Sawan Jasoliya

Over the years, I have noticed a pattern in almost every underperforming plant I have worked in. At first glance, it appears that the employees are the problem. The same people have been there for years, yet the plant struggles. Productivity is poor. People seem unwilling to work. The obvious conclusion is, "The workforce is weak." But that is rarely the real reason. When I spend time understanding the organization, a different picture emerges. The employees have been living with years of unfair treatment. Salaries are below market standards. Salary payments are delayed. Annual increments are negligible or absent. Promotions and increments are influenced by favoritism or the ability to pressure management. Unnecessary salary deductions become common. Eventually, people stop giving their best. They simply adjust to surviving. A poor salary gets compensated by an easy work environment. Then a new Plant Head arrives. If he merely follows the existing system, nothing changes. He ...

Every organization develops its own culture. Sometimes intentionally. Sometimes accidentally. During my career, I have noticed that the biggest challenge in a manufacturing plant is rarely machinery. It is the way authority is distributed and exercised. In one organization, the Chairman is the ultimate authority, but several Directors enjoy almost equal influence. Each Director is entrusted with a set of departments. One looks after Mechanical, Projects and Stores. Another oversees Production and Quality. A third manages Automobiles. Yet another handles Electrical, Instrumentation, HR, IT, ERP and Branding. On paper, the arrangement appears balanced. In practice, it can create unexpected consequences. Some Directors stay at the plant in guest rooms, just like I do. Officially, the working hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. In reality, people appear and disappear according to personal convenience. Weekends often resemble a family retreat, with guests, children and relatives visiting ...

Our morning meeting started with the prayer. Then I asked two simple questions. "Who has experienced a flood?" A few hands went up. "Who knows swimming?" Again, a few hands. Everyone was wondering where I was going with this. So I told them a story. I know swimming. And I have experienced two major floods. Not once, but in two consecutive years. 2005 and 2006. The first flood It was a Sunday morning in June'2005. I was serving my notice period. Water started collecting on the colony roads. Nothing unusual. It had happened before. But this time, it didn't stop. Soon it reached our doorstep. Then it entered the house. Two of my friends with their families were at our home. The children were enjoying the rising water. Every few minutes they became more excited. Finally, we decided to move out. On the main road, people were happily standing in knee-deep water. Some were even washing their vehicles as if it were a picnic. We reached the temple outside the townshi...

The industrial buzzword "Root Cause Analysis" (RCA) is often more about bureaucracy than breakthroughs. In reality, most RCAs are post-mortem paperwork drills that end up blaming the "Doer" rather than fixing the "Design." True RCA is a leadership skill, not a clerical task. Here is why the industry is getting it wrong: 1. RCA is an "In-the-Moment" Reflex, Not a Meeting If you perform an RCA weeks after a failure, you aren’t analyzing data - you’re analyzing memories and assumptions. Real RCA happens parallel to problem-solving. A leader identifies the "why" while the "how" is being fixed. The "Doer" Trap: When done later, the easiest target is the person closest to the error. The Systemic Reality: True RCA looks past human error to the systemic gap that allowed the error to happen. 2. Leadership is RCA in Action Not everyone can do a real RCA because not everyone is willing to "turn their back on the crowd...

What you can't imagine when you go from Production Manager to Plant Manager... As a Production Manager, you feel like you already see the whole plant. You see processes, shifts, indicators, costs and tons. But when you get to Plant Manager... You realize that was just one part of the game. What you don't imagine is that: Now you represent the entire plant, up, down, and out. The problems do not end at the mill... they start with the community, the union, the customers, the environment. You don't report figures... You deliver results to a country, to a corporation that expects total vision. You don't just manage resources... you answer for what a plant spends and produces that invoices $700,000 USD daily. You're no longer part of the pressure. You are the one who absorbs it, filters it and transforms it into decisions. And the most difficult thing is not to get there. It is to keep going. Because sustaining yourself as a Plant Manager requires more than results. Requ...

Is Your Budget Helping the Plant or Hurting It? Budgeting is not a ritual. It’s a strategic exercise , or at least it’s meant to be. But what has it become in many plants today? Let’s talk honestly.  A simple formula:  “[Last year’s budget] – [20%]” That’s how it starts. No real discussions. No real-time condition assessment. No logic. Just blind cost-cutting . "Last year we spent ₹10 lakhs on spares? Okay, this year we will spend ₹8 lakhs." "We used 5000 litres of lubricant last year? Let's target 4000 litres this year." But… Why? Is the plant going to run fewer hours this year? Are prices coming down? Are you expecting fewer breakdowns? No one asks. No one answers. Where’s the Vision? True budgeting demands vision — a long-term vision. But these days, teams are unstable , and no one stays long enough to think about the long-term impact of short-term cuts. Let’s take an example that might sound familiar to you: The Cleaning Manpower Example Suppos...

Whenever I step into a sick or non-performing plant , I can almost predict what I’ll find— A very good, very nice, very loved person in a higher position. People will say, "He’s such a nice person!" Ask them why? No clear answers. What’s his contribution? No real explanation. But he is loved. In fact, he is the most visited, praised, and admired person in the entire plant. And let me tell you— he really is a genuinely nice human being. But here’s the catch... Why is a Non-Performing Plant’s Most Loved Leader Also the Biggest Problem? The truth is, this "nice" leader is always good for nothing. Why? Because: ❌ He lets people do whatever they want—except their REAL work.  ❌ He keeps everyone happy by never enforcing discipline.  ❌ He avoids conflicts instead of solving problems. ❌ He enjoys being surrounded by people —who love him for allowing inefficiency to flourish. And the plant? It remains sick. How to Identify This "Nice" Leader? ...

More inventory does not always mean better availability of spares. In fact, the more unnecessary inventory you have, the less likely you are to find the exact spare you need when a breakdown happens. This thought crossed my mind when I heard about the breakdown of a bucket elevator gearbox at Sebit, West Pokot plant —a place where I worked for a short time. The plant was shut down for 12 days due to the unavailability of a spare gearbox. Unfortunately, this is a recurring issue there. There was no scientific approach to procurement—just blind purchasing to save their skins. But in reality, no one can escape the consequences of poor planning. And then there’s the bigger issue: it was an old Chinese plant. After running its full life in China and being exploited to the maximum, it was sold to Devki Group, Kenya. Imagine the situation for a mechanical maintenance engineer in a plant like this—no proper manuals, no part lists, and no structured systems. Every day and every night...

Let’s be honest— we all want to grow. Some of us, however, don’t just want to grow… we want to grow FAST. And here’s the thing: These are two very different results. If you want different results, you need to act differently. Growth Doesn’t Happen Just Because You’re Getting Older We’re talking about career growth —promotion, elevation, increment, or even all of them together. But here’s the reality check: 📌 Someone (a person or a system) has to approve your growth. 📌 Just getting older won’t get you there. Time alone doesn’t qualify you. 📌 You must prove that you’re ready for the next level before you’re given that role. 📌 In fact, you need to start doing the things required for that position—before you even get it. Read that again. Everything here has a deeper meaning. So, How Do You Become Eligible for the Next Big Thing in Your Career? The first step is clarity —you must know what’s next for you. Ask yourself: ✅ What is my next target role ? ✅ What are the prerequisites for t...