RESOURCES AT THE READY:
2010 Inland Northwest Compensation Survey offers insight into today's trends

How can I learn more?

I am excited to announce the launch of the 2010 Inland Northwest Compensation Survey (INCS). The INCS provides employers with meaningful data on compensation trends and the "going rates" for over 100 of the most in-demand jobs throughout the region.

It includes "cross-industry" jobs found in most organizations as well as jobs specific to individual industries, including, but not limited to: Accounting, Customer Service, IT, Design, Purchasing, Production, Engineering, Crafts and Quality Assurance. Base pay statistics, bonus trends and salary ranges are all reported by size and type of business.

Since the first INCS was published 23 years ago, employers have experienced significant changes. Last summer, I surveyed employers while they dealt with some of the toughest economic conditions in decades. These employers reported a variety of responses:

• 56% froze or cut pay for senior experienced employees.
• 46% cut staff for at least 6 weeks.
• 27% reduced work hours.
• 29% were forecasting at least some staff cuts within the coming 12 months.

While over the last few months it appears the economic data is trending upwards, it is vital to understand that any success depends on attracting and retaining people who can produce results. I would encourage you to participate in the 2010 INCS to gain valuable perspective on our region's job market.

I provide easy-to-use materials that are available on our website (look on the left-hand side of your screen above the newsletter banner) or you can email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Completed surveys must be returned by Monday, August 23 to keep on target for publication by Wednesday, September 15. If you’re unable to participate in the survey but would like the results, that’s also possible. Prices vary, see below.

A.I. Member:	Survey Participants: $95	Non-Participants: $145
Non-Member:	Survey Participants: $250	Non-Participants: $300

– Bill Sweigert

 

 

RESOURCES AT THE READY:
Lean coaching concepts can produce high-performance teams

What if we could take the principles learned over the past 50 years from the Lean manufacturing movement – lessons such as increasing efficiency, decreasing waste and using practical methods to decide what matters when producing goods or services – and apply that same methodology to the coaching and building of high-performance teams?

So-called “speed-to-quality” concepts, now common in manufacturing, have been found to provide a competitive edge by optimizing lead-times, managing costs and delivering exactly what the customer values. Could we gain similar advantages by applying the same techniques in our interaction with employees by:

• Building strong communication with employees?
• Enjoying greater employee loyalty and commitment?
• Cutting out wasted time and energy from interpersonal conflicts?
• Leveraging great employees’ ideas and innovation?

Of course, hiring and developing employees is nothing like the purchase and deployment of machinery. Whether a piece of manufacturing equipment or a high-tech computer, a piece of apparatus performs over time pretty much the same as it did the day it was purchased aside from typical wear and tear.  Equipment doesn’t wander off for long lunch breaks, develop an alcohol problem or harass the help. But neither does it analyze a production snafu, deal with a customer service issue or innovate to reduce waste and improve safety. Only people can do that.

People, unlike machines, have a capacity to learn, grow and become vastly more than what they were when we hired them. And we can use “Lean” principles in coaching to help our employees grow, becoming even greater contributors as they enjoy the rewards of successfully achieving the goals of the organization. – Bill Sweigert

RESOURCES AT THE READY:
Developing the art of leadership

Have you ever wondered who invented the VISA card? Dee Ward Hock, is the inventor, founder and former CEO of the VISA credit card association. According to Birth of the Chaordic Age, one of the numerous books Hock has authored, the organization has an annual volume of $1.4 trillion, and continues to grow in excess of twenty percent compounded annually!

A successful leader, noted member of the Money magazine Hall of Fame and the author of several books on business, Hock is one of America’s foremost business visionaries. If an organization could capture some spark of the success Dee Hock built into VISA, who would pass it up?

Back in 1997, in an article in Training and Development magazine, author Bonnie Durrance, interviewed Hock regarding his management and leadership philosophy. The article interested me since, at the time, I was preparing a leadership education series for several local managers, but the article has some basic truths that have stood the test of time. Self-management, one of Hock’s central themes in many of his books and presentations, was the theme.

Durrance reported that in sessions Hock has conducted with business leaders, he often asks those present what they consider the single most fundamental responsibility of a manager.

The audience responses often had something to do with controlling the people over whom they had power. However, Hock believes the real responsibilities for leaders begin with self-management. “Unless you do that,” Hock told Durrance, “you are not fit for authority, you’re dangerous.”

Hock’s hierarchy of relationship management, by which he explains his own success, is that “Job Number One” is to manage yourself. “If you look to lead,” Hock is quoted in the online feature Brainy Quotes, “invest at least 40 percent of your time managing yourself – your ethics, character, principles, purpose, motivation, and conduct. Invest at least 30 percent managing those with authority over you, and 15 percent managing your peers.”

The desire for control over others is a familiar and honest feeling among novice leaders but people who are moving ahead and progressing as leaders turn this desire for control in a constructive direction. They examine their own words and conduct, and how people respond to them. If they really want people to respond differently, they acknowledge their own responsibility to innovate in their own communications and behaviors.

If you want people to grow, you can’t refuse to grow yourself. If you want people to follow you, you can’t refuse the commitment to continuously become more worthy of being followed. Is surrender of the desire for control the first step in self-management toward true leadership? If you cannot manage yourself, how can you ever hope to manage anyone else?

Management of one’s self, building personal ethics, wisdom, knowledge and competence, is a lifelong process. The technical knowledge and competencies you need may vary, but the specific ethics, wisdom and interpersonal competencies around which to focus our efforts at self-management are not big secrets, and are not very complicated.

The next time you pull out your VISA card, remember, Dee Hock may not be watching to see if you took responsibility for managing yourself today, but all the other people in your world are paying very close attention. – Bill Sweigert

RESOURCES AT THE READY: Importantant event for manufacturers

By the way, Associated Industries will be represented at the 7th Annual Gesa Smartmap Manufacturer’s Expo in the Tri-Cities WA area, from September 30 to October 1, 2009. The Expo takes place at the TRAC Center, located at 6600 Burden Boulevard, in Pasco, WA.

According to Harris InfoSource there are over 3,500 manufacturing companies in Eastern Washington. The Gesa Smartmap Expo brings many of these manufacturers together at one time-in one place.

Join other manufacturers, vendors and service providers from throughout the Pacific Northwest to learn how to prosper in challenging times, network, develop strategic alliances and grow your business.  
More information is available at the Tri-Cities Development Council website.