2.Define New Cultural Norms

For companies like UPS and CSX that have a mobile workforce, a major benefit of wireless technology comes from its capability to collect data on worker performance. For workers at these companies who are used to the independence of being on the road or rails, new systems that can monitor their every move may generate fear. To get workers to accept such systems, managers positioned them as tools for improving performance, rather than as disciplinary devices.

UPS's Levis notes that drivers were apprehensive about the DIAD IV because the device can associate a misdelivery with an individual driver. The system is designed to make drivers more accountable for their performance, but Levis acknowledges the information could be misused. Thus, he has been drilling into managers' heads that the driver information isn't to be used for discipline.

Likewise, locomotive engineers for CSX, the largest rail network in the Eastern United States, were not used to having their performance observed minute-by-minute. Historically, they learned the nuances of their storied trade mostly from other engineers, without input from supervisors. "It was all on-the-job training," says Matt Gross, a road foreman and a former engineer. One thing engineers learned was to ignore the speed limit when they could (just as automobile drivers do), expending more fuel and wearing out the engine faster in the process.

Although the engineers received yearly visits from road foremen like Gross, like most human beings, they put on a good show for the supervisor's annual ride-along. "If someone knows they're being monitored, they tend to behave in a different manner," observes Gross.

Then in 2004, CSX deployed the event recorder automated download (ERAD). Similar to the "black box" in an aeroplane, ERAD logs how the engineer handles the locomotive: how hard and how often he brakes, how much fuel he uses and whether the train is going down a hill or is on a straightaway. The data is wirelessly transmitted to access points along the routes, which in turn feed a rules-based back-office system that creates metrics and scorecards for engineer feedback.

However, the engineers were apprehensive about giving management that unprecedented window into their performance. "When you roll out anything new, there's always a level of misunderstanding and fear," Gross says. "It takes time; there's still some guys that don't understand it."

To quell engineers' fears, CSX provided documentation to explain how ERAD works and what data it collects. But it's the responsibility of supervisors like Gross to continue educating the engineers about how the device can help them do a better job. ERAD encourages managers to take a more active role in the engineers' training, Gross says. For instance, if ERAD notes an exception to the locomotive operating rules (say the engineer was speeding), Gross has to show the engineer his scorecard, which details - using charts that show speed, distance travelled and other metrics - what he did wrong. Then Gross tells the engineer what he is expected to do instead in order to operate the train in the safest, most cost-effective way. "We haven't used it as a disciplinary tool," he says. But getting engineers to respond to the feedback they get is an ongoing process. "We're starting to get the behaviour we want," says Gross, whose own performance evaluation depends on how well his 160 reports are handling their locomotives.

In fact, ERAD has filled what CSX executives considered to be an ongoing training gap, which they were aware of but hadn't known how to address. "We want to continue training and enforcement of rules, and continually reinforce best practices through observation," says John West, president of CSX Technology. Ensuring engineers follow the rules saves money. This year alone, CSX claims unprecedented fuel savings because engineers are handling the locomotives more effectively. Given that each locomotive holds 5000 gallons of diesel, the improved performance is worth millions.

But the impact transcends finances, according to West. "This is just the start of the opportunity of working with these guys more closely," he says. "It is changing the way we run our business and changing the way folks in the field operate."