Background: 

A woven garments factory with 12 production lines is struggling to sustain its business operations. The owner is facing significant challenges due to poor individual and team performance. The symptoms of this underperformance are critical:

• Failure to meet customer deadlines
• Poor adherence to customer quality standards
• Rising daily operational cost
• Increased internal conflicts and blame-shifting
• High risk of losing potential and long-term buyers

Without immediate intervention, the factory is at risk of losing its market reputation and business continuity. 

To ensure business sustainability, a structured 5-step performance development plan is proposed to enhance productivity, accountability, and efficiency. 

5-Step Business Sustainability & Performance Development Plan

Step-1: Fix Job Locations and Balance Manpower (Duration: 45 Days)

• Conduct a comprehensive audit of existing manpower: their current location, designation, and skill set. 
• Reallocate workers based on skill match and production needs for each line, section or department.
• Assign clear job responsibilities and finalize manpower planning for all 12 lines. 
• Ensure there is neither overstaffing nor understaffing in any production line.
• Document and communicate the new layout to all supervisors and line leaders.

Objective: Eliminate role ambiguity and improve overall line efficiency.

Step-2: Instill Job Discipline and On-Hands Training (Duration: 60 Days // 12 to 24 days/Year)

• Launch a mandatory on-hands training program covering:
  • Job Discipline (timing, behavior, teamwork)
  • Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
  • Quality checkpoints and customer expectations.

• Assign floor trainers or skilled line leaders to coach less-experienced workers.
• Use real-life production scenarios to provide practical learning.

Objective: Develop a skilled, disciplined, and quality-conscious workforce.

Step 3: Daily Performance Tracking & Public Display (To be continued)

Introduce a daily line-wise performance board visible to all team members.

• Measure and record metrics such as:
  • Target vs Actual Output
  • Quality Pass Rate
  • Downtime Hours

• At the end of each day, identify and display:
  • Top 2 Performing Lines
  • 3 Worst Performing Lines

Objective: Foster transparency, accountability, and healthy competition.

Step-4: Engage in Daily Communication & Apply “Change or Change” Strategy (To be continued)

• Conduct daily 10-minute communication huddles at the start or end of shifts:
  • Recognize achievements
  • Share lessons from errors
  • Discuss line-specific performance

• For underperformers:
  • First, provide counseling and focused retraining.
  • If no improvement is seen, follow the “Change or Change” formula:
    • Change the person through training
    • If ineffective, change the person by replacing them.

Objective: Foster accountability while offering support and development 

Step 5: Appreciate Top Performers and Introduce Reward Forecasting (To be continued)

• Celebrate daily and weekly performance leaders with:
  • Verbal appreciation.
  • Small token rewards (e.g. badges, lunch coupons).

• Forecast and implement a structured Reward & Recognition program tied to:
  • Consistent performance
  • Innovation and problem-solving
  • Leadership behavior on the line

Objective: Motivate workers, reduce turnover, and build a high-performance culture. 

Conclusion: 

The woven garments factory can only sustain itself through structured discipline, transparent performance monitoring, active development, and recognition of people.  These five steps provide a practical, time-bound approach to transform the production floor into a performance-driven environment. With leadership commitment and workforce engagement, the factory can regain its customer trust, ensure quality output, reduce costs, and ultimately build long-term business sustainability.