When Salam was promoted to Plant Manager at Anugerah Oleochem Sdn. Bhd., he inherited more than just an office with a view of towering storage tanks and steam rising from the boilers. He inherited a plant that was drowning in low morale, siloed departments, and a culture of micromanagement so thick it suffocated initiative.
For years, decisions were made at the top — by one or two people — and filtered down as orders. Operators were told what to do, but never why. Engineers followed instructions without questioning, and supervisors learned to keep their heads down to avoid being blamed when things went wrong.
The Turning Point
In his first month, Salam noticed something troubling: production targets were often missed, yet meetings were filled with nodding heads and silence. No one was brave enough to speak up. Problems stayed hidden until they became crises. Maintenance delays, quality rejections, and frequent breakdowns were the norm.
One late evening, while walking through the plant floor, Salam saw an operator struggling to fix a pump alignment. He asked why it hadn’t been addressed earlier, and the operator shrugged:
“Sir, I reported it last week. But the engineer said the manager didn’t approve the downtime. So we just run it like this.”
It struck Salam hard — the plant wasn’t short of skilled people. It was short of trust.
Breaking the Chains of Micromanagement
Salam made a promise to himself: This plant will run on teamwork, not fear.
Step by step, he began dismantling the old ways.
1. Pushing Down Decision-Making
Salam told his engineers and supervisors:
“You are closest to the problem. That means you’re also closest to the solution. You don’t need to wait for my green light on everything. If it’s within your scope and you have the facts, decide.”
At first, there was hesitation. People were so used to being told exactly what to do. But Salam stood firm — when decisions were made and mistakes happened, he didn’t punish; he reviewed, discussed, and helped them learn.
2. Accepting Mistakes as Part of Growth
In a maintenance shutdown, a supervisor approved a seal replacement that didn’t fully solve a leakage issue. Instead of blaming him, Salam called the team together to troubleshoot. The result? The issue was fixed, and the team gained confidence that they could solve problems without fear of reprimand.
3. Building the Bench
Salam invested in sending staff to external workshops on process optimization, safety management, and leadership. More importantly, he encouraged internal knowledge-sharing sessions every Friday. Senior operators taught juniors about distillation column operations, and process engineers walked the maintenance team through automation systems.
4. Changing the Narrative
Salam replaced the old “command and control” morning briefings with open discussions. He asked:
“What’s the biggest challenge in your area today, and what do you need from the team to solve it?”
Slowly, people began speaking up. Maintenance shared their spare parts shortage.
QA discussed recurring off-spec batches. Instead of finger-pointing, production offered adjustments, and logistics promised faster coordination.
The Results
Within a year, the plant’s atmosphere had transformed. Operators took ownership of their lines. Engineers initiated improvement projects without waiting for approval. Safety incidents dropped because workers were empowered to stop unsafe work immediately.
Production efficiency rose by 12%. Customer complaints fell by half. The plant achieved its highest output in five years — and for the first time, the Best Performing Plant Award in the company’s history.
When asked by the Managing Director how he did it, Salam smiled and replied:
“I stopped trying to be the hero. I built a team of heroes instead.”
And in the break room, the once-quiet employees now laughed, discussed ideas, and planned for the next improvement. The plant wasn’t just running better — it was alive.
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