Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1499197
54 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2023 It's just another day at work until you get that call or text from your manager or super- visor: "Hey, can you come to my office?" I can already guess your first thought: "Uh-oh, what did I do wrong?" It's unfortunate that this is the standard reaction in today's workplace. As managers and supervisors, the fault rests with us. Something has gone wrong, and we go into reactionary mode. In an instant the "sweep" is on to find out "who done it." Rou- tinely, it is a blame game; conducting a root- cause analysis to find the primary cause is just an aerthought. But it's too late; employees are already in defense mode and more unlikely to cooperate or play an active role in finding the solution. "Take the hit and move on," manag- ers say. Productivity may suffer, and employee morale degrades or drops another notch. Positivity Boosts Employee Morale How many of you are nodding your head in the affirmative right now? "Firefighting" is a skill most of us have and we're quite good at it. Unfortunately, firefighting always results in some damage. Managers and supervisors are not perfect, but we must realize that how our employees perceive us can affect their morale. We need to take a strong, proactive role when working with our employees to solve issues. Yes, we all make mistakes, but we also do great things. Why are we so quick to point out the negative? Focusing on one wrong move or mistake among 50 successful tasks doesn't make sense, does it? ink about how it feels when customers complain about qual- ity. You may provide a perfect, on-time prod- uct 99.9% of the time, only to be grilled about that 0.1% miss. We are all guilty of playing the Testing Todd Feature Column by Todd Kolmodin, GARDIEN SERVICES USA