What is it about?
In every factory, someone has to keep production moving while machines break down, parts run late, people call in sick and plans change at the last minute. That job usually falls to the first-line manager, the person positioned between shop-floor workers, technical specialists and senior management. We studied what these managers actually do across the working day and how they cope with this steady flow of problems, large and small. Their ability to hold production steady under pressure turns out to be a form of resilience, and it is not simply a matter of individual talent. It depends heavily on the support around them: clear and timely information, the right tools and routines, and backing from the wider organisation. When that support is in place, managers can adapt quickly and keep work flowing. We also show that coordination is the thread tying this resilience together, linking the right people, information and resources at the right moment.
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Why is it important?
Factories depend on the ability to keep producing when conditions are unpredictable, and first-line managers sit at the heart of that ability. Yet their work is often invisible and poorly supported. This study shows that resilience can be fostered on purpose, rather than left to a few capable individuals coping under strain. By improving the infrastructure around first-line managers, such as information flow, tools, routines and organisational backing, companies can strengthen both production stability and the working conditions of the staff these managers lead. The findings give managers, engineers and decision-makers a practical way to think about where to invest, and they matter for worker well-being too, because the same support that helps managers adapt also shields the people on the line from stress and poor ergonomics.
Perspectives
Research and management attention has tended to focus either on shop-floor workers or on senior strategy, leaving the people in between largely taken for granted. Observing first-line managers up close made clear how much skill and judgement their everyday work demands, and how routinely they absorb problems that would otherwise halt production. What we hope readers take away is that resilience is not a heroic individual quality to admire from a distance. It is something organisations can design for and support. If one idea travels from this paper into practice, we would like it to be this: look after your first-line managers and give them the conditions to do their job well, because they are quietly holding the system together.
Denis Coelho
Jonkoping University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The work of first line managers – A key to resilience in manufacturing, Applied Ergonomics, July 2023, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2023.103993.
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