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What are Your Industry’s Biggest Challenges? Did You Say “Employee Related Issues”?
by Victoria Zillioux.

Last week SDW sponsored a Manufacturers’ Roundtable event at the San Diego Daily Transcript. Participants were top-level Executives in their organizations. What would have seemed to be a conversation with few surprises, ended up being a very interesting dialog around what these industry leaders felt were their biggest challenges.

The responses to the question not only were unexpected, but the related discussion filled up the entire time with all being in agreement as to what the current issues are. While other concerns were also addressed, heading up the discussion were employee related topics. Below is an overview of what seemed to be at the forefront of the discussion regarding employee concerns.

Attracting and Maintaining High Quality Employees

This was the first item mentioned and the subject drew everyone into the discussion. It seems that in manufacturing there is quite a bit of competition for hiring skilled employees. There is little training for people interested in coming into the field of manufacturing, particularly with regard to qualified machinists and toolmakers. The large companies get the pick of the crop because they can offer benefits and higher pay. So the small to mid-size manufacturers are resigned to signing on the lesser quality or experienced people.

As a result, how an employer treats his employees becomes extremely important. When there are few new employees to choose from, the existing well-trained staff becomes a highly valuable commodity. Everyone at the roundtable agreed that how you treat your employees matters, not only so that they do not leave, but also so the complications of a union shop do not loom in the near future.

Another related subject comes up that was not specifically mentioned as part of the discussion. That is, learning to recognize a good employee in the making right in your own organization. The “stars” are readily apparent, but the steady employee who may need a bit of mentoring or training to bring him to top speed is not as easy to recognize. Sometimes that individual blends in with the group but would be a great discovery if someone were just paying attention! Take a look around and see who could use just a little help to move to high performance. Your attention may be just what they need and could be a huge organizational payoff with minimal effort or training. This is a process much more motivating to, and appreciated by, employees rather than going outside the company to bring in additional talent.

Intergenerational Leadership

Hand in hand with good employee relations is understanding who your employees are and what motivates them. Who they are is very much a part of knowing what motivates them – this is another topic that came up at the roundtable. It is called “Intergenerational Leadership” and is a very relevant topic in the current workforce. See the article that we published in the Daily Transcript on this topic by clicking on this link. For the first time in history, workplace demographics now span four generations! It is important to know, regardless of your industry vertical, what each of the generations value in the workplace, what motivates them, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. Take a look at our article “Effective Generational Leadership – Understanding and Managing a New Diversity” for some background information on this subject.

Succession Planning

This topic is part and parcel of having a good employee base. With valuable employees, some can be further mentored for future senior management or even potential acquirers of the company. Not everyone has a family member to pass the company on to, or not all family members are interested. Succession planning for all the executive team, not just the Principles, creates a strong organization and provides good employees a view of future opportunities. Most of the Manufacturing Roundtable participants did not have any succession plans in place and were not able to identify anyone that they felt would be capable of taking over the organization at some point in time. They all felt this was an important unresolved issue that they needed to address in the near future.

The San Diego Daily Transcript has a variety of roundtable events that bring together leaders in a particular industry to discuss the topics and events of the day that affect how they are doing business. Click here to read more interesting topics addressed at the Manufacturing Roundtable, and also keep watch for future events that the Daily Transcript holds. I would have thought that this event would provide discussions that were directly related to manufacturing, and while some portions of the discussion were specific to that vertical, most issues discussed were applicable to all small to mid-sized businesses in San Diego.

There is always something to be learned and when you ask the question “What are your biggest challenges?” don’t assume that you will know the answer. If you think about how that question applies to your business, the specifics are far more interesting than the expected answers such as the economy, employment, and other generalized topics that we hear everyday in the news.

News & Events at SDW:

Peak Performance Roundtable Series: Creating the High-Output Organization

National University and Strategic Development Worldwide invite you to join us for a series of business round table presentations focused around Creating the High-Output Organization. The first three roundtables of the year will focus on the three phases of Strategy: Statement of Value Intent, Planning, and Execution that are the hallmarks of winning organizations in every field.

The first roundtable discussion will be held on Thursday, January 21st, from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., at National University’s Kearny Mesa Spectrum campus located at 9388 Lightwave Avenue, San Diego, 92123. Refreshments will be provided. This first topic, “Strategy – A Statement of Values Intent”, kicks off the series with a discussion of the “why’s” of strategic thinking in the practical sense, including a discussion of the 4 Perspectives within the Value Creating Process.

Don’t miss the first in a valuable series of events that will provide you with the building blocks to move forward in the New Year!

This charge for the round table presentations is $15, which can be paid at the time of online registration. Seating is limited, so your earliest registration to reserve a seat for you and your colleagues is encouraged. Follow the attached link to sign up now. We look forward to your participation in this and the continuing events in our series.

Use the following link to sign up to the event: Buy Tickets | Event Description »

or contact Vicky Zillioux at 619 269-7338

The Arte of Motivation:

“Always treat your employees [and coworkers] exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.”
- Steven R. Covey

Always treat your employees [and coworkers] exactly as you want them to treat your best customers. - Steven R. Covey

Steven Covey has made a good life and living preaching life’s simple truths – and this is one of his best. Twenty years ago I stumbled upon this simple philosophy and it has been at the center of my efforts ever since. At that time I had just hired 7,500 new employees for what would become the leading icon in the gaming industry and was in the midst of trying to get my arms around the principles and concepts that would help guide them all in the same direction. It seems that few had done anything like that before and there was little guidance or experience in the industry to help light our way.

In this new organization, managers were hired from dozens of other companies and all were susceptible to reverting to what they’d done in the past. Employees came with varying backgrounds and degrees of experience; however, each was highly enthusiastic and motivated to do good work. We needed a simple philosophy that everyone could understand and support, one that was rooted in what they knew intuitively and would lead them all in the same direction. It became apparent that all had heard and learned one common truth as they were growing up – and this was true irrespective of where, when and how they were raised. The one thing they all learned in school and which was reinforced by their parents was just what Dr. Covey refers to here: “Treat others the way you want to be treated” – better known as the Golden Rule. We had employees from more than 70 countries and all had learned this one simple philosophy, and more importantly all believed in and supported it. This ‘aha’ moment – where it became obvious that there really is one family of man – was so powerful and overarching as to shape a new philosophy of how to treat the men and women who worked for us and, through them, our customers.

This ultimately led to the realization that there is a direct link between employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and profitability. This additional truth, when combined with the Golden Rule, became the basis of all the success I’ve had the good fortune to experience. I’ve repeated this story many times in front of groups large and small, and I am always pleasantly surprised when I see the recognition of its validity in the audience. And it doesn’t matter what industry is represented, or the size of the organization, or the country and culture from which they come – this is one of those universal truths that transcends boundaries of nations, language, age and culture. We are all pretty much the same; we want to be treated with the same level of kindness, respect, interest and humility that we seek to give others; we all want our organizations to be successful and prosper. Imagine how much better our organizations, and families, and teams, and friendships would be if we lived up to these ideals.