Restroom libraries and all that jazz
On my first day in my first job out of college, I discovered technical and business magazines in the bathroom stalls. My supervisor also informed me that I was expected to continue my education while at my desk by boning up on the latest engineering articles and tracking new products. I found out that all of the plant engineering department employees did this, within an eight-hour day.
The company was sending a powerful message that learning was continuous and the company had a responsibility to the employees to help them grow. I found that employees were taking college courses in a variety of disciplines including business, art, history, religion and marketing. The company believed that any expansion of the employees’ horizons made a better person and, hence, a better employee.
Since that job 44 years ago, I have carried that philosophy throughout my career. Life is the career and work is only a portion of it. If we are to have balance in our life careers, all parts must grow if one part grows. Right, Rex! But how does that carry over to the workplace?
Most companies encourage continuing education with courses that are job related. Would a course in Eastern Religion be job related? Think about the diverse workforce. How about a course in pottery making? I had an employee who was a workaholic and did not know how to relax nor did he have a hobby. He asked if the company would allow him time off each week to attend a pottery class, and would I pay for it? Yes, and he found that he had a talent for “throwing bowls”. He came to work a bit different, more relaxed and less stressed. He had a hobby. Fellow employees and clients found a different, worldlier person who began and quit the work day with them.
From the first exposure to magazines in the stall through a company-paid masters degree and multitudes of growth experiences, I have come to believe that not only must our horizons be expanded, but we must focus on growing the individual, with the faith that out of that effort will come a different employee.
I welcome your thoughts and comments. Do you have a similar growth story?
Future articles will expand on these thoughts: (Probably not in this order)
- Living, breathing quality in action
- Sweet 16 and coal shoveling
- Servant leaders
- Really, how should I discriminate?
- Diversity: Are we equal in talent?
- Who is the most important employee?
- Who resists change the hardest?
- The most forgotten employee
- The information filtering process
- What’s in a financial report? Who should know?
- What periodicals does the plant manager read?
- Employee recognition - the tool box?
- Failure breeds success
- Success breeds success
- Life is the career
- Employee-developed preventive maintenance (PM) routes
- PM as an experiment
- Is there life after KSAs?
- The role of human resources
- A logistics plan for what?
- History of work
- Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) as a measure of the work environment
- So, what is so great about restrooms?
- The maintenance professional as a marketer
- Operator/maintainers? Really
- The white glove story
- The refinery study
- The fifth discipline
- Learning organizations
- Post-engagement reviews
- Continuous process management improvement
- What is your value point with your company?
- Your career future
- Instruments you should know about and use
- ESTJ vs. ENFP - say what?
- Mentoring vs. coaching
- Best supervision practices
- Some lessons from Britain and Germany
- The life ladder
- Work-related training
- Dirt on the top of the coffin
- The Pygmalion Effect
- Maslow, McGregor and others
- Mary Parker Follet and Deming
- Where are the tools?
- Metrics for what?
- An organization with no supervisors?
- Or, your favorite subject
I do not normally give advice, but convey suggestions through stories and experiences. Yours are welcomed and will be given recognition.
Remember, humility overrules pride.
Rex
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Filed Under: People Management | Tags: employee engagement, motivation, talent management
