1. We are industry professionals serving industry professionals. Our team is and will be made up of industry professionals who take their jobs seriously, but not themselves. We strive for world class professional interactions with our customers and within our walls. Come as you are, being comfortable is part of who we are – but don’t believe for a second that means we are not professionals.
2. Check the ego at the door. As professionals we take our work seriously, but not ourselves. It’s not about you, it’s about the success of the team and company. Don’t worry about who gets credit for what. Celebrate group success, taking things personally is counterproductive. Be OK with poking fun at yourself. People make fewer mistakes when they are relaxed.
3. Keep safety at the top of your mind. Work is a means to a lifestyle – it is the responsibility of everyone in the company to work with safety in mind so we can all go home in the same shape we came to work in. Don’t limit this to yourself – you are empowered to STOP work if you see others doing something that isn’t safe. If you are asked to do something that seems unsafe, take a time-out, and assess how the task can be completed safely. Report safety issues in and around the facilities quickly and act on a remedy before others might get hurt or injured. Don’t turn a blind eye to safety.
4. ALWAYS do the right thing. Demonstrate an unwavering commitment to doing the right thing with every decision you make and in every action you take – even when no one is looking. Always tell the truth, if you make a mistake own up to it, apologize and make it right.
5. No Passengers. At Kratos Industries we run as lean and as efficient as possible. We move quickly and to honor our commitments we show up all-in for the long haul. As professionals in every position, we don’t have room for passengers – people simply trying to slide by.
6. Trust and support each other. We ALWAYS assume people are acting in the best interests of the company as we all try and act in the best interests of the company. If we feel someone isn’t doing so, we ask them for clarification and make sure we are both on the same page. We support each other’s needs and help to minimize process times whenever we can.
7. We invest in our clients, our company and each other. Relationships are the backbone of the company. We strive to give our customers the best experience possible in good times and bad. We spend time getting to know them, understand their needs and often address them before we are asked. The same goes for the company and each other. While we are all individuals, we all are human and have certain ways we like things. Get to know those ways and work with them. You get more bees with honey than vinegar!
8. Keep it cool. This is a business made up of professionals. Keeping a cool head in difficult situations is paramount. Things don’t move more quickly because someone is yelling about something. We find calm, rational paths forward together without letting our emotions get the best of us.
9. We deliver the news early and often. In our business changes to a schedule can happen in an instant. We give our customers and each other news – good or bad – early and update it often. This gives us time to adjust to unforeseen difficulties and not leave our customers in the dark. Delivering news means sticking to facts, not elaborating on conjectures or feelings we have towards a subject.
10. Communicate clearly with the 5 W’s. Everyone digests information differently. By making sure we give each other and our customers the basic who, what, when, where and why we can minimize the chance of misunderstandings and eliminate an opportunity for prolonged communication. This isn’t a case of talking down to people, it is required in effective communication. Don’t feel looked down upon when someone gives you more information than you think you need, the details are there for a reason.
11. Pay Attention to the Details. From the spelling of a customer’s name to the specific fonts we use for company documentation, details matter. Be a fanatic about accuracy AND precision. Double-check your work before you move on from it, get the details right!
12. Work with the available data and facts. Trust your gut, but only after you have taken in all available data and facts. We are a data driven company and make data driven decisions. Don’t jump to conclusions about whether something is or isn’t a certain way, dig for the facts and make decisions accordingly. When you are asked for facts, deliver them, good or bad! We’ll learn and improve.
13. Look ahead, anticipate, and keep your head on a swivel. Opportunities come to you quickly, problems can come even faster. Assume there will be a positive outcome but recognize it is because we constantly take in information to help us anticipate needs that things go well. Don’t get caught being complacent because things are generally going well. Assume some detail is being missed and stay vigilant. Be on the hunt for problems.
14. If we aren’t growing, we are dying. Growth can mean many things and top and bottom line don’t always have to be connected. In times of revenue growth, we need to focus on margin growth for the times that will come when revenue slows, and we need to maintain our company. Growth can be uncomfortable, dive in and embrace that we are empowered to make change to support growth.
15. We build automation with automation. Build automation, with automation. Identify areas of repetitive task and find ways to automate. That can be tools on the shop floor, engineering, finance, HR or logistics. Automation helps us keep overhead low and speed maximized.
16. Relentlessly reduce waste. Waste comes in many forms; whether it is process, paper, cardboard, cycle time, process time, we relentlessly seek opportunities to reduce it.
17. We fail often, we fail fast, and we fail cheap. Employees are expected to challenge existing practices in the efforts of long-term time and cost savings, and it’s expected that some of these efforts will fail. Don’t let that deter you from trying. We aren’t looking for long waged wars but rather quick and decisive battles which can be developed, acted upon, and analyzed for success quickly and with minimal expense. This data can then be used for further expansion of the theory if needed. Be OK with dropping an idea if it doesn’t look promising, don’t try to force it.
18. Keeping it clean isn’t an idea, it’s what we do. It is the role of every individual in the company to maintain a clean, SAFE work environment. Stop and pick up debris in the aisles, parking lots, and other company property. We do this when nobody is looking and don’t go out of our way to seek praise. We don’t leave messes for others to clean, and we always offer to lend a hand to whomever needs it. A clean workspace is a safe workspace. Do not turn a blind eye to cleanliness.
19. Follow up on everything. Record a follow-up date for every action and take responsibility to see that it gets completed. We get paid to complete things, not simply get the ball rolling.
20. Deliver results. Anyone can say they are going to get something done – professionals GET things done. Do what you say you are going to do, when you say you are going to do it. Don’t let that feeling creep in that you could have done more.
21. Make Quality personal. We make world class products and quality matters. That is only possible if we each take pride in our work. Assume everything you touch is going to be seen for years to come. Whatever you touch has your signature on it. Sign in bold ink.
22. Continuous improvement is CONTINUOUS improvement. Just like Rome wasn’t built in a day, not every idea or request can become a reality in an instant. Our target is to become a World Class manufacturer in all our verticals, but the truth is we will never get there. Even if others consider us World Class, there will always be areas we can improve.
23. Wear the company flag. Our Mission Statement talks about how we operate. Take pride in the company, and more importantly, what you do for the company. Every employee is here for a reason and we all must row in the same direction to achieve success. Never speak poorly of your coworkers or the company, and wear the company colors with pride.