"Depot members embarking on a new way to do business"

Red River leadership is engaging a new business focus called Process Based Leadership. Members of the Command and Staff have completed three training sessions to define Red River's business plan over the next few years.

The depot turned to Competitive Solutions, Inc. consulting firm to guide the depot through this culture change. The goal is to drive Red River through the Process Based Leadership business alignment system. The system provides members of the organization with the capability to do more. The non-negotiable methodology relies on four essential processes to sustain organizational clarity, consistency and connectivity.

The new process is not just for the depot leadership. It is a top-down, bottom-up process that will engage every depot member. The entire depot will be guided by a scorecard that focuses on the key areas of people, safety, quality, cost and delivery. Specific guidelines and measurements have been identified to distinguish accomplishment of the task or problem areas. For example under Safety at the Commander's level, his is focused on lost time case rate and total incident case rate. As this focus area travels down through the management levels to the production floor, the focus on Safety narrows to specific accidents, cause of specific accidents, trends, and remedies. The depot as a whole is concerned about the same focus area but at different degrees. While overall focus on Safety is the responsibility of every depot member, each member has a different level of involvement to maintain safe working conditions.

The new process is not just for the depot leadership. It is a top-down, bottom-up process that will engage every depot member. The entire depot will be guided by a scorecard that focuses on the key areas of people, safety, quality, cost and delivery. Specific guidelines and measurements have been identified to distinguish accomplishment of the task or problem areas. For example under Safety at the Commander's level, his is focused on lost time case rate and total incident case rate. As this focus area travels down through the management levels to the production floor, the focus on Safety narrows to specific accidents, cause of specific accidents, trends, and remedies. The depot as a whole is concerned about the same focus area but at different degrees. While overall focus on Safety is the responsibility of every depot member, each member has a different level of involvement to maintain safe working conditions.

Currently, managers have been trained in the new process and schedules have been identified for training to filter through the remaining layers of the depot. Each director/office chief will train his immediate staff (say maybe, three division chiefs), then in turn those will have training sessions for their staff (maybe five branch chiefs) and so on until the full organization has been refocused to the new process.

This process, defines a series of actions designed to insure a consistent result. The depot scorecard will drive the entire process throughout the depot. Dedication to compliance and recognition of non-negotiable areas are required at all levels-not just one person, but all members.

"PBL will force administrative function and communication processes to become more effective and efficient. It will keep us focused on the things that are important to Red River," said Deputy Commander Paul Addington.

As with any major change in the way we do business, this will not happen overnight. Traditionally, organizations work toward full implementation of the process over a two-year period.