The struggling economy has made most companies and families tighten the screws of spending and involvement in profit and non for profit organizations, with that being said this should be a best practice that is always followed in any kind of economy as a fiduciary responsible party of that particular family or company. I can say that I have not really given this any thought before the last qtr of 2009. Most companies join their industry associations and probably another half dozen or so. Why does one do this? Does it make the company feel better? Is money no issue? Because they asked? You love acronyms? What ever the reason for joining these associations, I bet you can find waste. I have lately made a list of all the associations we belong too and five bullet points under each association. If I cannot list five significant benefits that we are receiving from that association, then our membership must be evaluated and dealt with.
Association Junkies
February 4th, 2010
Workplace Drama
January 27th, 2010Does your organization experience workplace drama? If simple tasks become a big ordeal, you have drama. If you have employees that feel like the world only centers around them, you have drama. If you have employees that feel the need to correct others in a very public way, you have drama.
Drama is a stressor and it reduces valuable resources that could be focused on other projects/issues to improve the organization.
Backroom Deals at an all time high
January 15th, 2010Just when I think this healthcare reform cannot get any crazier; there is yet another backroom deal that proves me wrong. Last night, Union and Federal Employees receive a deal to delay them having to pay any “Cadillac Tax” on their healthcare benefits until 2018; five years after the rest of us non-union employees start paying. Today this last major hurdle in Healthcare Reform just left a $60 million dollar hole in how we are going to pay for this plan and our elected officials are determining how to make up the difference. As this inches closer to becoming a reality, one can only hope this madness will stop.
Carol Senour
New Year’s Resolution vs. New Year’s Goal
December 31st, 2009Today is New Year’s Eve and all the media seem to be talking about is New Year’s Resolutions. More specifically, they want to know how many of us are making them and what types of resolutions are being selected. One commentator thinks we should call them New Year’s Goals; so we will not feel like such a failure when we do not succeed. New Year’s Goal must not sound as important and final as New Year’s Resolution. Really, who cares what you call them; a commitment is a commitment. Those of us that decide to make them tonight chose attainable stretch goals that make us better in 2010. Don’t buy into this failure theory; your success is tied to you and your commitment to what you have selected.
Happy Anniversary, Mr. President
December 22nd, 2009Bremen Castings is very fortunate to have a forward thinking President focused on technological advances that will cement a strong future for our organization. Today, JB Brown celebrates 16-years with Bremen Castings. From the days of running the Cupola to becoming President in January 2005, has been a journey of change that many of us have been able to witness all or part of that journey. Congratulations JB Brown, President of Bremen Castings!
Carol Senour
Committed to Safety
December 18th, 2009Bremen Castings reaches new milestone today with 100% of all management personnel trained in CPR, First Aid and AED. That is 43 employees trained and prepared to respond in emergency situations. Those situations exist whether we are at work, home or out in the community. We are proud of our employees; the time it took to get trained (8-hours) and pass the exam. Bremen Castings is committed to safety, so this was a great milestone to reach.
Carol Senour
Play Nice in the Sand Box
December 14th, 2009Among difficult employees, those who will not let others play in their sand box are the worst. They have a perception that they know it all, they are ultimately accountable and no one has a right to question what they are doing or suggest another way of doing it. This mentality is detrimental to the team dynamics and overall health of the organization.
The more questions that are raised, the better your chances for significant improvements. In this new era of extreme competition, significant improves keep you in the game and advancing above the competition. Those from other disciplines do not have tunnel vision about how it has to be, so they offer better insight and creativity into the equation.
Play nice in the sand box; allow others into the sand box and your organization’s sand box will expand.
Carol Senour
Change – What an opportunity?
December 7th, 2009I do not understand why change is viewed as such a negative thing in most organizations. We all know that the frequency of change correlates with the frequency of improvements, so why would you not welcome change? How can you experience improvements, if you are unwilling to give change a try. Embrace change, it could be the best improvement your organization has experienced that will keep you ahead of the competition. Daily challenge the status quo, challenge the way you do things and look for opportunities to improve. Change is good; it is only our perception that change is bad that holds us back from greatness.
Carol Senour
Notre Dame Fires Charlie Weis
November 30th, 2009
Today was the end of Charlie Weis’s five year tenure at ND. With a 35-27 win loss record, and ending this year at 6-6, the stock holders at ND are less than pleased. Athletic director Jack Swarbrick announced the decision, saying in a news release: “We have great expectations for our football program, and we have not been able to meet those expectations.” Charlies is gone.
Those close to me all know that I am not a fan of Notre Dame (personal reasons) but I am a huge fan of sports and more importantly a huge fan of success and the fact that “Status Quo Sucks”. I have been listening to the fans, friends, co-workers, family and all others say: “Charlie needs to go!” Now that being said I respect ND as a business machine and a lot can be learned from ND as a business model. ND will need to belly up 15 – 20 mil to buy out CW’s contract than somewhere around another 5 mil for a new coach. Do you think the amount of money even comes into play? No amount of money will keep ND from making the correct decision. Summarizing the AD, they have expectations and it ain’t losing!
This brings me to another point. All sports teams are ran like a business: high school, NCAA and the pro’s. You can try to argue that they are not, but they are out there to win and be successful just like business. When there is a losing season or seasons the fans want the coach and/or coaches replaced. You never hear”Awwww, how can they fire him”, or “he has been with the team for years, how can they do that?” It’s always good riddance, bring on the next coach. Such the opposite in most work places. It’s kinda funny how one’s desire for a sports team to be successful vs the desire of the companies success. Just sayin.
Happy Thanksgiving
November 26th, 2009Bremen Castings pours out well wishes and blessings to our BCI family and friends on Thanksgiving Day. As a tough economic year 2009 comes towards an end; we will be thankful today for all of you that helped us grow and remain strong during times like these. Families grow stronger weathering storms together and working together as a team. Today focus on all the things that you have to be thankful for; write them down and as the length of the list grows may you realize just how fortunate you are today and every day.
Carol Senour
Customer Service Rebound
November 25th, 2009The demise of customer service in America seemed to come about through a gradual decline over the last decade. Today, with the current economic climate, we are seeing significant improvements in our treatment as consumers. In the past, we were consuming in large amounts regardless of how we were treated as the customer. Contrast that with the current climate, where we have all reeled our consuming in favor of more saving and you see the decline in demand has dictated better customer service.
Consumers today are diverting their reduced dollars to those providing the best customer service. We have grown intolerant of poor customer service or have we always been intolerant? I would argue that we have always been intolerant and that we did not demand good customer service. We received exactly what we demanded, nothing more and nothing less. Today, we are demanding more and we are getting it or moving to where we receive better customer service. If consumers are smart enough to learn from the past, then we need to continue to demand good customer service even when we return to a new level of normalcy in the economy.
Communication – Why is it so hard?
November 16th, 2009Why do people make communication so hard, when it really is so easy? I am finding that most of the things that go wrong are a direct result of lack of communication. Even more frustrating is the amount of time to clean up what went wrong; when a little communication would have prevented the problem altogether. And sometimes when we do communicate, it is how we chose to communicate that adds to the problem. Technological advances over the years to help communication have been a blessing and a curse, in that we will send a quick email rather than pick up the telephone or pay a visit to someone. Here are the problems with emails; bombarded with an inordinate amount of emails daily we may not see the email in time to prevent the problem, often the email is directed at so many people that everyone assumes someone else is taking care of the issue and lastly emails cannot display the true intent or urgency of the issue. Don’t be afraid to pick up the telephone or pay a visit to communicate what needs to be done. Personally, I would be much happier to spend a couple of minutes upfront communicating; than the exhaustive cleanup efforts needed to fix the problem.
Carol Senour
Veterans Day – A day to honor all U.S. Veterans
November 11th, 2009Today, thank and honor our military veterans; for without their great sacrifice we would not enjoy the freedoms we have in the United States of America. The history of veteran’s day can be found back in World War I known as “The Great War” and “the war to end all wars”. Fighting had ceased on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month – November 11, 1918.
While the war had officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919, it was really seven months earlier November 11, 1918 that marked the cessation of the most destructive and far reaching war. Originally known as Armistice Day, it became a holiday in the United States in 1926 and a national holiday 12 years later. The name was changed to Veterans Day to honor all U.S. veterans on June 1, 1954.
To all the past veterans and those serving in the military today;
we honor you and thank you for your sacrifice
Carol Senour
Safety – Awareness, Accountability and Culture
November 5th, 2009Many companies say that safety is important to them; their safety record however does not reflect a level of importance. Safety is important for two major reasons; employee well being and company cost. Employees should come to work and leave in the same physical condition. Injuries inflict pain on the employee and emotional distress on family members. Worker’s compensation cost from injuries can be a deterrent to employers remaining competitive in the marketplace.
After several years of increased safety awareness, implementation of programs and training of employees; I found myself pondering the reason our safety record did not reflect our exhaustive efforts. It boiled down to our awareness efforts being a great starting point; however the big improvements can on be achieved through accountability and changes in the safety culture of the organization. Everyone in the organization needs to be held accountable for safety and when an accident happens a thorough analysis of what happened with corrective action to prevent future occurrences. Changing the safety culture is far more difficult and takes a much longer time to take hold. It comes from spending visibly time with employees; watching their work habits, explaining when they are doing something wrong and praising them when they do something right. Employees need to be observant even walking through the facility, that they do not pass up an unsafe act; taking the time to stop and correct the behavior. Safety Culture change comes from reinforcing good habits, correcting bad habits and holding people accountable. It won’t happen overnight, but gradually over time.
Carol Senour
Ineffective Manager, Why?
October 28th, 2009We have all witnessed talented employees get promoted to management and then fail miserably leaving us with the question of why? The Peter Principle is a book and theory from 1969 that still holds true today; employees within their organization will advance to their highest level of competence and then be promoted to and remain at a level in which they are incompetent. Over the last 20-years of observing successes and failures; here are the main reasons managers fail:
1) Lack of respect from their peers and their direct reports – respect is earned, not handed to you on a silver platter when you get promoted.
2) Lack of “Big Picture” mentality, cannot see the organization as a whole and often think their department is the most important – managers need to work at a higher level to see the organization succeed as a whole and that means all departments.
3) Avoiding responsibility for things when they go wrong, by blaming others – it is a team effort, you are either all wrong or you are all right; help everyone to be right.
4) Unable to effectively deal with people; often too blunt, showing favoritism or being harshly critical – management is all about dealing with people and given the different personalities you need to tailor your approach to effectively reach and motivate employees at all levels within the organization.
5) Incapable of developing or contributing to the development of their subordinates – employees who advance within an organization often have managers that spent time developing them into decision makers and leaders.
Much can be said about successful managers inherently having many of these skills or traits. It is more often the case when you get promoted that some or all of these need to be learned. Here is how to succeed; have a willingness to accept criticism, understand that your role has changed, focus on the bigger picture and lastly learn from other successful managers either internal or external to your organization.
Carol Senour
Director Human Resources
