Servant Leadership Role In Lean Production

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Tinker Air Force Base in conjunction with the 548th Propulsion Maintenance Squadron is embarking on a journey of Lean Production. The jet engine repair business has become one of fierce competition throughout the world and within the United States. Companies today demand quality parts on time and on cost; it is management’s responsibility along with employees of the 548th Propulsion Maintenance Squadron to deliver this demand to the customer, the warfighter. The literature review contains four sections that focus on Lean Production. The literature review sections are: 1. Brief overview of Lean Production 2. The role of management in Lean Production 3. The role of the employee in Lean Production Overview of Lean Production Ptacek et al. …show more content…

Servant leadership, as defined by Spears (2010) “Servant leadership seeks to involve others in decision making, is strongly based in ethical and caring behavior, and enhances the growth of workers while improving the caring and quality of organizational life”. Spears (2010) goes on to describe ten pillars of servant leadership: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community. Listening is not only listening with purpose to the employee but also communicating the views and goals of the organization to the employee. Empathy is about understanding and accepting employees as well as recognizing employee efforts. Healing aids in helping employees on an emotional level, employees go through turbulent times throughout their career; therefor the servant leader is a liaison within the relationship. Awareness, self-awareness strengthens the leader values and ethics, awareness aids the leader in looking at problems from a more integrated approach. Persuasion is seeking to convince rather than coerce employees or persuading employees rather than using an authoritarian approach. Conceptualization is looking beyond day-to-day problems and dreaming big, while day-to-day operations are important for the organization, leaders must keep their eye on the bigger …show more content…

A study conducted by BlessingWhite (2013) highlights five levels of employee engagement. The first level is the “engaged”. The engaged employee exhibits high contribution and high satisfaction, these employees find great satisfaction in their work, they are strongly committed to the organizations mission and goals, and have a positive impact on employee morale. The second level of employee engagement is the “almost engaged” having a medium level of job satisfaction and contribution. These employees are genuinely satisfied with their job and are considered top performers within the organization. The third level are considered “honeymooners and hamsters” these employees exhibit a high job satisfaction but low contribution levels. Honeymooners are considered newer employees and are seeking their role with the organization, while also seeking ways to contribute to the mission. Hamsters, on the other hand, are sincerely hard workers, however they routinely work non-value added task, therefore contributing little to the organization. Level four consist “crash and burners”. The “crash and burners” have a high contribution level but also exhibit a low level of job satisfaction. The “crash and burners” often complain about decisions made by upper level management as well as complain about

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