Honda Case Study Full Mike Jett Interview
Honda Case Study Full Mike Jett Interview
Honda Case Study Full Mike Jett Interview
MIKE JETT
Vice President / Plant Manager
Honda Precision Parts of Georgia
Full Circle Group Case Study: (HPPG)
The Leadership Responsibilities
• Manufacturing of Automatic
Challenge at Honda Transmissions for Honda
November 2014 Vehicles
• Assembly and Test
• Manufacturing Engineering
AN INTERVIEW WITH MIKE JETT OF • Product Quality
HONDA PRECISION PARTS OF GEORGIA
LEADERSHIP TEAM IMPACT
In spring 2006 production began at the new Honda Precision
Parts of Georgia (HPPG), a 250,000-‐square-‐foot transmission • PRODUCTIVITY has increased
manufacturing facility in Tallapoosa, Georgia. The $100 million about 8 percent
facility supports production of Honda vehicles. With production • SAFETY – the incidence of injury
underway, it became clear that as Honda increased its rate has dropped 9 to 6 to 0.5,
investment in its North American operations, there was a the lowest in the company
parallel need for significant investment in its North American
• QUALITY, specifically the
leadership. The case study that follows describes one leader’s
customer complaint measure -‐
ongoing journey in this process.
setting company and industry
records, going from 90 to 19
• EMPLOYEE RETENTION – 2+
years ago, in 2012, attrition was
close to 17 percent, meaning we
were losing 17 percent of our
manpower annually. Now we are
hovering around 6 percent and
moving toward our goal of 3
percent
The Leadership Challenge at Honda | Case Study
Mike Jett has been the VP/Plant Manager for HPPG since 2009. His responsibilities include
manufacturing of automatic transmissions for Honda vehicles, assembly and test,
manufacturing engineering, and product quality. HPPG is a high volume facility consisting of
about 650 associates. Mike provides daily management for materials management, process
engineering, quality systems, purchasing, human resources, finance, and information
technology. He provides direct management for the achievement of Safety, Quality, and
Production targets. He is responsible for Associate Recruitment, Hiring, Development, Growth,
and Retention. Mike has worked for 31 years in manufacturing management, specializing in
strategic planning and manufacturing characteristic improvement and division manager of
corporate planning and senior manager for Honda of America Mfg., Inc.
What is your vision at Honda?
We see The Power of Dreams as a way of thinking that guides us and inspires us to move
forward. The strength of our company comes from this philosophy—based on the visionary
principles of our founder, Soichiro Honda. In fact, Honda is a company built on dreams. In
October 1946, Soichiro Honda established the Honda Technical Research Institute in
Hamamatsu, Japan, to develop and produce small 2-‐cycle motorbike engines. Two years later,
Honda Motor Company, Ltd., was born and in 1959 Honda opened its first storefront in Los
Angeles with six industrious employees with big dreams to expand operations in America.
These dreams inspire us to create innovative products that enhance human mobility and
benefit society.
What is Honda’s commitment to economic growth in North America?
Our success in the global marketplace is the result of our continued investment in America’s
future. We challenge ourselves to create new products and services that bring value to our
customers and society. As the first Japanese automaker to build motor vehicles in the United
States, Honda is proud to invest in America—its economy and its people. Honda's
contributions to the processes of manufacturing and design have helped to improve the NA
automotive industry, as well as others.
We opened our first U.S. plant in 1979 and have evolved into a company that directly employs
nearly 25,000 Americans. More than 100,000 workers are employed at authorized Honda
automobile, motorcycle and power-‐equipment dealerships in North America. Tens of
thousands of additional Americans are employed by more than nearly 600 U.S. suppliers from
which Honda purchases parts and materials. Honda is proud to provide jobs that help better
the North American economy.
Following an operational strategy of building products close to our customers, Honda has
invested $2 billion into its U.S. manufacturing plants since 2011, bringing Honda’s total U.S.
capital investment to $15.3 billion. About 94% of Honda and Acura vehicles sold in the U.S. in
2013 were manufactured in North America, the highest percentage of any international
automaker.
WORKING WITH FULL CIRCLE GROUP
When and how did you start working Full Circle Group?
I started working with FCG in May 2012. It’s a journey that never ends. I used to think that I was
a good leader, until I began the journey. FCG and the Leadership Circle Profile (LCP) helped me
see my strengths and weaknesses. Once I realized where I was, I set goals to get where I
wanted to go and identify what characteristics I needed to develop.
In May 2012 I participated in a week-‐long Honda Leadership Summit (HLS), and the FCG
Leadership Circle Profile was the primary feedback link with instructors. We had several
follow-‐up sessions. Since that time, we have aggressively applied what we learned to our
operations here. We have also had three other senior managers on my team go through the
training.
And what was their experience?
The experience was very positive, both in terms of what we learned and how we applied what
we learned, and the results achieved. If you looked at my leadership team before the HLS
training, working the FCG, getting feedback, and working through modules, you would see
that our management approach was very regimented. Now if you asked my team what is most
important, you would find that it’s serving the people we work with—developing and
maintaining relationships of trust with them. Our relationships now are so much deeper than
before.
What has been the impact on the business?
I can’t say that all HPPG improvement results are directly attributable to the FCG/HLS
experience, but I can say that we could not have achieved such positive results so quickly
without the experience. I can tell you that the FCG leadership approach leads to exponential
gains, not just incremental gains. In fact, in every category of our business, we’ve seen similar
gains over the past two years. Here are just four indicators:
First, our productivity has increased about 8 percent. Our ability to exceed production
expectations is measured on operating efficiency (assembly run rate). We were averaging
about 88 percent; now we average 96 percent.
Second, in the area of safety, the incidence of injury rate has dropped 9 to 6 to 0.5, the lowest
in the company.
Third, in the area of quality, specifically the customer complaint measure, in terms of what we
deliver to the other Honda plants, we are setting company and industry records, going from 90
to 19.
And in the area of employee retention, the retention of our engineering workforce, we have
seen the biggest improvement. Two or three years ago, the leadership team was not doing a
very good job of communicating and developing relationships with our younger engineers.
Attrition was close to 17 percent, meaning we were losing 17 percent of our manpower
annually. Now we are hovering around 6 percent and moving toward our goal of 3 percent. So,
we have made incredible gains in the retention area, and those gains impact every area of the
operation.
What changes are you and your leadership team now making?
We are now trying to accelerate culture change—from a reactive to a creative style—from a
focus on problems/threats and fear/reactions, to a focus on purpose/vision and passion/action.
FCG helped us start the journey (it never ends) by first identifying three prevailing reactive
leadership characteristics: 1) Controlling: defined as leadership by personal achievement
(autocratic); 2) Protecting: defined as protecting self by withdrawal, distance, superiority
(ambitious/arrogant); and 3) Complying: defined as achieving self-‐worth and security by
complying with expectations of others (pleasing). They helped us see that by applying what we
learned to increase our skills and capabilities, we also increase our contributions and
fulfillment, with less waste of energy and resources.
How are you developing your leadership at HPPG?
FCG has helped us develop creative leadership competencies—to become fully integrated, to
grow from reactive to creative leaders—in five areas: 1) Relating: defined as a leader’s ability to
relate to others and contribute to their success; 2) Self-‐awareness: defined as leadership
development through the expression of high integrity leadership; 3) Authenticity: defined as
leader relationships through genuine, authentic, and courageous relating; 4) Systems
awareness: defined as how well the leader recognizes the whole environmental system,
productivity, and community welfare; and 5) Achieving: defined as the extent to which a leader
offers visionary, authentic, high achievement leadership.
Why are you making these changes?
We now know that the way we used to respond to problems was wrong. When we were
trapped in the vicious cycle of Problem-‐Reacting (Problem/threat to Fear to Reactions) our
typical response to threats and fears was emotional and occasionally hostile. Emotions ran
high, and the end result was much frustration.
To create the culture we want to establish, we had to transcend the reactive styles and practice
outcome creating: vision/purpose to passion to actions. Our focus now is on building
relationships, and helping others to realize that we are all one team and we can rely on each
other when times are challenging.
What do you see as your next steps?
I have identified three next steps: 1) Expand what we learn as individuals and strengthen how
we interact with others, and do so with increased empathy; 2) Increase fulfillment of “The
Three Joys” (the joy of producing, the joy of selling, and the joy of buying) from product
creation through lifetime owner loyalty through end of life; and 3) Integrate the Honda
philosophy and much more to strengthen leadership across North America and achieve our
Ideal Image.
What has been the impact on your management/leadership team?
Again, I can’t say that all positive results are related to FCG/HLS, but I can say that due to what
we have learned and applied, I can sense a positive culture change, especially in the
management team relationships—they are much deeper than they have ever been. Our
division managers now understand that it’s not about you being the boss—it’s about them,
about their growth and development. You can lead more effectively by understanding and
serving others. Now our associates see that the leadership team is not about top-‐down
control, but about a servant-‐leadership approach—about caring for them, their learning,
growth, and development.
How has the FCG Leadership Circle Profile experience changed you personally?
While I can’t attribute any single result wholly and specifically to this training, I can say that the
positive changes in me, and in our culture and business performance, come as a result of
everything that FCG brought to the table—their holistic (whole systems) approach to change,
the entire package. In the beginning, at least for me, the FCG/HLS experience was really about
learning more about myself as a manager and leader, receiving the LCP feedback, and
understanding that if I wanted to see change in our team and company, I needed to change
first. I was then motivated to get more of my leadership team through that FCG process so
they would understand how I was trying to change and why we needed to change as a team.
Do you feel that you now have a critical mass of people who have experienced the FCG
process so that the positive changes can be sustained?
We are close to having that critical mass. So far, four of us have experienced the process, and
three more members of my leadership team are slated to go through it. Having four of us has
definitely led to deeper discussions on core issues, and we act differently on those issues (not
just react to them). We are now trying to cascade it down to the rest of the organization. So we
have been developing modules for discussion. In our monthly leadership meetings, I take one
module topic and turn it into a 30-‐minute discussion—on being vulnerable or on being
extraordinary, for example—because I don’t want to lose the momentum we have established
over the last two years.
How has the FCG Leadership Circle Profile helped you grow as a leader?
Before receiving the results of my first profile, I was very confident, even cocky, in my
management capabilities. When I received my LCP results, I think I cried for a week. I can laugh
about it now because my second one was 100 percent better (the second one was what I
wanted the first one to be). I didn’t realize how bad I was as a manager until I got the results of
my first LCP. But I learned from it. In fact, I kept my first LCP on my desk for well over a year. I
would come in early every morning, and I would look at it. That helped drive the things I
wanted to change because I didn’t want to be the person that the LCP said I was.
What is it about the LCP that drives such meaningful change?
The LCP is very descriptive of the characteristics you now have and very prescriptive of what
you should aspire to be. It first gives you a comprehensive understanding of where you are.
And then based on the feedback from your leaders and subordinates, it shows you modules for
change.
When I shared the material with my team and showed them my LCP results, they were able to
give me examples of my behavior. Even though this hit home hard, those discussions were
extremely positive. It led to many courageous discussions. So I took that feedback and put
together a plan for how I would change. For example, I’m a very controlling person—it is hard
for me to let go. I’ve really had to force myself to let go. And what I’ve seen is that the more I
let go, the more responsibility and accountability the division managers below me take. So
when there is a crisis situation, instead of jumping in and taking control as the leader, I am
letting my leadership team do that. That was really hard for me to do in the beginning. But I
see them take more responsibility and accountability on themselves to lead in those situations.
So it has made a big difference in me personally and in my leadership team. And you can see
the difference in our business, in the quality of our products and the productivity of the plant—
all our business characteristics have improved significantly. We can continue to improve—that
is a core philosophy of Honda. But Deloitte came in here recently with the idea they could help
us improve, and after seeing the performance measures, they said, “We can’t help you.”
How has it been to work with Full Circle Group?
I can’t say enough good things about FCG, about Bill Adams and Bob Anderson and the team.
They are very encouraging, very inspirational. I told Bill. “I’ve worked at Honda for 31 years—25
years in some management position. I just wish that I had received this training 25 years ago.”
They are outstanding to work with. I’ve learned a lot. They are very good at explaining the
what, how, and why of change.