Leadership Handbook ebook

LEADERSHIPHANDBOOK



IntroductionHolding a leadership position isn't always easy. As such, this handbook has been produced to offer support and advice to any person under- taking a leadership role.This handbook is provided to all grades of stafffrom Project Managers to Technicians and Lead Mechanics. The handbook contains examples to assist those who are involved in the strategic opera-tion and delivery of an aircraft, as well as thosewho are involved in a more hands on role over- seeing a team directly involved in the mainte- nance of the aircraft. Should you have any concerns or queries, be sure to speak with your line manager.



CONTENTSSignificant 6 Communication Approved Data Task Sign Up Competence Housekeeping Tool ControlCheck Management Communication—Internal Communication—External Forward Planning Foreseeing Risk Mitigation Planning Contingency Planning Decision MakingStaff Performance Management Employee Reviews Notes



Communication

Handovers—End of dayAt the end of every shift day, it is your responsibility to remind, andensure that the area technicians have completed the handover di-ary, documenting any key safety critical tasks in progress. Beforeyou go, think to yourself2.1. Have I allocated any Safety Critical Tasks on the aircraft?2. Are there any systems or other hazards which could pose a Health and Safety risk?If you have answered yes to any of these questions2.have you en-sured that the area Technician has written them comprehensively inthe handover diary.Handovers—Start of dayOne of the first tasks that you should carry out when starting work isto review the handover diary. When checking the handover diary,you should:1. Check to see whether there are any Safety Critical tasks in progress on the aircraft2. See if there are any areas that could pose a health and safety risk3. Ensure that the handover diary has been completed by all of the area technicians the previous day4. Feedback if the handover has not been completed correctly5. If the handover has not been completed, discuss with the rele- vant area technician and communicate the expectation from you, and the organisation that the handover diary is completed to the correct standard

Shift ContinuityThis is one of those areas which although very simple to employ,can be extremely effective in helping to combat missed steps in aprocedure should another member of staff pick up the task.Shift continuity is especially important for Safety Critical tasks,where errors by personnel can dramatically affect the safety of theaircraft.Discuss Significant RisksThis important area will be covered in detail in the ‘Check Manage-ment’ area of this handbookReporting of OccurrencesAs someone in a leadership role, whenever there is an incident oraccident, you should quickly speak with the person, to reassurethem and receive a debrief of the incident. Some staff may be anx-ious about punitive action if they feel they have done somethingwrong. If this instance should occur, reassure them and let themknow that KLM UK Engineering operate what is called a ‘JUST’ cul-ture. This is that:Having reassured them, and received a de-brief, you should ensurethat an Occurrence Report is raised on the system so that theSafety & Compliance department are made aware as soon after theincident as practicable.

Approved Data

Use of Approved DataIt is everyone's responsibility to ensure that staff at all levels are us-ing approved data. If you see anyone about to commence a taskwithout the Maintenance Manual, be sure to quietly speak withthem, and ensure that they are refereeing to the manuals.People often feel uncomfortable about the idea of ‘challenging’ oth-ers, but the word challenging is very misleading. It is simply a caseof having a conversation with someone, e.g. ‘Hi Ben, just double checking you’ve printed the manual for the main wheel removal’Most people know about the most common types of Approved Datae.g. using the AMM or SRM when carrying out a task, but peopleoften forget about some of the other sources of approved data,these being:Company Wide Procedures (CWP’s)Work Place Instructions (WPI)Maintenance Authorisation Manual (MAM) This documents the scope of everyone's approval from Mechanics through to the Managing Director)All of these documents are held on Q Pulse.If you are ever unsure, please contact the Safety & Compliance De-partment who will be able to help you navigate around the Q PulseSystem.

Task Sign up

Awaiting Inspection CardsThis is a big no no. Whenever there is an inspection required, itshould be accomplished during the originating shift. End of Day Sign-UpBy ensuring that this is achieved, there is never a situation wherethere is a final flurry of activity relating to paperwork at the end ofthe aircraft input. It is in these situations where task cards can bepassed in front of other people asking them to sign for an item ofwork that is carried out.As part of the leadership team, you must: • Ensure that the task cards allocated to your technicians are being signed up on a daily basis. A good way to achieve this is an ‘In work’ area in each work areas card rack so you can check at the end of each shift day. • Ensure that any outstanding tasks in your area are staged • Ensure that all inspections (Duplicate and RII’s) are in- spected on the same day as they are carried out.

Tool Control

Tool ChecksEnd of DayAt the end of each day, you should actively ensure that staff in yourarea are returning their tools at the end of their daily shift.The tool screen should be checked every morning to identifywhether any individual still has tools against their name. If this isthe case, you should speak with them to remind them of the re-quirement to return their tools.If the member of staff repeatedly fails to return their tools, youshould look into implementing further action as appropriate withyour Line Manager and Human ResourcesEnd of ShiftAs someone with a leadership role, you must ensure that the end ofshift peer review inspections are carried out by all of the membersof staff in your team.On the last day of your shift, you should remind all of the staff of thetool check requirement, and encourage them to allow sufficient timeat the end of the day to carry these checks out (Approximately 10minutes)Missing ToolsIf someone reports a missing tool to you, you should ensure thatyou following the lost/missing tooling procedure (CWP 2.6/3 Lost/Missing Tooling Procedure), and fill out UK/E/2748d.

Competence

Dealing with the problemsThis is a big subject, but it is truly key to ensuring that you as some-one in a leadership role are not having to ‘run around’ after otherpeople carrying out additional tasks as others are not completingthem as they should be.Competence of an individual is assessed in many ways, both for-mally and informally. Some of the ways in which an individualscompetence is assed and fed back could be: • Personal observation You may notice that an individual is doing some thing either good or bad • Comments from other members of staff • Formal review formsIt is really important that whenever an individual does somethingwhich isn't to the correct standard, it is identified and addressed in atimely manner. The REASON that the person didn't do somethingright however is crucial in ensuring you address the issue in theright way, for example:• A mechanic doesn't return their tools at the end of the shiftThe way in which you can address this depends on the reason whyfor example:1. Why did it happen? The mechanic is new, and didn't know that they had to return their tools ACTION Speak with the mechanic one to one, and brief them of the re- quirement to return their tools Why did it happen?2. The mechanic forgot to return them, the mechanic does not normally forget ACTION Speak with the mechanic one to one, remind them of the need to return the tools, but acknowledge that it is only a one off. You should monitor the situation to ensure it doesn't become a regular problem

3. Why did it happen? The mechanic stayed late last night and ran out of time ACTION Speak with the mechanic one to one, ensure you acknowledge and thank them for the support the previous evening, and mention the tooling. Acknowledge with them that you recog- nise that it is only a one off.4. Why did it happen? This happens regularly, the mechanic repeatedly leaves tools out ACTION If you have gone through the process of reminding the mechanic politely and they still continue not to do as re- quired, it is time to escalate. You are able to give the member of staff a verbal warning and communicate this with the Human Resources department. If their action still does not continue, specific performance manage ment procedures can be put in place with Human Re sources.By escalating the issue in this manner, it enables you to help im-prove the standards whilst then also identifying people who are re-peatedly falling short of the required rules.By dealing with these issues in a timely manner and puttingaction plans in place for these people where required, it willaddress the issue, so you as someone responsible for theleadership of a team will not need to be continually ‘tellingpeople the same things’ freeing up your time to undertakeother tasks.

Getting the best out of peopleIt is really important with all staff that the organisation coaches anddevelops people to improve, this makes the organisation more effi-cient, but also helps ensure that every member of staff is hopefullyprogressing in the way that they want to.To achieve this, you must identify areas that either may need devel-opment from the companies position e.g. standards, or behaviours,but also developing people individually so they can aspire to pro-gress. Coach Support Show Self sufficientShow Show the person what is expected until they feelCoach comfortableSupport Watch and support the person, guiding them as re-Self sufficient quired Allow the individual to work without direct support but be available for questions as required The person is able to competently complete the task

Staff Performance ReviewsThe coaching model on the previous page demonstrates the differinglevels of supervision that is required to ensure that the member ofstaff can be developed both personally, and professionally. Alloca-tion of tasks and support using this model gives a ‘live’ way to de-velop the staff on a daily basis, however,It is important to have a more formal review on a regular basis. Thisensures that the member of staff has clear goals to work towards,and the company is able to document any personal aspirations.This review is carried out on the ’Employee Review Form’.The form is extremely self explanatory, and marks the member ofstaff according to the Significant 6 standards as well as those areaskey to the reliability and performance of the member of staff.

Housekeeping

HousekeepingEnsuring that the bay that you are working in is clean and tidy isvery important. A clean, well organised bay not only helps ensurethat maintenance is easier to perform.You are supported in this task by the bay Accountable Leads, whoperform a daily walk around and identify any areas that may requireimprovement.It is important that when this happens, you brief the team of the ex-pectations, and ensure that it is rectified that day. If you identifythat there is a specific person or group of people, you should ap-proach these people directly to address the issue.Refer to the Competence section of the handbook for more guid-ance on ways to approach any issues that may arise.

Check ManagementCheck management is a broad term, however, as someone with aleadership role, its especially relevant to you to ensure that you cansupport your Line Manager and ensure as far as reasonably possi-ble, that the maintenance input is not compromised in relation tosafety, compliance, on time delivery, customer, employee and prof-itability. Your role is not purely limited to the ‘technical skills’ of air-craft maintenance, but also the ’non technical’ skills relating to man-aging staff performance & behaviour, effective planning of tasks,allocation of staff and driving of standards throughout the team,challenging where required.Check Management covers the requirements and expectations re-lating to:• Communication (Internal & External)• Forward Planning • Foreseeing Risks (Safety & Compliance) • Foreseeing Risks (Delivery) • Mitigation Planning • Contingency Planning• Decision Making• Staff Performance Management ORDER OF PRIORITY

CommunicationBe concise, but get it right...

Communication—InternalWhen communicating to your staff, the language used is very im-portant. Often, an inadvertent statement can be misinterpreted byother staff members to mean something else.There are many examples of where we will experience multiple dif-ferent outcomes depending on the method of communication weselect. Tailor your message content and delivery mindful of the ex-pected outcome.It is important to take the time to select the most appropriate form ofcommunication and delivery method. Take time to challenge your-self and get it right. Help people understand the intent of your mes-sage to avoid misunderstanding.Understand your audience and adjust your pitch accordingly.At times when you feel you or your team have been let down bypoor comms, challenge yourselves with respect to how you couldhave contributed to improve the communication.Manage team behaviour in order to share information readily andefficiently.Be sure to fully understand the internal communication protocol re-garding aircraft progress and commercially sensitive information.’

Communication—InternalWhen briefing teams therefore, it is important to ensure that all ofthe relevant areas are communicated.Briefing format:• Work Allocation What work do we expect to achieve today Note, the word expect links to the previous area of Ensuring that the work you are allocating can realistically be achieved• Safety Risks What safety risks are present on the aircraft These risks may include, but are not limited to: Functional tests, how will this interact with other areas e.g. Leading edge functional checks, and ‘C’ ducts open Major component removals e.g. rudder removal and crane operation• Standards Standards surrounding the Significant 6 behaviours. Have their been recent findings by the morning ‘Accountable Team’ which need to be focussed on to ensure that they are Improved• Other business Are there any customers or auditors on site Are there any company notices that need discussing

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Communication—ExternalAs someone with a leadership role you are likely to have alot of interactions with the onsite Customer Representative.A good working relationship between the customer and our organi-sation is crucial, and as someone with a leadership role, you are ahugely important part of achieving that.Getting the balance between ensuring the customer is happy andthe organisation is operating efficiently is a challenge. There maybe times where customers may want something which organisation-ally we are unable to offer. Sticking by the areas below will go along way to achieving that balance.Be ProfessionalIt may seem like an obvious one, but in the heat of the moment, itcan get forgotten. It is important to ‘know your customer’, andknow what they expect of you in terms of communication. Custom-ers will respect honesty but be sensitive to message timing and de-livery. When you deputise for a PM always be clear on the last for-mal communications with the customers. Be sure to follow delaynotification process and the escalation protocol should the situationchange as shown on the next page.The customer may try at times to put the organisation in a positionwhere we would unjustifiably be losing out. E.g. not authorisingjustifiable defect hours etc. In this instance, be polite, but be firm,we as an organisation are here to perform a job, and shouldn't beexpected to lose out. Reference flow chart over leaf.Customer or Supplier?Often confused. Be clear on the difference. Suppliers provide a ser-vice to KLMUKE and/or KLMUKE’s Customers. As we would expectwith any supplier professionally or personally—challenge the ser-vice to match the demand. Set a very clear expectation and do notnaturally default to assuming responsibility for poor performing sup-pliers. Make sure that you balance the considerations as to howKLMUKE can support the customer requirement and recovery ac-tion

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