How Do I Make My Oshawa Company More Productive? A 90-Day Plan for Owners and Managers
Where the hours go, what to fix first, how to measure it, and how to keep the gains on your own floor.
Oshawa owners tell me the same thing in different words: everyone is busy, overtime keeps creeping up, and the numbers still do not move. Your people are not the problem. In most Oshawa companies I work with, the hours are being spent, just not on the work that moves the business.
I am Malcolm Gurley, and after 35+ years in senior executive roles at Honeywell, Johnson Controls, and Armstrong Fluid Technology, I can tell you Oshawa company productivity is rarely an effort problem. This page gives you a 90-day plan you can run yourself. For the broader version of this question, see my guide on how to make your company more productive.
Why Is Your Oshawa Company Busy but Not Productive?
Most Oshawa companies are busy but not productive because their hours leak into reactive work, rework, waiting, and meetings that decide nothing, while the few activities that grow output get whatever time is left. Effort is rarely the issue; direction is.
The pressure is real. Statistics Canada reported that the labour productivity of Canadian businesses fell 0.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, after edging down 0.3 per cent the quarter before, with goods-producing businesses down 1.7 per cent. For an Oshawa plant or contractor, that national trend shows up as more hours worked for the same output.
| Symptom | Where it shows up | First fix |
|---|---|---|
| Reactive days | Supervisors firefighting instead of planning | 15-minute plan before each shift |
| Rework | Errors caught at the end of the process | Check at the step where the error starts |
| Waiting | Approvals, parts, or information stuck in a queue | Follow one job from start to finish |
| Meetings without decisions | Status updates that could be a short report | Agenda, owner, and decision per meeting |
| Work that never gets delegated | Owners doing tasks a lead could own | Delegate one recurring task per leader |
Patterns Malcolm Gurley sees most often in Durham Region client operations; your own baseline will differ.
Where Should You Start to Improve Oshawa Company Productivity?
Start with your leaders' time and one process, not a company-wide initiative. Your managers set the pace for everyone else: Gallup research shows managers account for at least 70 per cent of the variance in employee engagement across business units, so a productivity plan that skips the managers rarely lasts. Begin with three moves:
- Pick three goals for the next 90 days, each with one number attached.
- Have every manager log their time for one week and mark which hours served those goals.
- Choose one process that frustrates customers or staff, and follow a single job through it from start to finish.
In my experience, the time log is the most uncomfortable and most useful week of the whole plan. Leaders are usually surprised how few hours go to the work only they can do.
What Does a 90-Day Productivity Plan Look Like?
A 90-day productivity plan moves in three stages: see where the time goes, fix the biggest leak, then lock the gains into standard work and a weekly scorecard. Ninety days is long enough to measure a real change and short enough to keep everyone's attention.
| Weeks | Focus | What leaders do | What you measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | Baseline | Time logs, three goals, follow one process | Hours on goal work; process cycle time |
| 3 to 4 | Daily planning | 15-minute plan each morning, priorities first | Planned vs completed tasks |
| 5 to 6 | Delegation | Hand one recurring task per leader to a lead | Leader hours freed per week |
| 7 to 8 | Fix the process | Remove one wait, one rework loop, one extra approval | Cycle time and errors vs baseline |
| 9 to 10 | Standard work | Write the new method down; train every shift | Same result across shifts |
| 11 to 13 | Scorecard and review | Weekly scorecard; compare with the baseline | Goal progress and hours recovered |
Typical sequence; timing is adjusted to each organization.
Possible downside: the plan takes about an hour a week from each manager for the first month, which feels expensive when everyone is already stretched. The delegation stage is designed to pay that hour back.
What Makes Productivity Different for Oshawa Employers?
Oshawa's mix of industries means productivity has to be measured differently on each floor. Invest Durham lists Oshawa's priority clusters as advanced manufacturing, nuclear energy generation, health and biosciences, information technology, and multimodal transportation, and each one leaks time in its own way.
| Oshawa sector | A useful weekly measure | Common time leak |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced manufacturing | Units per labour hour | Changeovers and waiting for parts |
| Nuclear energy supply chain | Planned vs completed work orders | Rework from incomplete paperwork |
| Health and biosciences | Files processed per day | Handoffs between departments |
| Information technology | Tickets resolved on first contact | Interruptions and unclear priorities |
| Multimodal transportation | Orders shipped per shift | Dock and dispatch waiting |
Sector list from Invest Durham; measures and leaks are Gurley Leadership Solutions examples, not sector benchmarks.
The same Invest Durham profile reports 1.2 million workers within a 45-minute commute and about 30,000 students at Ontario Tech University, Durham College, and other campuses, so many Oshawa companies promote supervisors from the floor who were never taught to plan or delegate. Developing those new leaders with a leadership trainer in Oshawa is often the fastest productivity gain available.
The 90-day plan works the same way across Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax, Pickering, Clarington, and the rest of Durham Region and the Greater Toronto Area, and I deliver it in person at your site.
Can Leadership Training Make Your Company More Productive?
Yes, when the training changes daily habits on the job rather than delivering a one-day seminar. The program I use most for this is Effective Personal Productivity from Leadership Management International, which runs 4 to 6 months with 2-hour sessions every 2 weeks at your site, so leaders apply each habit between sessions.
"One of the key outcomes of the LMI program was being able to shift 90 more minutes per day towards high payoff activities and this has resulted in significant and measurable results in goal planning and achievement, strategic planning, implementing standard work, more effective team building and empowerment, and in securing revenue for the company."
Dana Lingwood, Director of Sales, AGF-Rebar
National programs have real strengths. FranklinCovey reports that 58 per cent of new managers receive no formal leadership training before starting to lead a team, and the Kaizen Institute defines KAIZEN as continuing improvement in personal life, home life, social life, and working life. For Oshawa and Durham Region companies that want that improvement delivered on their own floor, measured against their own baseline, by the same practitioner from the first time log to the final scorecard, the Gurley Leadership Solutions approach is built for exactly that.
If your biggest leak sits in a process rather than in leaders' time, my Lean Six Sigma training in Oshawa covers the process tools in depth.
Which Process Would You Fix First in 90 Days?
A 15-minute introductory telephone chat with Malcolm Gurley is enough to choose the goals, the process, and the start date.
Book a 15-Minute Call416.669.7644 · Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM · Ask about government funding options when you book your call.
What Do Oshawa Employers Ask About Productivity?
How can a company improve productivity?
A company improves productivity by setting a few measurable goals, cutting the reactive work and rework that eat leaders' hours, fixing one process at a time, and building planning and delegation habits that hold. Gurley Leadership Solutions runs this as a 90-day plan, in person, for Oshawa and Durham Region employers.
What are the main causes of low productivity in the workplace?
The main causes are unclear priorities, reactive days, rework, waiting on approvals or information, and managers doing work they should delegate. These leaks usually matter more than effort, which is why a one-week time log is the first step.
How do you measure productivity in a company?
Measure output per hour of the work that matters: units per labour hour on a line, orders shipped per shift, files processed per day, or tickets resolved on first contact. Record a two-week baseline first, then track the same measure weekly so every change is compared with real numbers.
Can leadership training improve productivity?
Yes, when the training changes daily habits on the job. Programs from Leadership Management International run 4 to 6 months with sessions every 2 weeks, and AGF-Rebar's Director of Sales reported that the LMI program shifted 90 more minutes per day towards high payoff activities. Results vary by organization.
Who helps Oshawa companies become more productive?
Gurley Leadership Solutions, based in Ajax, Ontario, helps Oshawa companies become more productive through in-person programs led by Malcolm Gurley, President, who is LMI Canada licensed, Lean Certified, and a Six Sigma Black Belt with 35+ years of senior executive experience. Call 416.669.7644 to book a 15-minute introductory call.
What Is the Bottom Line for Oshawa Owners?
Your Oshawa company becomes more productive when leaders stop spending their best hours on reactive work and start spending them on three measurable goals, one fixed process, and a weekly scorecard. Run the 90-day plan yourself, or bring me in to run it in person with your team. Either way, start this week with the time log.
About Malcolm Gurley
Malcolm Gurley is President of Gurley Leadership Solutions Inc. in Ajax, Ontario, with 35+ years of senior executive experience at Honeywell, Johnson Controls, and Armstrong Fluid Technology. He is LMI Canada licensed, Lean Certified, and a Six Sigma Black Belt, and delivers Leadership Management International programs in person across Oshawa, Durham Region, and the Greater Toronto Area. He wrote this page from engagements he has facilitated and checked every figure on October 1, 2026. Learn more about Malcolm Gurley, see why employers choose Gurley Leadership Solutions, or read the frequently asked questions.
Sources and References
- Statistics Canada, The Daily: Labour productivity, hourly compensation and unit labour cost, first quarter 2026
- Gallup, managers and employee engagement variance
- Invest Durham, City of Oshawa profile
- BMS Sanitation and Safety engagement, Malcolm Gurley, public LinkedIn post
Related Reading
- How Do I Make My Company More Productive?
- Lean Six Sigma Trainer in Oshawa, Ontario
- Leadership Trainer in Oshawa, Ontario
Results described from prior engagements are client-reported and are not a guarantee of future results; every program is customized and outcomes vary by organization.
