Managing People

Presenter: Mike Elsholz

Company: Steelcase Inc.
History: 25 years experience
• Engineering
• Project Management
• Test Lab Supervisor
• Model Shop Manager

Outside interests:
family, golf, football, wood working.

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 Managing People Presentation

Outline:
• Hiring
• Internships
• Temporary Staffing Support and Outsourcing
• Overtime Management
• Manage Employee Stress
• Employee Development
• Model Maker Titles/Positions
• Gender/Minority Issues
This is an interactive presentation, I will be sharing some of my
experiences and have open discussion. We are all here to learn.

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 Hiring
 Determine the position of need
• Permanent or Temporary
• long term or short term
• Area of focus (Model maker, wood, upholstery, sheet
metal, machining…)
• Look at your long term and short term needs

 Define your criteria (prioritize )

• Work standard
• Education
• Experience level
• Skill set
• Organization/team environment fit

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 Hiring
 Have a consistent interview outline and set of questions
• Define your question based on your criteria
• Involve a team member to help interview

 What to look for

• Do they have the skills that you are looking for
• Would they fit into your organization

What are your experiences or challenges with hiring?

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 Internships
Usages
• General support for Model Makers (assign a mentor)
• Smaller independent project
• research project
• shop improvement project that they have design input.
Advantage
• Added resources for projects
• Coverage for summer vacations
• New and fresh ideas
• Potential permanent employee
• Provides a great opportunity for inspiring Model Makers

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 Internships

Challenges:
• Finding Students that are willing to leave home /college town
• Finding a meaningful projects (ownership)
Making Internships attractive
• Offer competitive wages
• Offer weekly housing stipend
• For larger companies have intern events

What are your experience using interns? Good/Bad

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Temporary Staffing Support
Long Term and Short Term
• Temp agency vs. local model shop
• i.e. Manpower manages our long term temp staff
• We use a couple local shop for short term

Benefits
• Support for spikes in your work loads
• Help to meet your project dates
• Minimize layoff of permanent staff
• Provides opportunity to evaluate for permanent
employment
• Reduce stress by have the addition resources

Who uses temporary staff?

How has it worked out for you?

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 Outsourcing
Outsourcing is another good way to help balance your work.

• Usages and Benefits

• Support spikes in your work loads
• Reduce stress
• Helps ensure target dates are met
• Minimize layoff of permanent staff
• Builds relationship that you can trust when needed

• What to consider (know your business)

• The type of work you need to control versus the work that you can
more easily send out.
• i.e. Machining, modeling, molding, casting…
• Cost of outsourcing, where is the best gain for the cost.
• Your time (where is it best spent)
• The project due date.

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 Work loads vs. Capacity
900
800
700
600
500
400
Hours

capacity
300 work load
200
100
0

Example shows shop capacity and work load (in hours) per week.
You can use number of people, per day, per month.
You can use to project your work loads and track history that may help
you determine hiring needs. 9
 Overtime Management
What is the Purpose?
• High work loads
• Meeting due dates

How to Control OT Costs?

• Balance work across your team based on due dates
• Improve work flow or processes
• Improve work planning/scheduling
• Use resources wisely, leverage their strengths
• Add resources – temps and interns
• Outsource work that is less costly outside than inside or
at least a wash. i.e.. Machining, casting…

Anyone have additional experiences on using and controlling OT?

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 Stress
The impact of stress in the workplace:

 Increased or excessive absenteeism

 High or increased accident rates or claims
 Reduced morale
 Poor interpersonal relations in the workplace
 Poor or reduced work output and performance
 Increased staff turnover

“The APA survey found three quarters of people have experienced

physical symptoms as a result of stress, such as headache, fatigue
and an upset stomach in combination with feelings of irritability,
anger, nervousness and lack of motivation.”
APA – American Psychological Association

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 Stress

Stress comes, in part, from:

 The pressures of today's connected world. Because of email, cell phones and
the Internet, Americans are finding it increasingly difficult to switch off from the
stresses of the workplace and concentrate on their personal priorities — over half of
respondents said that job demands interfered with family or home responsibilities.
 Technology: "While technology undoubtedly improves our lives, information
overload can add to the stress levels of an already overworked nation and lead to using
unhealthy behaviors to cope with that stress," says psychologist David Ballard, PsyD,
MBA, of APA. "What is important is to learn how to effectively manage your stress, so
you can perform at your best both at home and at work.“
 Project time line: In today world consumers' expect new products faster and less
expensive, so the race to the market with new products have increase the need to
prototype quicker (shorter turn around).

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 Managing Employee Stress
How to manage stress?
• Understand that it stress is real
• Understand Employee Stress levels
• Talk about stress as a team
• Create a “to do” list
• Help prioritize our employee’s work
• Focus at the task at hand
• gives a sense of accomplishment
• Offer or encourage exercising
• Have a team lunch (pizza), group outing
• Offer support; Listen to your employee, allow they to release
their frustration
• Offer professional help if needed

Open discussion:
What are other ways that you recognize stress and reduce stress?

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Employee Development

• Encourage continuous development

• On the job training (cross training)
• Formal classes (Tech. schools, C.C.)
• Webinars
• Conferences
• Trade shows

* These all energize your employee, increase their knowledge

and will add value to your team.

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Model Maker Titles/Position
• Provide various levels (gives employees motivation to
continue to grow).

• Examples (Steelcase):
• Associate Model Maker
• Model Maker
• Senior Model Maker
• Team leader
• Principle Model Maker

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Model Maker Titles/Position

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 Product Development Model Maker Assessment Guide
1. S ignific ant te c hnic al 2. Tra ce a ble high im pa c t
a nd pro fe s s io na l
c o ntributio n o n
a s s ignm e nts …le vel o f
R a ting inno va tio n
Is a n a pprentic e in the
dis c ipline , us e s ro utine
0 te chnique s a nd
e xe rc is es lim ite d
judgm ent
Inde pe nde ntly a pplie s
m ec ha nic al de s ign
2 judgm ent, us ing
c o nve ntio na l
inve s tiga tio n
Devis e s ne w
a ppro a ches , thro ugh
4 us e o f s o und tec hnica l
judgm ent and cre ative
inve s tiga tio n
Inde pe nde ntly a pplie s
a dvance d te chnique s , &
dem o ns trate s divers e
6 a bilitie s
Inde pe nde ntly a pplie s
a dvance d theo rie s &
8 c o nc e pts
Inde pe nde ntly c re ate s
"bre a k thro ugh"
10 te chno lo gy
We ight 5 4
R a ting
pe rfo rm ance thro ugh
im pro ve d B us ines s R e s ults . te chnic al pro je cts
Go als : M e aningful re s ults
s uc h as m e e ting pro je c t
tim ing, pro vide d m ea ningful
input o n de s ign
im pro ve m e nts , c o s t
re duc tio ns , s c ra p reduc tio n,
pro c e s s im pro vem e nts , e tc .
No m ea s ure a ble e vide nc e
M inim a l e videnc e (lim ite d
individua l pro je c t tea m
co ntributo r)
R e pe ate d c o ntributo r in
m ultiple are a
C o ns is tent m e a s ure a ble
im pro ve m e nts
C o ns is tent e xc e ptio na l
im pro ve m e nts
C o ns is tent e xc e ptio na l
im pro ve m e nts a c ro s s
m ultiple func tio na l gro ups .
3. R e c o gnize d a s a 4. R ec o gnize d & us ed a s 5. Ability to c rea te a n 6.
Writte n & o ra l
le ader and a utho rity o n Te c h/P ro f kno wle dge re s o urce enviro nm ent fo r Tec hnica l / c o m m unic a tio n a bility
…"who wo uld yo u c a ll?" P ro fes s io na l e xc e lle nc e
C o rpo ra te = S C NA
Indus try = S C Inte rn'l;
pa rtne rs hips ; AP M M, e tc.
M ult Ind = a uto m o tive,
ae ro nautic al, a pplianc e , e tc.
Is a n a pprentic e, Is a n a ppre ntice in the dis c ipline No m e nto ring, tra ining Ine ffe c tive
re quire s guida nce o n ac tivitie s , o r te chnic a l
te chnic al is s ue s le ade rs hip
Is a n individua l Lim ite d kno wle dge within the B y s pe cific dire c tio n will do M a rgina l re s ults , no t to o
c o ntributo r o n pro je c t dis cipline s o m e training, tec hnic a l influe ntia l
te am s le ade rs hip
Lim ite d le ade rs hip Us e d as a divis io n/unit Actively invo lved in tra ining Lim ite d a bility, ne e ds
a bility o n m ino r pro jec ts co ns ulta nt & tec hnic a l lea ders hip guida nce with s o m e le ve ls
bo th up/do wnwa rd in
o rga niza tio n
Is a M S le a de r o n m ino r Us e d as a c o rpo ra te Dem o ns trated a bility to Ha s e ffe ctive e xpre s s io n,
pro je c ts co ns ulta nt m o tiva te o ther em plo ye e s ... rela te s to a ll le ve ls o f the
o rga niza tio n
Is a M S le a de r o n Us e d as a n indus try c o ns ulta nt His to ry o f m o tiva ting o the r Abo ve no rm a l a bility le ve l
m ultiple m ino r o r m ajo r em plo ye e s a nd o ffe ring with a ll a udie nc e s
pro je c t co uns e l
Is a M S le a de r o n Us e d as a c o ns ulta nt a c ro s s His to ry o f m o tiva ting o the r C le a rly unique ability a nd
m ultiple m a jo r pro je c ts m ultiple indus trie s em plo ye e s a nd ha s ha s s us tained m a s tery with
o r a pro gra m s uc c e s s ful pro tégés a ll a udienc e s
4 4 3 2
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 Gender/Minority Issues
• Equal Pay/Pay Rates/Scale Range
• Set Criteria (defined job description at each level)
• Experience
• Education Level
• Accomplishments
• Successes
• Projects (scale and scope)
• Policy Driven / ownership
• Equal employment opportunity policy

Open discussion:

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 Global Discussion
• Time Zones
• Language Barriers
• Outsourcing
• Traveling
• Forms of communication
• Teleconferencing
• a conference with participants in different locations linked by
telecommunications devices.
• Video conferencing
• Videoconferencing is the conduct of a videoconference by a set of
telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations
to communicate by simultaneous two-way video and audio
transmissions. It has also been called 'visual collaboration' and is a
type of groupware. ...

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