Russell was hanging with me. Turnover at the supervisor level was killing his floor crew. I spoke with some of the team members. They were capable at the production level, but none was up to the role of supervisor. We really did have to go outside. Russell had burned through two supervisors in the past nine months.

“Tell me what you are looking for in this supervisor role.” I asked.

“That’s the problem,” replied Russell. “It’s so hard to find someone with the proper experience. The best guys turn out to be great equipment operators, but they cannot handle the scheduling, cycle counts or material flow.”

“Do you interview them for that?”

Russell looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“Russell, here is what I see. You interview for technical skills, which are important. But the role of the supervisor is a completely different role than that of the technician. Your breakdowns are where the skills of the supervisor are needed most, scheduling, cycle counts and material flow. That’s a critical area to interview for.”

“You want me to interview to see how a guy fills out a schedule?”

“Absolutely. Here is how it sounds. Tell me about your scheduling process. How many people on the crew? One shift or two? Full time or part time? How far into the future? Did you have team leaders? Newbies on the crew? How did you mix them on each shift? Did the production schedule ever change? How did production schedule changes impact the work schedule? How did you handle sick outs?

“Russell, it’s more than filling out a paper schedule, it is how the candidate thinks, then behaves.” -TF