Why Plant Turnarounds Can Be Excellent Development Opportunities
Believe it or not, the most stressful time at any plant is when the machines are turned off and everything is quiet. These periods, called shutdowns or turnarounds, are essential to plant operations. They allow staff to clean, perform routine maintenance and install or update systems. But during this time the plant isn’t producing and everyone is out of their normal routine — and every minute the plant is offline is money down the drain, so shutdowns need to be planned and executed as carefully as possible.This planning and execution is part of what makes shutdowns such great development opportunities. It’s not every day that you get to shut off a factory and see the inner workings of the system. If you use these events as teaching and learning opportunities, your organization can get through a shutdown and be even more prepared for the next one.
Why Worry About Development During a Turnaround?
Turnarounds are highly visible events. Plants and factories plan for months to get ready because there will be a lot of stress and urgency to get things up and running again as quickly as possible. Everyone will be dealing with a “new” job and will be stretched to perform this task, possibly with new people, as best they can. If your organization is proactive about planning and developing during this time, you can see which employees really excel under this pressure and develop them for higher roles later.There aren’t as many learning opportunities when everything is going well. The best learning situations often arise from fixing broken items or correcting mistakes. There’s value in seeing the inside of things in the plant, working with new people, building relationships and solving problems when you can’t coast on the routine of the job you normally perform. These types of experiences will stretch employees and expose them to new things.It’s a great idea to be intentional about what you want employees to get out of the turnaround, beyond simply doing their job. For example, an advance conversation can let an employee know his goals so he can identify how best to use his time during a turnaround. You can say something like “You’re going to be in charge of this part of the turnaround. You’ll see this new part of the plant, be intimately involved, work with new vendors and lead a contract team and delegate and direct others. Let’s talk about what success for you looks like within these new responsibilities.”
What Types of Development Are Ideal for a Shutdown?
When people think of development, they often think of a class or some kind of formal, structured learning. In the context of a shutdown, their reaction is “I don’t have time to add one more thing to my schedule. No way.” And they’re right — the middle of a turnaround is not the time for formal learning. However, it’s the perfect time for experiential development.Experiential development isn’t about adding tasks or time; the team was going to be doing these tasks anyway: fixing processes, cleaning tanks, retooling machines. But if you make this an opportunity to train people on these tasks, the depth of your bench in all these areas will increase.If the turnaround needs to involve any formal learning, the time for that is beforehand. For example, training could be set up to review the ins and outs of all machinery the team will be cleaning, retooling or repairing, and this information can be shared with others. Also, the team should get pre-shutdown training to become fully proficient on any new software before the full rollout.
What Obstacles Will There Be During the Shutdown?
Apart from the obvious technical and procedural events that can go wrong, the “people side” is where shutdowns can get ugly. Consider the nature of a turnaround: Many can last for weeks, with around-the-clock shifts. This type of prolonged stressful experience can stretch even the best teams’ communication and teamwork. People can work longer hours or entirely different shifts, and have altered sleep and eating patterns. This can lead to cranky and clumsy employees, who quickly can become unsafe and rude employees.Plan ahead for stressful situations. Have employees consider these altered schedules well in advance. Who will take the kids to school during these few weeks or pick them up? Who will walk the dog? Can employees prepare healthy meals ahead of time and pare down other routines to get extra sleep? Anything that helps them maintain a work-life balance will help them be more alert, happier and safer during their new temporary shutdown circumstances.This area is another good spot for formal training and wellness initiatives done in advance. For example, you can conduct a planning workshop to help everyone think about the people side of the event. You also can review safety protocols, soft skills and communication procedures. After all, the people side is the make-or-break factor to a successful turnaround. In looking at extensive turnaround plans, ask: “Now that we’ve planned each task to the tenth of a second and know the results we need, how are we supporting the people who will execute these important plans?”Success Labs is a leadership-development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to explore their business potential and improve their company and cultural performance. Contact us to get proactive about your people strategy.
