Coping with cultural change in your factory

In this exclusive audio interview, Lawson spoke about the importance of sticking to a clearly laid-out plan of cultural change within your factory to help boost production and morale.

“You’ve got to start with understanding your strategy and where you want to go,”​ said Lawson. “Once you develop that strategy, you implement that strategy by recruiting the right team – the people who are going to drive that strategy for you.​

“The next phase is clear communication, take people on the journey of where you want them to go and understand how they are going to get there – be very clear and concise.”​

Hinder cultural change​

However, Lawson warned of the obstacles that can hinder cultural change in a factory – traditions and ways of working that have become ingrained in the workforce.

“[These include] methods of work, routines where people have always worked that way and having to convince people to do things a different way through standardisation, rigour and routine,”​ said Lawson.

“Show people very quickly that this​ [new] method would bring success.​ They may just be small successes, but that gathers momentum and that becomes self-propelled as people get on board.”​

Meanwhile, Lawson explained the benefits of investment and continuous improvement in Food Manufacture’s​ most recent Me and My Team Profile​​.