Jobs and Work at R.R.

Jobs and work at R.R. Donnelley

Changes in technology have had a particularly significant impact upon the printing industry -- more and more people are reading printed technology online, which is reducing the demand for books. To survive in the industry requires a lean and focused approach. R.R. Donnelley employees at one Roanoke, Virginia plant were afraid that the plant would be closed because of reduced demand and criticism about the Roanoke branch's inefficient production methods. However, rather than close the firm Donnelley instead employed a new managerial approach, and focused on improving product quality and employee productivity. The company made an investment in worker education, rather than simply instituted punitive measures to make employees work harder. Workers were given a new philosophy: they were instilled with the principles of Six Sigma and other process improvement technology to motivate them to want to change.

The Six Sigma philosophy stresses the need for 'zero defects' in production. Defects are costly in terms of time and money. At Donnelley, there was a practical need to ensure that employees adopted different quality control and workflow process to better incorporate new technology into production methods. To keep pace with the times, the company needed to expand its use of digital technology to receive and make printing film and plates. This would require many jobs to change, and for employees to learn a number of new methods and approaches. Change resistance was inevitable, and it was management's task to anticipate and then cope with the likely resistance with effective strategies.

One of the first key steps in overcoming change resistance is encouraging 'buy in.' Workers must be convinced that the likely cost of things remaining 'as they are' is far greater than the cost of change to their well-being. In the case of Donnelley, workers feared that the looming change in their standard operating procedures was merely an attempt to find excuses to let workers go, and even a build-up to closing the plant. Management had to demonstrate that it was quite the opposite -- if the plant continued as it was, it would become obsolete in the new digital age. More rigorous, leaner production standards were required to retain workers' jobs (Schuler 2003).

Another common problem that acts as a roadblock to change is that people are comfortable in their old ways, and have no way of modeling the new production methods (Schuler 2003). However, Donnelley's staff instituted a rigorous training method that provided new role models, and encouraged workers to identify with change agents, rather than older ways of doing things. Workers felt secure in the new standard operating procedures, when they were called upon to implement them. Additionally, by using a relatively 'tried and true' philosophy, such as the continuous improvement methodology of Six Sigma, the company could point to the past successes of other organizations as incentives to adopt the change. The production methods may have been new, but Six Sigma has worked well at many organizations, including GE, where its concepts were first formulated (Calloway & Gleich, 2006).

Another reason that Donnelley was so successful was its effective coordination of changes in job classifications and actual work standards: many workers were performing new tasks. New labeling of skill levels, compensation, and benefits was done relatively seamlessly, to avoid confusion. Some changes are invariably uncomfortable, like trying to work well with new people when there is a forced lateral movement. At Donnelley, many workers were moved from obsolete areas of production to positions which emphasized new, digitized technologies. Incorporating human resources into the change resulted in better coordinated training efforts, and also less confusing administrative and bureaucratic problems, which made workers less resistant to change.

Donnelley's changes were successful: as hoped, production time for printing four-color books was reduced by 50% due to the new production methods and quality standards. Without instituting layoffs of older workers and making new hires, productivity went up 20% in three years, indicating a greater comfort level on the part of workers with their jobs. Increases in productivity were sizable enough so that Donnelley did not have to set up an additional production lines, saving millions of dollars for the firm. Because the firm's standards had improved, Donnelley employees' fears that the Roanoke plant might close were allayed.