Would You Apply to Work at Your Own Shop? How Leaders Build, Model, and Protect Culture | Ep. 15

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

If you left your company today, would you apply to work there tomorrow? Forget your ownership stake, your title, and the years you’ve invested. If you walked through the door looking for a job, would you want to stay?

That’s the question Paul Barnes and I tackle in this episode. Every manufacturing business has a culture, but how much of it have we built intentionally? From a new hire’s first morning to the way we respond when a shipment is late, our people experience the decisions we make every day—and the behaviors we allow.

We talk about building trust, preparing new employees for success, and confronting the hard decisions that come with protecting a team. I also share why we parted ways with one of our best machinists and what that experience taught me about the cost of tolerating a bad attitude.

Throughout the conversation, we challenge ourselves to look beyond production numbers and ask what it actually feels like to work in our businesses.

What’s Covered in this Episode

• (1:58) If you left today, would you apply to work at your own company?
• (2:25) First impressions start at the front desk
• (4:26) Culture can’t be dictated—and what you hire shapes it
• (5:35) Kennametal: tooling built to cut faster and run longer
• (6:25) Chick-fil-A and “my pleasure” as intentional culture
• (7:55) What culture is: shared values, beliefs, expectations, and behaviors
• (8:28) Why pizza and perks are not your culture
• (12:41) 33% of employees quit over a toxic work environment
• (13:40) Culture starts with leadership, especially under pressure
• (14:52) Trust, safety to admit mistakes, and quality versus shipping pressure
• (17:01) An open door policy with closed door conversations
• (21:27) Why leaders apologize and own the outcome
• (23:34) Navu: AI chat for your website, trained on your own content
• (24:46) Safety culture: lockout, guarding, and PPE leaders walk past
• (31:54) Day one experience and the 30 day plan for new hires
• (37:34) Prepare for a new hire like a VIP customer visit
• (40:30) Buy the Numbers: Mike Payne on the financial side of manufacturing
• (43:18) The top machinist with a toxic attitude and the decision to part ways
• (48:41) Skip-level conversations to see what leaders miss
• (49:55) Hennig Workflow: pallet automation for lights-out machining
• (50:45) Hiring for values and character first
• (53:40) Building values into reviews and promotion criteria
• (54:34) Consistency, starting meetings on time, and “thank you for your patience”
• (57:04) The challenge: walk your floor as an employee, would you recommend it to your child?

Resources Mentioned

• Kennametal
• Navu
• By the Numbers
• Hennig Workflow

Connect with Jason Davis and Paul Barnes

• The Manufacturing Blueprint
• Connect on LinkedIn