admin | Contented Cows

They’ve Done it Again! Plamex Named Mexico’s Best Place to Work

1 Comment 09 May 2012

Felicidades are in order for our good friends at Plamex, the Mexican division of headset maker Plantronics. For the 2nd year in a row, the company, which employs more than 2,000 people at its manufacturing facility in Tijuana, has been named by the Great Place to Work Institute as the Best Place to Work in Mexico. It’s one thing to make a list like this once. Showing up consistently means a lot more, in our view. Plamex has been a perennial entry on the list for the last several years, but this year became the first company to make it a ‘two-fer” in the top spot on the Mexican list, and they’re already working toward a three-peat.

This past February, I spent a day touring the Plamex plant, meeting some of the people behind the magic there, and learning why the accolades are so well-deserved. We blogged, on February 17 of this year, about their practice of employee mass weddings. The company is featured prominently in our new book, Contented Cows STILL Give Better Milk, which is coming out in July. Here’s an excerpt from part of what we wrote about Plamex:

When Alejandro Bustamante assumed the role of President of Plamex, the Mexican division of headset maker Plantronics, in the mid-1990’s, he encountered a largely disaffected workforce in a factory struggling to meet the demands of a growing market fueled by rapidly changing technology. Quickly assessing the situation he’d walked into, Bustamante determined that he couldn’t fundamentally change anyone, but what he could do, was to institute a culture in which everyone – everyone – was treated with respect. He soon restored respect and a real sense of dignity in the plant, and as a result, he and his team have pulled off a business turnaround of gigantic proportion. The company’s output, quality, profitability, and reputation as the place to work in Mexico have all soared.

“The job of a leader,” he told me, while standing in the entrance to the Tijuana facility’s large main factory, “is to create the atmosphere to get the results we want. It’s as simple as that. It’s not always easy to do, but it’s not complicated.”

When I asked Bustamante to explain how Plamex had gone from its 1995 state to being named the number one Best Place to Work in all of Mexico, by the Great Place to Work Institute in 2011, the Tijuana native had a ready answer.

“There are three things we want for every one of our 2,286 associates here. First, we want to give everyone the respect they deserve. Second, we want to develop each one of them, to let them do as much as they want and go as far as they want. And third – and this is probably the most important – we want to improve the quality of their lives, and the lives of their families. When you do those things, you get their very best. And that’s what we need – their very best.”

This is the company that solved its recruiting problem by giving every associate their own business cards, as a show of respect. It’s the same company that brings the Baja California Division of Motor Vehicles to the plant once a month so that associates can renew their driver’s licenses. And it’s the same company that has a robust career development plan that’s available to every associate who wants to develop within the company.

If you read Spanish, click here for a full article on Plamex in the Mexican press.

So, we take our hats off to the leadership and associates at Plantronics in Tijuana, Mexico, and wish them another great and profitable year of proving what we’ve always said – that Contented Cows Give Better Milk.

Richard Hadden is a leadership speaker, author, and consultant who helps organizations improve their business results by virtue of a focused, engaged, capably led workforce. He and Bill Catlette are the authors of the popular “Contented Cows” leadership book series, and Rebooting Leadership. Their newest book, Contented Cows STILL Give Better Milk, is due to be released by John Wiley & Sons on July 3, but is available for pre-sale now. Learn more about them and their work at ContentedCows.com.

by Bill, Exemplars, Leadership

What an Indiana School Bus Driver Could Teach 535 Members of Congress (and us) about Leadership

No Comments 10 April 2012

Recently, Indiana school bus driver Angel Perry was aboard her bus with 11 children when a slight (no, make that big) problem presented itself. The problem was an F4 tornado bearing down on them at close range. Resultant from Ms. Perry’s quick action, 11 school children avoided certain injury or death. Please take a moment to click the image below and watch the video before continuing.

Like Ms. Perry’s school children, we (U.S. citizens) find ourselves aboard our national bus with not one, but several immediate and equally dangerous crises presenting themselves – a fiscal crisis, a trust crisis, a skills and education crisis, an energy crisis, a confidence crisis, a health care crisis (yes), and perhaps most importantly, a leadership crisis. Many of our educational, commercial, and other civic organizations face their own comparable dangers. We could certainly take a lesson from Ms. Perry’s example. Let’s deal here with the leadership aspect.

Ms. Perry knew that somebody had to lead, and although the word, “leader” is probably not reflected in either her job description or pay grade, it was required of her on that day. Such is true for many of the rest of us, whether our official job title is congressman, CEO, supervisor, or janitor.

With but a moment to summon the courage and wisdom to guide her, Ms. Perry called on her God for assistance. Then, having calmed herself, she calmed those around her, “Shh… quiet.” We’re neither qualified nor in the business of providing spiritual advice, so let’s leave it at, when in the heat of battle, you need to go wherever you need to go in order to act in a calm and rational manner.

Ms. Perry shared the big picture with her young charges. “Tornado on the ground, guys… Look, the funnel cloud” while preparing them to act. “Shh… quiet.” Since none of us operate day to day, or moment-to-moment in the “big picture”, she also shared the immediate game plan, “”We’re going back to the school.” People desperately need that type of information in order to function responsibly. Without it, they’re basically just along for the ride. Yet, in an age when we have a wealth of communications tools and techniques at our disposal, it seems safe to say that we probably do a poorer job than ever of truly making meaning, which, in our view, is one of a leader’s foremost responsibilities.

Evidencing a leadership trait that is in such short supply these days, Ms. Perry demonstrated clearly and convincingly that she cared, really cared about her young charges, first by having them count off and then “checking off” each one as they exited the bus, and then later asking if they were okay. Interested in their safety, she had previously instructed them to shield their heads with a textbook. Whoda thunk it? (That was probably the only time in history when a school textbook was truly worth its retail price. Since our own books (http://contentedcows.com/books/)are often used as college texts, we’re pointing the finger at ourselves as well.) And unlike the captain of the Italian cruise ship, Costa Concordia, we’re willing to bet she was the last one off her ship, ‘er bus.

Angel Perry was, if nothing else, decisive. Knowing that her decision timeframe consisted not of weeks or months, but seconds, she demonstrated real bias for action. She also knew something that seems to regularly escape the rest of us – the fact that to make no decision is indeed a decision itself, and it is usually the wrong one. Kicking the can down the road, as so often happens in Congress, boardrooms, school board, and town hall meetings alike would have proven deadly.

Through her leadership, Ms. Perry kept that twisted and bent school bus from becoming a tomb. As we proceed from here, let’s all keep an image of a big yellow school bus seared into memory, as a reminder to emulate some of Ms. Perry’s actions, and a yardstick by which we measure the performance of others.

Avoiding Burnout, by Richard, Management, Motivation

Instant gratification: the ultimate motivator

No Comments 07 September 2011

Of all the reasons my wife may have had for marrying me nearly 25 years ago, being ultra handy around the house is not among them.

That fact notwithstanding, last weekend I decided to pressure wash our house. The all-white structure has a large expanse of siding at the back that faces due north, and is therefore hospitable territory to a gray-green coating of mold and algae. Although the heat index was in the triple digits, I was actually looking forward to the task. And I knew why.

It’s the same reason that I actually enjoy mowing the lawn, even though there’s a fully capable onsite teenager, who would do it more often if I’d let him. The reason I like these tasks so much, and eschew others, like laundry and disinfecting toilets? Instant gratification.

Every swipe of the pressure washing nozzle was like applying graffiti in reverse. Expend labor – see result. It was magnificent! And enough to keep me at it in less than ideal conditions until the job was done. At which point I stood at the back of the house gazing up and admiring my handiwork.

We all need at least a little instant gratification at work, too. A strong need to know that what we do makes a difference. Some jobs come with this feature onboard. With others, this feeling of accomplishment is more elusive.

If you lead others, and help manage and design their work, here’s an assignment:

Pick one job you manage and assess it for instant gratification potential. Does it happen often, occasionally, rarely, or never?
If the answer is rarely or never, change that. Build into the job at least the occasional opportunity to see the fruits of the labor that goes into it.
- Give back office people some direct customer contact.
- Balance sales professionals’ account portfolios of tough customers with a few easier sales.
- If the task is an intermediate step in a process, let them at least see the finished product and have a clear understanding of the part they played in it.
- Make sure no job is all frustration – no fulfillment.
Once you’ve had a little immediate gratification with this experiment, do the same with the other jobs under your direction.

We all need to see the needle move from time to time. It’s part of what keeps us going.

==========================================================

Richard Hadden is a leadership speaker, author, and consultant who helps organizations improve their business results with a focused, engaged, capably led workforce. He and Bill Catlette are the authors of the acclaimed business classic Contented Cows Give Better Milk, and Contented Cows MOOve Faster, and the brand new book Rebooting Leadership, written with Meredith Kimbell. Learn more about them and their work at ContentedCows.com.