Rock Products

DEC 2014

Rock Products is the aggregates industry's leading source for market analysis and technology solutions, delivering critical content focusing on aggregates-processing equipment; operational efficiencies; management best practices; comprehensive market

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One of the companies I worked with was putting an extra em‐ phasis on safety at the plants. Everyone from the senior execu‐ tives to the plant managers was behind the initiative and seemingly walked the talk. As an outsider, I was always reminded to wear my personal protective equipment (PPE) and go through site‐specific safety training whenever I visited a new plant. My perception was that everyone had bought in to the safety push and that the company would end up making some major improvements in their safety record. When I was touring one of the plants with a plant manager, I noticed some rags stuck in holes in some of the machinery, duct tape used in various locations, and some other fairly obvious things that seemed to be unsafe. When I was alone with some of the equipment operators, I asked them about the things I observed. I got various re‐ sponses as to why those unsafe items were there. Generally, the responses had a common theme: "Oh, that is no big deal. We will fix that when we get some time." That experience, coupled with others like it over the years, validated what I have always felt about company policies, initiatives and rules – if you tolerate anything less, what you tolerate becomes the standard of behavior that is acceptable. A lot of companies will, in good faith and with grand intent, develop policies and procedure manuals that they expect employees to follow. However, in the complex world of ag‐ gregates and mining, a good number of people feel the need to take shortcuts or workarounds. If that sort of behavior is not confronted and dealt with, people will continue to fol‐ low what works best for them, regardless of the policy. If you feel like some of your policies and procedures are not being adhered to as closely as you would like, there are some things you can do to get everyone back on track: Evaluate your policies and procedures. Take a look at all ROCK products • DECEMBER 2014 www.rockproducts.com 52 What You Tolerate Becomes The Standard Your Policies And Procedures Are Worthless If You Do Not Enforce Them. By Steve Schumacher MANAGEMENT Steve Schumacher is a management consultant, trainer and public speaker with more than 25 years of experience in numer- ous industries throughout North America, including aggregates operations. He can be reached at sschuma@gmail.com. Feeding the Family Business Henry Hutcheson, a certified Family Business Advisor and founder of Family Business USA consultancy, offer this advice to family businesses. Keep the lines of communication open. Schedule regular family meetings to discuss issues of concern and topics such as busi- ness transition, business performance, and responsibilities. In- clude all of the family members, no matter where in the hierarchy their jobs fall – exclusion creates animosity. Create a family man- ual that lays out the ground rules for how the meetings will take place to ensure everyone gets a chance to be heard and imped- iments to communication are left at the door. Assign clear r oles and r esponsibilities. As a family member, it's nat- ural to feel that everything is "my" business. However, not every- thing is every family member's responsibility. Job definitions prevent everyone from jumping in to tackle the same problem, and help ensure the business runs smoothly. Keep good financial data. The downfall of many small businesses and family businesses is not having solid data. Have a single point of contact to manage the finances. If you're small enough, you can rely on a family member. Otherwise, you'll need to bring in a qualified accountant. You may cringe at the cost for this, but the difference between a good accountant and a bad one is the dif- ference between knowing exactly where you are on the road and trying to drive with a mud-covered windshield. A void overpaying family members. Market-based compensation is fundamental and essential. Parents in family businesses tend to overpay the next generation, or pay everyone equally despite dif- fering levels of responsibility. Both are bad practices. The longer unfair compensation practices continue, the messier it will be to clean up when it blows up. Don' t hir e r elatives if they'r e unqualified. Competence is key. Fam- ily businesses are a conundrum: The family aspect generates un- qualified love, while the business side cares about profits. Thus, family members will be hired to provide them with a job, even though they're not qualified. The remedy is to get them trained, move them to a role that matches their skills, or have them leave.

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