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The Biggest Problem in Your Company?

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Najib TAHIRI

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Posted 11 July 2019 - 02:19 PM

Our facility has the exact same problems!

 

I have been here for a short period of time working towards an SQF Certification... I am the only food safety representative for our company. Although our company is small it can be overwhelming when creating all of the documentation and trying to implement changes. The owners do support me however, sometimes my "food safety to do list" is put on the back burner since they are always busy, delaying my plans and progress.

 

On top of starting from scratch in regards to food safety, we do have a language barrier as almost all production workers speak and understand little English. It has been difficult trying to implement changes effectively and efficiently since many have been with the company for over 10 years and have adopted poor habits. 

 

Changing company culture and instilling new habits are the biggest challenges (as of right now).

 

 

Hi my friend if you want to know how to deal with the resistance of change see my reply #14 



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The Food Scientist

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Posted 11 July 2019 - 02:25 PM

Sure thing. Before I started, there we not many systems in place, so all of the changes I've made really took most employees by surprise (although in general, everyone has adjusted and understood the reasoning behind the changes). They were used to doing things a certain way for 25+ years before I made changes.

For example: hats used to be used instead of hairnets, employees could wear their uniform or any t-shirt from home, there was no food safety plan or HACCP plan, food and personal items were allowed on the production floor, no internal audits, no checklists for the sanitation department to follow and therefore no accountability. The production floor also used to have a back door that was used by all employees and contractors that leads in directly from the parking lot. Now that door is locked and all employees use the front door (which leads into a lobby) and open it with a key fob. All visitors and contractors must ring the front doorbell and check in before coming into the facility.

 

All I can say is YIKES! 


Everything in food is science. The only subjective part is when you eat it. - Alton Brown.


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Najib TAHIRI

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Posted 11 July 2019 - 02:28 PM

Department Managers releasing employees for training and Internal Auditors returning completed audits as per the schedule

 

Department Managers releasing employees for training and Internal Auditors returning completed audits as per the schedule

 

Hi my friend how are you doing today ? where is the problem ?



Najib TAHIRI

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Posted 11 July 2019 - 02:28 PM

Department Managers releasing employees for training and Internal Auditors returning completed audits as per the schedule

 

Department Managers releasing employees for training and Internal Auditors returning completed audits as per the schedule

 

Hi my friend how are you doing today ? where is the problem ?



The Food Scientist

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Posted 11 July 2019 - 02:29 PM

Carelessness from department managers and not having the will to change, keeping up with paperwork, limiting the ability to change due to finances.


Everything in food is science. The only subjective part is when you eat it. - Alton Brown.


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CMHeywood

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Posted 12 July 2019 - 04:03 PM

Leadership being verbally committed but no actually involved.  This reinforces the reluctance of other employees to be engaged in new policies and procedures.



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tezza07

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Posted 06 September 2019 - 04:10 PM

Generally, it's buy in from the plant employees. We try to engage them and kind of guide them to come up with the ideas and methods themselves because it's a lot easier to get buy in when it comes from them (as opposed to telling them what to do). We also have a lot of older employees, so breaking old habits and instilling a food safety culture has been difficult, but we've come a long way.

 

Unrelated but sort of related, we underwent our first unannounced GFSI audit this year and we did extremely well (mid-90s). I'm in the middle of working through submission of CAPA to the CB, when I get formally written up because of things my manager pointed out were lacking in our system, even though most of them are things that the auditor didn't even note or comment on (and none of them were listed as NCs in our audit report). I guess they are things that my manager feels like should've been NCs and we got lucky?

 

I feel like the kid who brought home a 98% test and the parent said "what happened to the other 2%?" It's very disappointing to say the least, especially considering all the hard work I've put in. Also this had never happened before with any other audit, and I've been doing this job for multiple years now. I've had the feeling they're trying to get rid of me for a while now, and this kind of confirms it for me :(

 

The daily battle between the forces of darkness and light for the culture of cGMPs on (my) production floor so blatantly partisan that they appear systemically recognized and simultaneously ignored and overlooked. 

 

Do you have two  or more tribes on your production floor? Clicks? Personal hierarchy not sanctioned by the "ORG-CHART"?

 

:silly:  

 

Ok,

I am gonna apologize and meditate.

 

We have entire shifts that have a "them versus us" mentality. Switching someone to a different shift or scheduling overtime can be a nightmare sometimes .



LDG_Honey

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Posted 02 October 2019 - 06:00 PM

oh wow, where do I start?

 

The owner often stroll through the building in his own clothings, without hairnet.

He sometimes do receptions/expeditions to help (which is really appreciated) but doesn't fill any documents (which creates more work for us)

 

Our motto seems to be ''penny wise, dollar foolish''.

I told the owner that our metal detector was overdue (15 years old and bought used) and needed replacing ASAP last year.

It croaked its last beep this morning, it was on intensive care for the past 2 months... and yet he's surprised when we announce the news to him...

 

And I can go on and on and on...



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BostonCream

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Posted 02 October 2019 - 07:15 PM

This is so much pain. I had a tour at a similar plant as you described, old building over 100+ years, employees playing radio songs in production room & not wear PPEs, has a HACCP plan from 10+years ago, no other safety/quality control programs etc. I don't foresee how long it will take for the place to get HACCP or GFSI certified.

 

May I know how long you worked in the place and which target are you going towards?  

 

 

Sure thing. Before I started, there we not many systems in place, so all of the changes I've made really took most employees by surprise (although in general, everyone has adjusted and understood the reasoning behind the changes). They were used to doing things a certain way for 25+ years before I made changes.

For example: hats used to be used instead of hairnets, employees could wear their uniform or any t-shirt from home, there was no food safety plan or HACCP plan, food and personal items were allowed on the production floor, no internal audits, no checklists for the sanitation department to follow and therefore no accountability. The production floor also used to have a back door that was used by all employees and contractors that leads in directly from the parking lot. Now that door is locked and all employees use the front door (which leads into a lobby) and open it with a key fob. All visitors and contractors must ring the front doorbell and check in before coming into the facility.



bakeryscience

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Posted 02 October 2019 - 07:29 PM

I've been there for about a year and a half. The company's ultimate goal is SQF, although I think everyone finally realizes how far away that is for us currently. As of now, none of our current customers require GFSI certification. 



BostonCream

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Posted 02 October 2019 - 07:33 PM

Maybe go for a HACCP certification first... Assume that's something achievable within 2 years!

 

I've been there for about a year and a half. The company's ultimate goal is SQF, although I think everyone finally realizes how far away that is for us currently. As of now, none of our current customers require GFSI certification. 



CMHeywood

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Posted 03 October 2019 - 02:29 PM

I created three rules that usually apply to situations where an intended change is not mplemented or maintained:

1.  Only God can speak things into existence.  (You have to do more than just talk about it.  Verbal commitment is not the same as actual behavior change.)

2.  If you don't tell people what to do, they will not start doing it.  (You have to communicate the vision to the entire audience.)

3.  If you stop telling people what to do, they will stop doing it.  (You have to continually encourage people to meet standards and target the expectations.)

 

Old Joke:  What's the difference between involvement and commitment?

If you have eggs and bacon for breakfast, the chicken was involved but the pig was committed.



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aab93

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Posted 03 October 2019 - 02:34 PM

I created three rules that usually apply to situations where an intended change is not mplemented or maintained:

1.  Only God can speak things into existence.  (You have to do more than just talk about it.  Verbal commitment is not the same as actual behavior change.)

2.  If you don't tell people what to do, they will not start doing it.  (You have to communicate the vision to the entire audience.)

3.  If you stop telling people what to do, they will stop doing it.  (You have to continually encourage people to meet standards and target the expectations.)

 

Old Joke:  What's the difference between involvement and commitment?

If you have eggs and bacon for breakfast, the chicken was involved but the pig was committed.

 

:clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:



SaraJohn

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Posted 20 January 2020 - 06:56 AM

Well not in our company but I have observed that Employee attitude is a major problem seen in companies



Najib TAHIRI

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Posted 20 January 2020 - 07:23 AM

Well not in our company but I have observed that Employee attitude is a major problem seen in companies

 

ok Sara John, maybe you are right in some cases Employee attitude is a problem for the company so From your point of view, what are the causes? what we can do to skip this problem?



Kit2019

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Posted 20 January 2020 - 04:06 PM

Similar to what others have said: The established habits do not change because "we've been doing it this way for XX years," as well as a general attitude of using employees like work horses without creating a supportive atmosphere. Resistance to change.



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AlanParker1989

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Posted 02 February 2021 - 05:20 PM

Money, the owner doesnt want to spend money so I always have to go the cheap route. 

This is a problem for many companies. Executives sometimes forget that not only money is important, but also product quality and safety



GreyeagleA

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Posted 02 March 2021 - 11:27 PM

I was an operator before I moved into QA at our plant so because of that I have a very good grasp on the real life conditions on the floor and what people actually do.  

I think for us the biggest challenge is the culture and the us versus them attitude that the previous QA team had in place.





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