MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!

Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to work for some great people who taught me my business and management skills. What I have learned from them has led to a lifetime of accomplishments and successes. Additionally, it has provided the people whom I have had the privilege to lead a positive work environment that encourages personal growth and improvement.

On July 16, 2007, MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS was featured in an interview with Kelly Heyboer of the Star Ledger. Like the interview states I enjoy analysis, writing and teaching. If I can help just one business improve its performance, I will consider this effort a success.

CLICK HERE TO READ THAT INTERVIEW

DOUG CONTRERAS

doug@performancedatamanagement.com

---

Comments (0)

With the recent federal bailouts of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG et al., people are asking "who was responsible?" Not privy to the specifics and the cast of characters involved, I can’t "pin the tail on the donkey."

I do think it is safe to say that what happened is symptomatic of the lack of accountability at senior levels in big industry. Too often we hear stories about executives who receive exorbitant bonuses, golden parachutes, etc. in spite of performance. And now we are reading about middle managers, supervisors and workers who are being terminated, laid off, or downsized.

If we expect a worker to improve, and condition his or her job, bonus, promotion and raise on performance or contribution, how can we look that person straight in the eye when the same requirement does not apply to the big boss?

DOUG CONTRERAS

doug@performancedatamanagement.com

---

Comments (0)

On August 18, 2008 I attended the YES Network taping of an interview with Bobby Flay by Michael Kay in New York City. I have enjoyed watching Bobby practice his culinary magic on Iron Chef and Throwdown, but my real purpose in attending was to serve as driver and escort for my wife. As an accomplished pastry chef, she has the knowledge and experience to better appreciate his success in the kitchen.

Comments (0)

I’ve never been impressed with agencies or services managed by our state government. I know I’m not alone and I bet if I were to survey others on their experiences, the feeling would be the same.

Likewise, I’ve never been impressed with nursing homes in general. Having dealt with four private facilities in the past, I could easily provide a laundry list of negatives that would make the Eskimo practice of putting their aged loved ones on an ice floe to die, a preferable alternative.

With that said, I would like to tell you about a government nursing home that serves as model for all long-term care facilities. A year ago, the NJ Veterans Home in Menlo Park, admitted my uncle for long-term nursing care. In selecting Menlo Park, I read the following on the State of New Jersey website:

The Division of Veterans Healthcare Services operates three modern long-term care nursing homes located in Paramus, Menlo Park, and Vineland. These homes are inspected and licensed annually by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Comprehensive services and a deep concern for the residents go hand-in-hand at New Jersey’s three state-operated veterans’ nursing homes. Around-the-clock medical and nursing care is provided by a full-time staff of physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and trained nursing assistants. Rehabilitative services, such as occupational and physical therapies, speech therapy, and recreational activities are provided under the direct supervision of licensed therapists. A wide range of other medical services is also offered. These include dental, podiatric, and dermatological care. Resident accommodations are assigned based on care required and availability, and are either private, semi-private or four-bed rooms, each equipped with a nurse-call system for immediate nursing care. In spacious dining rooms, residents are provided with wholesome meals prepared under the supervision of licensed dietitians. Tray service is available when necessary and special care is given to individually prescribed diets.

For the convenience and comfort of the residents, the homes feature fully equipped beauty and barbershops, lounges for socializing and watching television, outdoor patios and recreation areas, picnic grounds, and chapels for religious services for all faiths.

Recreational activities available include gardening, ceramics and other arts and crafts, cooking, bingo, shopping trips, music, art and pet therapy programs, movies, dinner trips, fishing excursions, billiards, and trips to sporting events.

The facilities are open to veterans of all wars who served on active duty and were honorably discharged, qualified National Guard/Reserve Retirees, the veteran’s spouse, and to spouses and parents of members of the military who were killed in action during a period of war (Gold Star Parent). A spouse/widow/widower must be at least 50 years of age and must have been married to the veteran for a period of not less than 10 years. Preference is given to applicants who were state residents for at least two years immediately prior to application for admission. Applicants must meet certain asset limitation criteria. Residents pay according to ability based on income.

On paper it sounded too good to be true, but the experience has been even better! As a consultant who teaches others how to manage, I point to Menlo Park as an example of an extremely well run business! In the last year I have had contact with reception, nursing, administrative, medical and janitorial personnel. I’ve also had the chance to talk to other residents. Here are my observations:

• The facility is beautifully designed, well maintained and it is spotless!
• The people at Menlo Park know their jobs and take pride in what they do.
• Staff members genuinely care about the veterans and treat them with respect.
• The atmosphere is upbeat with plenty of activities.
• Menlo Park’s excellent care has stabilized my uncle’s health and has provided him with good quality of life

As someone who had no use for government agencies and less use for nursing homes, I’m proud to say that my state has chosen to provide so well for its heroes.

DOUG CONTRERAS

doug@performancedatamanagement.com

---

Comments (0)

Without a doubt, Barrack Obama’s promise of change has caught the attention of the American public.

As a young plant manager, I was infatuated with change. I guess my thinking at that time was that new was always better than old. As experience matured me and as I got older, I began to see that my desire for newness did not always equate with better.

While I’ll leave the comments on Senator Obama’s battle cry to the political pundits, here’s a list of questions to ask when someone suggests change in the workplace:

1. Exactly what needs to change and why?
2. How much will it cost?
3. Will the benefit outweigh the cost?
4. What will we sacrifice or lose in order to effect the change?
5. How long will the process take?
6. Who will be responsible for implementing the change?
7. Have benchmarks for progress been established?
8. Can we do it in a way that minimizes confusion to our staff?

DOUG CONTRERAS

doug@performancedatamanagement.com

---

Comments (0)

If accountability has anything to do with efficiency and performance, why do managers avoid the issue? Here’s my bet as to the top three reasons:

1. A dislike of confrontation;
2. A fear of making a negative situation more negative;
3. A desire to be politically correct by chalking off failures to obscure social issues.

In my experience, these are nothing more than excuses. Employees know better and have a little respect for a boss who buries his or her head in the sand.

If your approach to accountability is missing the mark, consider the following:

• Clearly define the overall objective, the individual goals and the timing making sure they are doable;
• Advertise the overall objective, the individual goals and the timing so each person is clear on what is expected;
• Give your people the tools needed to do the job;
• Measure progress against goals or benchmark at regular intervals;
• Issue progress reports to each person involved in the process;
• Acknowledge those who achieve positive results;
• Counsel those who fall short.

DOUG CONTRERAS

doug@performancedatamanagement.com

---

Comments Off

Once upon a time, a small business owner named Fred was unhappy with his company’s productivity and performance. While he made it public knowledge to anyone who would listen, the details that separated good from bad were top secret.

No matter how much Fred’s accountant tried to persuade him that his workers needed objective benchmarks, Fred was convinced that expressing his displeasure with the results was all the information they needed and anything more a serious breech of his financial privacy.

As a young officer in the Army, I was taught the value of "need-to-know", but thirty years of business experience also taught me the importance of sharing information with the workforce. Here is what I learned:

• Most workers are concerned about the financial health of their company and will do whatever they can to insure its success.
• Workers need to see the company’s goals in tangible terms. Contrary to Fred’s fears, goals can be expressed and presented in a non-financial way.
• On a regular basis, workers need to see the progress of their efforts.
• Performance improvement needs to be rewarded.

If you happen to run into Fred, tell him about my secret.

DOUG CONTRERAS

doug@performancedatamanagement.com

---

Comments (0)

Ever have a boss who issues a special set of rules for the staff and ignores the same for him or herself? I did and I’d like to say it didn’t affect the quantity and quality of my work, but it did.

A DO AS I SAY, NOT DO AS I DO mentality is hyprocisy at its finest and one of the quickest ways to demoralize and de-motivate a workforce.

Good managers follow the rules themselves and great managers lead by example!

DOUG CONTRERAS

doug@performancedatamanagement.com

---

Comments (0)

Two weeks ago, I received an e-mail from a reader named Bob suggesting an essay on training. While training has been on my short list of possible topics for well over six months, it kept sinking to the bottom in favor of ideas that were prompted by more current events in my business life.

As I thought about Bob’s suggestion, I recalled a number of experiences in my career when training impacted performance. I’d like to pass along three of these instances for you to consider:

1. Early in my career, I was promoted from a Sales Service Rep to a Plant Manager. To provide an incentive to expedite the transition process and my raise, I was awarded the responsibility for recruiting and training my replacement. Unable to find someone with technical expertise in our line of business, I hired Frank who had some sales service experience in a totally unrelated industry. While waiting for Frank to start, I began a diary and tracked my activities for a week. Falling back on my Army experience, I recalled the MOI (Methods of Instruction) course I took as an officer and wrote a lesson plan during the following week. On Frank’s first day, I gave him an overview of what I planned to present and told him I expected him to be ready to take over in 3 weeks. The process was simple. I gave Frank a chair alongside my desk while I continued to perform the job. At the beginning of each day, I quickly summarized and reviewed what was discussed the prior day. Next I previewed what we would cover for the upcoming day. As I took on each call and executed the appropriate follow-up action, I related what I was doing to the material in my lesson plan. At the end of each day, I spent ten minutes rehashing the day’s activities. After one week we swapped chairs - Frank talked to the customers while I critiqued each call and action he handled. After two weeks and a day, Frank was in the groove and I moved to my new assignment and my raise.

2. Some years back I was recruited by a highly specialized manufacturing company to manage the day-to-day operations while the owner could focus on increasing sales. In spite of my solid management background, I was at a total loss when it came to the technical aspects of the business. I can remember sitting at the daily production meeting feeling like a foreigner unable to understand the basic terminology and the processes of the operation. Although I repeatedly begged the owner for training, he had neither the time nor the disposition. Instead he placed me on auto-pilot figuring I could learn by osmosis. I guess in way he was right - I did eventually teach myself. However, for nearly six months, I was a part-time manager and dramatically limited in my ability to contribute.

3. Soon after joining a package printing company as VP of Operations, my new boss gave me his take on each of the key personnel who would be reporting to me. The profile for the Operations Manager, Jorge, was quite negative. Jorge was hired a year before I started and came from a container manufacturing plant in Central America. While he was bilingual, he had only a "textbook" understanding of English. Others in the company were quick to share stories about Jorge’s ineffectiveness as a manager. Fortunately a long time ago, I learned to formulate my opinions based on my own personal observation. As I got to know Jorge and began to question him on some of his management decisions, I found he was "thrown to the wolves" and had no training whatsoever. As I spent time with him, I found him to be bright and eager to learn. In addition to soaking up the management training I provided, he began to take a series of courses in night school. In one year, Jorge clearly became the most valuable person in the operation. Some viewed me as a miracle worker, yet Jorge deserves the credit for his metamorphosis - all he needed was training and a chance.

As I have sometimes done on other essays, I asked my daughter, Julianne, to look at this entry and critique it. As an accomplished high school teacher, I thought her input on this topic would be particularly appropriate. She suggested a change in the order of the examples I cited and helped me clarify some of my thoughts. Also, she thought I should add a closing paragraph to tie these instances together. On this last point I disagreed and decided to allow you to see the value in each example and draw your own conclusions. I hope you did!

Bob - Thanks for lighting the fire under me and making this a current event!

and

Julianne - As always, I value and appreciate your suggestions, advice, help and support!

DOUG CONTRERAS

doug@performancedatamanagement.com

---

Comments (0)

In kindergarten Miss Schweitzer and Mrs. Mueller would line us up in our tiny chairs across the classroom. Sitting on one end, Miss Schweitzer would whisper a word to the child closest to her asking that it be passed along until it reached Mrs. Mueller on the other end of the row. As many times as we would try it, the word that was finally heard by Mrs. Mueller was never the one initiated by Miss Schweitzer.

Just mention the game "Telephone" to anyone and I’ll bet that person can tell you about similar experiences that go well beyond kindergarten. In spite of this widespread knowledge of how ineffectively people communicate, I’m always surprised when managers and supervisors verbally pass along important information or instructions "down the row."

While there’s a lot to be said for a one-on-one personal approach in business, detailed information or instructions need to be clear, concise and written.

DOUG CONTRERAS

doug@performancedatamanagement.com

---

Comments (0)