Johnson & Associates, P.C.

Human Systems Engineering:
Psychological Consulting Eases Communication Challenges

By Theresa Alan

Strong communication between departments and between staff and management is a worthy but often elusive goal. Imagine facilitating communication between competing companies; between onsite managers and offsite staff; and between engineers-specialists known for their technical expertise, not their people skills.

The Challenge

A large company that designs steering and suspension systems—Automotive Components Inc.*—was asked by their client, a car manufacturer, to do something drastically different. Rather than design and supply one component, the car manufacturer wanted ACI to coordinate the design of all the car components.

"Large car manufacturers want to go beyond the kinds of engineering they used to do," explained Dr. Paul Johnson, a consulting psychologist who was asked by ACI to assist with the transition. "They want to have a lot of the design done by their tier one suppliers; this reduces their cost. The car companies don't want to design cars so much as they want to build cars-put the pieces together."

To meet the customer's request, ACI created a new Systems Engineering department. These engineers needed to be leaders and bring various suppliers together and work effectively with one another.

"The component's size and placement, the way the parts work together-all of that needs to be coordinated," Johnson said. "It was a huge leadership challenge to take engineers, who are trained on math, not people, and get them to be leaders, not only in their own company, but with other companies as well."

"Coordinating with a supplier—now that's a challenge," agreed John Borza, chief engineer at ACI. "It's one thing be to told by a customer what to do, and another to be told by a third party. If there was an adversarial relationship, it's not like we could threaten them with withholding payment."

Despite the potential for conflict, the groups managed to work quite well together. Borza credits some of their success to Johnson's suggestions on effective communication skills.

"Paul got us to stop and think and put ourselves in the supplier's position and see what would motivate them," Borza said. "He really helped with team-building techniques."

Working well with competitors wasn't the only hurdle. People within the new Systems Engineering department needed help adjusting to the change, and people in other departments had some confusion about the role Systems Engineering would play in the organization.

"The new operation altogether was so vastly different," Borza said. "We are no longer providing a product but a service. Paul was instrumental in getting people within our group to recognize the different roles and become comfortable with these changes. He helped the rest of our organization understand what we were about."

In the months prior to the creation of the Systems Engineering department, Johnson had been working closely with ACI staff, from the vice president to new hires, to improve communication across all levels of the company. Johnson said that because he had worked closely with sales, engineering, manufacturing, and other staff groups, the staff members felt comfortable confiding in him.

One challenge facing the new Systems Engineers was that they were housed at the customer's place of business. "There is a lot of political pressure working at the customer's site," Johnson said. "There are a lot of issues, and a great many cross currents in this kind of arrangement. The employees were concerned with questions such as, 'What do I report and to whom? How much do I say?' Also, people worried they'd be forgotten at their home company."

To deal with this radically new arrangement, managers needed to be retrained to manage employees who were working offsite. By keeping in close contact with individuals at various levels of the company, he was able to open the lines of communication across departments.

"By knowing my people and their personalities," Borza said, "Paul has equipped me with a tool-information, knowledge about how to relate to them, what I should and shouldn't do to keep them satisfied and motivated. My engineers are in a tough position. If the situation is not handled properly, the high-pressure position could lead to burnout."

The engineers also needed guidance.

"Some of the engineers we hired for the Systems Engineering group were pretty young," said Johnson, "and even those who were older needed to be retrained because they may have been used to working under an autocratic structure. Also, they needed help learning how much and what to communicate."

The Process

To make the new department work, it was important to find the right engineers for the job. Johnson helped with the selection process. "We needed engineers who already had good relationship skills and self-confidence and who were able to manage in ambiguity and uncertainty," he said. "It was a new program, so they needed to be creative."

Johnson offered ACI characteristics they should look for in a candidate and questions to ask to get those answers. He also gave ACI a psychological profile of ideal candidates.

"We selected and hired engineers who could be leaders, who were people-oriented as well as technologically sophisticated, and who could be highly strategic in working with the new structure we created," Johnson said.

These Systems Engineers needed to be dependable. There was some concern about high turnover. Because they were working at the customer's site, ACI management worried that the Systems Engineers might not feel a strong sense of loyalty to their actual employer.

Results

The program has been so successful that competitors are "taking a strong look at it," according to Borza. ACI's customer wants to expand the program overseas, and ACI has been held up as an example to other suppliers on more than one occasion.

"Our client is extremely happy with the program," Borza said. "I think that's due in large part to the partnerships between groups. Paul is in no small part responsible for that success."

Borza said his group was "through the rough part, past the rapid growth. We're still improving the process, but we generally know what we need to do now. I talk to Paul once a month as maintenance, like you would do with a car. It's refreshing to talk with him. When I talk to him I think about the big picture, cause and effects, and relationships. When you're busy with the details, it's tough to stop and see the big picture. Paul asks appropriately probing questions. His biggest contribution is that he makes me think of the common sense stuff that gets lost in the daily hustle and bustle."

"I think of myself as a human Systems Engineer," Johnson said. "When there is a breakdown in the human system, that's when they call me."

*Name changed to honor request of anonymity.

By Dr. Paul A. Johnson

As the world and change speeds up faster and faster, we all seem to be swept along by our frantic, often manic quest for activity, information, money, and productivity. More Americans are working outside or inside of the home, for longer hours every day, than we would have imagined possible just one generation ago. As some corporations seek to squeeze ever-more productivity from every employee while focusing full attention on the next quarterly stock analyst reports, increasing numbers of employees are feeling used, taking things personally, and generating the fantasies of how to "get out while we still can" from the corporate "rat-race." Other companies are finally beginning to understand the potentials that can be unlocked in truly empowering employees, which includes developing realistic planning for employee quality of life.

Globalization of big business, increased offshore outsourcing of manufacturing, corporate downsizing and mergers, human resource outsourcing, discount retailing, deregulation within virtually every industry are among the myriad of factors that, in the end, are heavily impacting every executive, manager, and employee in the United States.

Too many people say they that seldom have time to think anymore. For a company to succeed, it's important to stop and think about what everyone is so frantically doing each and every day. Questions that need to be asked include: "Where is this company going"? "What kind of culture, ethics, and work environment are we creating for our employees"? "To what extent does top management really care or even have a 'clue' about what it is like to work here"? "How do I get any real attention given to the fact that the 'ethics of expediency' in this company, are overwhelming fair and proper work practices, that we used to have here"? "Why am I the only one who really acts with concern for our customers?"

---

We have not begun to really absorb and integrate into our thinking dramatic changes that have been occurring, and that will keep occurring at an accelerating rate. We human beings are usually going through the motions of our frantic lives, with little time, energy, nor perhaps interest in stopping to think about what we are really doing (or where we are headed). Most people I know, simply want to live "normal lives," to "enjoy their jobs," to "have nice things," to "get along with their families," and to "be happy." These are modest requests, on the surface, but are often extremely (and surprisingly) difficult for people to achieve. "My life is just too complicated," is a complaint I hear all of the time. Or, "I wish I had time to enjoy life, but all I seem to do is work, worry, and run around like a crazy person."

Younger people, at least some of them, seem to have figured out that frantic, driven, "go-go" lifestyles are not lived without a price. Some of the highest potential employees I see in my corporate clients confide in me that they have plans to "make as much money as they can, for now, and then leave the corporate rat race for a simpler life, as soon as possible." Many of these people tell me that they don't want to make the "same mistake" that their parent(s) made, i.e. "really committing themselves to a company." Quality of life concerns are almost universal among executives, managers, and employees of all ages. The ability that employees feel to really identify with their companies, to feel "empowered," "valued," and "able to honestly speak about their feelings and concerns" are most critical elements in the vast majority feeling happy and fulfilled in their jobs.

Of course some owners and top executives are very aware and concerned about the kinds of issues I have just highlighted. They realize that the "people dimension" of today's workplace is a very tricky and serious matter. With virtually no unemployment, with highly skilled artisans, engineers and IS professionals (among others) almost impossible to find and hire, and with young professionals constantly migrating from one job to the next, thoughtful employers should be thinking about what is happening! These thoughtful leaders do not succumb to the widely held belief, among many corporate executives and owners, that all you have to do is "throw enough money and benefits at them," and that employees will be happy. Unfortunately or not, it just "ain't that simple!"

The changes in the human side of the workplace are observable in many dimensions. Last year's UPS strike and the recent GM/UAW strikes seem to be paving the way for a whole new chapter of labor-management struggles that reach all the way down through the supply chain, to promising eventual unionization of small businesses. Unions appear to be growing in appeal, again, because they seem to offer employees (now including various professional specialties and managers) the possibility of "real empowerment" versus the lip service of empowerment that many employers actually offer. Regardless of what happens in union/management relations, there is a critical need for a national dialogue on the topic of the changing nature of work, the impact it is having on people, and the best steps for companies and unions to take as a consequence. At the very least, the need for business executives, labor leaders, guild and professional associations to figure out ways to really stimulate the "thinking," the "creativity," and the loyalty of their invaluable employee populations, seems not only a noble, but a practical pursuit. After all, our ability to think and to work out creative survival solutions together are foremost among the options we human beings have to assure our existence and success for the long haul.

Unions are struggling with how to integrate all of these changes in society and the workplace, into a new a revised format for more effective member recruitment and organizing. The more enlightened union leaders seem to realize that a new style of high performance union management must replace the old. Unions must become more effective, not only for their own benefit but also for the benefit of American society. High performing union leaders would show a renewed and focused attention on the interests of workers in the modern workplace, and would be more interested in seeking to unite other unions, government, and even company management into constructive, collective efforts.

Participative models for the workplace can have as much application to union members as to non-union members. Much of the recent literature on open book management, employee empowerment, shared vision, and trust really applies as much to labor union leadership as to corporate leadership. Business, professional, and labor leaders are constantly confronted with how to reconcile the legitimate demands for higher productivity, lower costs, greater efficiencies, and employee morale, mental health, and commitment.

Constructive possibilities evolve only through open and meaningful dialogue between all the people within a given work unit. My role is to assist the leadership to understand that creating a trusting and truly participative environment is ultimately in the company's best interests, from both productivity and a financial standpoint. In working with leaders and employees, I must help them confront their fears of open disclosure and assist with developing constructive strategies for communication laterally and horizontally across the organization. I must then be available to facilitate positive, "win-win" discussions, joint planning, common goal setting, and substantive implementation that generates excitement, motivation, and trust.