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The pat on the back

April 4, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By Keith Schell

One day on my factory job in the city, I was doing my morning rounds throughout the plant as the Quality Control Checker on my shift.

When I came to one particular machine, the operator had just completed making his adjustments; he had cleaned the print and made other fine tweaks to improve the overall quality of his product. He was manufacturing large printed rolls of plastic film to be sent to a folding machine to be converted into industrial strength shipping sacks in a later process. Everything was looking good.

After I completed my inspection of his product and made my notes, the operator asked me, “How’s the print?” Distracted by upcoming duties I was thinking about, I absentmindedly replied to him that everything was okay.

He became indignant. “Just okay?” he huffed back at me. Taken aback by his reaction, I went back over and took a second look at the fine print on his product. It was clean, clear and sharp as a tack. To appease the operator, I went back over to him and told him so.

After I completed my morning rounds I went back to the Quality control lab to begin to write my morning inspection report. But before I started my report I thought about the incident with my operator and the dynamics behind it.  

And I began to realize: He just wanted a little positive acknowledgement that the adjustments he made to his product were good. He put a lot of work into improving the quality of his product and wanted a verbal pat on the back for a job well done from the Quality Control guy, one of the people on shift whose opinion actually mattered. When that acknowledgement was not forthcoming, he became indignant.

And after some more thought, it was then that it began to dawn on me that all I ever did was find fault on my rounds. While that was my job, I learned that day that a little pat on the back every now and then from someone on shift whose opinion actually mattered can do wonders for a machine operator’s morale. He knew his product was good and I knew his product was good and he simply wanted me to acknowledge the effort it took on his part to make it that way. So after that day I made the conscious decision to say something good every now and then to an operator about their production if there was something good to be said.

Just before I took the Quality Control job on my shift, my former shift Supervisor and newly promoted Print Supervisor took me aside and gave me a little talk, telling me that I was soon to be the last line of defense before the final product went out the door. I knew what he meant by that and took that little talk he gave me to heart. While the bad must be rooted out and corrected, to keep a good emotional balance amongst the employees the good should be acknowledged every now and then as well.

Everyone needs a pat on the back every now and then.  If the fine print on their manufactured product was clean and sharp I now made a point to say that to an operator every now and then. It usually brought a smile to the face of the operator, especially if they had done a lot of work on it to get it that way.

While I was never hated in my Quality Control job, admittedly there were times when I was definitely not liked or welcomed by the operators simply because of the nature of the position. After all, no one wants to see the Quality Control guy coming towards them at three o’clock in the morning to discuss a problem with their product. I tried to be as gentle and diplomatic as I could and still effectively do my job.

To any Quality and Safety Inspectors out there who might read this column: obviously, you have to do your job thoroughly and effectively to ensure the greater good. The bad must be rooted out by you and corrected for public and consumer quality and safety reasons.

But if you have cause to say something good on occasion, please take the opportunity to do so. Sometimes a few kind words can make all the difference in the world to an individual who is under scrutiny at that moment, especially if that individual is having a bad day.

And in saying those few kind words, it might make everyone’s day go a little bit easier.


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