For instance – where TEMA folks were used to getting paid through PeopleSoft, Toyota Motor North America adopted TMS’ MyTime to log hours. In mid-2015, Hicks tabbed Ballard – then a Group Manager for Finance and Indirect Procurement – to lead the role was so critical, Nagata called it “oxygen for team main orders of business might seem mundane, but they have a tangible effect on the team member experience. So a team of executives that included then-Chief Administration Officer Simon Nagata, Chief Financial Officer Tracey Doi, Chief Information Officer Zack Hicks, Chief Human Resources Officer Cheryl Hughes, Chief Divisional Information Officer Tim Platt, TEMA Executive Program Manager Chuck Brown and Corporate Services Group Vice President Craig Grucza – set up to address those issues. “Who is going to make sure that, when you and I are sitting next to each other, we’re getting paid the same way, that we’re doing our travel and expenses the same, that our employee administration is being managed the same? So that’s how it was born.” “When we moved, the question was: What about our processes and our systems?” Ballard says. So, as team members began migrating to Texas from TEMA’s home in Erlanger and TMS’ offices in Torrance, it became clear that One Toyota couldn’t happen without creating common processes for everyone to follow. It was a tricky dance of meshing two separate corporate cultures. Toyota’s move to Plano was much more than a change of scenery. “But was 18 months of dedication and commitment and collaboration across boundaries.” “With the race, I was able to start training four months ahead of time,” Ballard says. Still, his work as the lead for a group called Corporate Services Plano may have been the most challenging thing he’s done over the last two years.Īfter all, uniting processes and policies from two separate companies – Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing (TEMA) and Toyota Motor Sales (TMS) - to ensure every team member is working on the same page is a job some may have thought impossible a few years ago.
Jason Ballard likes to tackle seemingly impossible tasks.įor instance, the newly appointed general manager of the IS Field and Administration team recently completed a 100-mile ultra-marathon. Green Means Go - Members of the steering committee - including Jason Ballard (front right) - hold up their "GO" signs up to signify a critical launch in 2016.