundly buy into the Hospira culture of integrity and ownership of responsibility with respect to the quality of our drugs. Furthermore, our production personnel are motivated to care about their work because they understand that the very medications they make could, and very likely will, end up in someone that they love.
In stark contrast to this, however, how do you motivate workers who have grown up in a culture of filth and 'Barely-Organized Chaos' to make quality medication when they know full-well that they, nor their loved ones, will likely ever have access to it. [Since we make generics, readily accessible to even the most destitute. I'd like to think this isn't the case, but I know first-hand the power of the poverty stricken mindset.] How do you enforce good hygiene practices and careful execution of complicated procedures within a workforce whose cultural views do not align with the objective of integrity and producing quality medication for the sake of pride. It surprised me to reason that though I'd likely be a great Production Supervisor back in McPherson, I'd be woefully worthless here because, culturally, I don't understand what motivates these people to work hard and do things correctly, or simply to care about their work and the quality of the drugs they manufacture. Let me be clear however, I'm not saying that they don't care, only that I don't understand their motivations to care or how they display that caring, so I couldn't hope to support or motivate them as a supervisor.
PS Though it's not official yet, when I get back I expect to transition into that new role. I couldn't be happier to be given my own crew and the chance to positively impact the quality of our medications directly through production, even if it does require me to work 12 hour overnight shifts.
Interestingly, India grows on me. Yes, it's dirty but the people are friendly and outgoing, always willing to put on a smile at the slightest provocation. This also occurred to me during our drive through Vizag on the way home from the site tonight; it was a long drive. The city was all lit up and buzzing with activity, it looked colorful and fun, and best of all the filth wasn't as visible in the dim lights. I even saw tractors and dump trucks at the site today that were adorned with colorful deities and pom-poms. Oh, and then there's one of the biggest selling points from my perspective: No fast food or chain restaurants!
During the drive back to the Hotel tonight after a typical long day, to which I must become accustomed, and as I drowsed and drooled on my backpack, an amazing question dawned on me: What motivates Hospira Vizag Production Personnel? This question for McPherson personnel has been near and dear to my heart in recent months after realizing how low the morale was on the production floor. Ultimately, this obsession resulted in my applying and interviewing for a Production Supervisor job so that I can personally 'Motivate the Troops' and drive First Pass Quality (making a batch of drug without any errors) by supporting production, and my own staff within it. I want to get people excited about what they do; making life saving medications, a job to be proud of indeed! After a bit of contemplation, I realized that I'm able to motivate the workers back in McPherson because they are hard-working Americans like myself and have many of the same motivating factors; but I never realized this was cultural until witnessing the Hospira Vizag environment and learning about some of their biggest hurdles to starting production and passing their FDA audit, which are almost entirely due to cultural difficulties. I can't give any details as it's confidential information but I can share this: McPherson produces quality medications because our personnel profoundly buy into the Hospira culture of integrity and ownership of responsibility with respect to the quality of our drugs. Furthermore, our production personnel are motivated to care about their work because they understand that the very medications they make could, and very likely will, end up in someone that they love.
In stark contrast to this, however, how do you motivate workers who have grown up in a culture of filth and 'Barely-Organized Chaos' to make quality medication when they know full-well that they, nor their loved ones, will likely ever have access to it. [Since we make generics, readily accessible to even the most destitute. I'd like to think this isn't the case, but I know first-hand the power of the poverty stricken mindset.] How do you enforce good hygiene practices and careful execution of complicated procedures within a workforce whose cultural views do not align with the objective of integrity and producing quality medication for the sake of pride. It surprised me to reason that though I'd likely be a great Production Supervisor back in McPherson, I'd be woefully worthless here because, culturally, I don't understand what motivates these people to work hard and do things correctly, or simply to care about their work and the quality of the drugs they manufacture. Let me be clear however, I'm not saying that they don't care, only that I don't understand their motivations to care or how they display that caring, so I couldn't hope to support or motivate them as a supervisor.
PS Though it's not official yet, when I get back I expect to transition into that new role. I couldn't be happier to be given my own crew and the chance to positively impact the quality of our medications directly through production, even if it does require me to work 12 hour overnight shifts.
Interestingly, India grows on me. Yes, it's dirty but the people are friendly and outgoing, always willing to put on a smile at the slightest provocation. This also occurred to me during our drive through Vizag on the way home from the site tonight; it was a long drive. The city was all lit up and buzzing with activity, it looked colorful and fun, and best of all the filth wasn't as visible in the dim lights. I even saw tractors and dump trucks at the site today that were adorned with colorful deities and pom-poms. Oh, and then there's one of the biggest selling points from my perspective: No fast food or chain restaurants!
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