I was a soldier / tradesman for a decade past my apprenticeship. In the mid-90’s, there were two stripes on my arm and I was in charge of the Electrical section at a Logistics Base. It was a great place to work; a mix of uniformed ADF, Public Servants and Contractors.
Somewhere, someone, decided that this new business concept going around was good for us. TQM, or Total Quality Management it was called. The Army prefers to voluntell rather than call for volunteers, and as a Corporal, I was dutifully anointed by the TQM magic wand as a ‘Quality Circle Team Leader’.
A day or two of training plus a mandate to go out and find things not working properly and improve them.
So… I did a project and brought about $120k in alternator rebuilds back in-house, using the contract labour savings to justify a test bench and an apprentice position. Winning !!!
I’ve always been a pretty sociable guy, enjoy a beer and a yarn, and at that stage was also the Bar Member for our Boozer, a Soldier’s Club named after a VC winner from WWI. The club was struggling; only open on a Friday afternoon and generally on the promise of Happy Hour prices. We took more from chook raffles than bar sales. The club was tucked right out the back, in a dilapidated building and our team had to drive past the main gates to stop in for a cold Friday frothy.
However, the TQM training gave some basic efficiency tools, some waste reduction concepts and a desire to make it better. The Officers, of which we had few, had a club conveniently between the warehouse and the carpark…. right in the path of the exiting workforce. A TQM plan was hatched.
Wasn’t long before the Commanding Officer was asked to comment on a proposal to convert the Sergeants Mess to a Seniors Club, and hand over the Officer’s annex to the Other Ranks, supported by spaghetti maps and data from employee surveys. Putting some focus on the club was far easier with the Apprentice assisting too… <hahaha>.
Submission approved; our Club went gangbusters, morale was sky high and I was proud as punch to host the family of Lawrence McCarthy VC, by then as President of the club named in his memory.
The TQM Magic Wand kickstarted a passion for solving problems. I ended up turning it into a career.
Key takeaway:
When your employer is willing to pay for you to upskill, take it. You never know what is on the other side.