COMMUNICATION COMMITTEES CONVERSATION

Transcription

1 COMMUNICATION COMMITTEES CONVERSATION Rhonda Leader Sentry Equipment Corporation Daniel Marcue ESOP Association Julie Rubner Douglas Machine, Inc

2 Description Join this session to discuss: 1) starting a committee; 2) keeping a committee active and engaged; 3) formal structures; 4) budgeting; and, 5) obtaining support. This will be an interactive session where participants will be asked to share their experiences and help define what makes an effective communications committee. Learn from your peers and walk away with ideas that you can apply to your committee.

3 Introduction Rhonda Leader-Sentry Equipment Corporation. Employee-owner since 2006 WI ESOP Chapter Officer Program Committee Passion: Encourage employees to "think like owners Contact:

4 Introduction Julie Rubner Douglas Machine Inc. General Accountant. Julie has been a member of Douglas Machine s Employee Ownership Council s since 2012 and is currently the elected President. Douglas Machine has well over 750 employee owners and has been 100% employee owned since Contact: julie.rubner@douglas-machine.com

5 Introduction Dan Marcue Chapter Development Officer

6 ESOP ASSOCIATION CHAPTERS

7 Agenda Identifying the need Committee sponsor Committees Members Practices Mission Charter Goals Avoiding Stagnation Action items Questions

8 Identifying the Need New ESOP Transaction Legal requirements Change the culture Create participation Generate ideas Plan the Company events Someone to carry the message

9 Sentry Equipment Why we decided to create a committee: Communicate the meaning of ownership benefits, rights, privileges, and responsibilities. Provide a good example of an ESOP company at the local, state, and national level Recommendations to management about various ESOP related issues. Organize and facilitate educational programs and special events that further the above objectives Enhancing understanding of the ESOP as a retirement benefit

10 Douglas Machine Why we decided to create a committee: Douglas Machine s Employee Ownership Council was established in June of The committee is the bridge between upper management and those employees that have questions that they themselves are not comfortable asking upper management. They are encouraged to ask a EOC member.

11 Committee Sponsor Identifying the purpose Key Stakeholder Draft Objective Carry the message Support the process Empower the people

12 Sentry Equipment Committee Champion/Sponsor? VP of Human Resources Final decision authority: Our committee as a whole How is it working? Works well for us at this time. Everyone takes responsibility for tasks

13 Douglas Machine Committee Champion/Sponsor? two appointed sponsors the Human Resource Manager and a Corporate Officer, who right now is the Chief Executive Financial Officer. Final decision authority: The committee is made up of responsible employee owners that are careful stewards of our money. If there is something huge we have the CFO on our committee and he would ultimately be the final decision maker and authority. How is it working? It works great hasn t been any problems with it so far and been doing it that way for 9 years.

14 Committees Group Discussion: What behaviors define a good committee member? What makes a good Committee?

15 Sentry Equipment What we found helps makes a good committee: Diverse representation (ie: shop & office) Staggered terms ( seasoned and novice ) Attendance at meetings

16 Selecting the Members Identify skills needed Compatibility with the team Manager Support Connections Communicators Positive personality

17 Selecting the Members Time Commitment Diversity (Gender/Position/Location) Believe in the Goal Answer WIIFM

18 Sentry Equipment How we select members of our committee: Election (volunteers and agreeable nominees) Serve 3 year term Staggered to provide continuity on the committee Equal representation from shop & office

19 Douglas Machine How we select members for our committee: Our members are elected. Each area of the company is represented by a EOC member. When that member retires it is his/her obligation to seek out a replacement for the area they are representing. If more than one person is interested then an election in that area is held. If no one from the area is interested then we have a list. The list is created from our October celebration quiz. The quiz is handed out at our Employee Ownership Month lunch. On the quiz is a box for employees to check if they are interested in joining the EOC.

20 Definition of Teamwork Cooperative effort by the members of a group or team to achieve a common goal. "teamwork." The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, Answers.com 08 Jan

21 Katzenbach and Smith s Definition of Teams/Committees Common purpose Performance goals Complimentary skills Outline of how the work gets done Members mutually accountable

22 Katzenbach and Smith s Building Team/Committee Performance Sense of urgency standards and directions Member selection First meeting Clear behavior rules Challenging group with fresh facts and information (Are you in the loop?) Lots of time together Positive feedback and rewards

23 Committee Practices Set the ground rules What s expected Clarify the role of each member Develop a plan that specifies both short and long term goals actions to accomplish them Use agenda s at meetings

24 Committee Practices All members have a voice Communication!!!! Celebrate the milestones Deal with problems promptly Evaluate the effectiveness of the team on a regular basis

25 Effective ESOP Committees Clear objective for the committee alignment with company values Leadership direction & support Appoint members (subcommittee) to research & draft a working outline for committee Be willing & able to commit the time Evolution is inevitable: what works for yesterday, today & tomorrow

26 Effective ESOP Committee Ask yourself: what is the committee s responsibility and does it make sense? No busy work Have thoughtful dialogue Market your committee Communicate committee work/actions: progress reports, decision reports, events

27 Mission (Company Name) Communication Committee MISSION STATEMENT: The Committee will foster an employee ownership culture by communicating the importance of employee ownership and encouraging individual employee owner participation in our ESOP.

28 Sentry Equipment SOCC Mission The Sentry Ownership Communication Council (SOCC) is a committee within Sentry Equipment Corp. The SOCC s purpose is to facilitate communication and training among the Sentry employee owners, regarding ESOP and ownership matters, as identified in the company s mission statement, corporate values, and strategic plan. The primary goal is to make ownership at Sentry meaningful to employee owners at every level of the company. No truly assigned tasks-all committee members participate

29 Douglas Machine EOC Mission Douglas Machine s EOC mission statement is: To positively influence our employee ownership culture through learning, communication and celebration. We have Bylaws and Policies in place that describe each officers duties. If you d like a copy please feel free to me julie.rubner@douglas-machine.com and I will be more then happy to send it to you. Duties of Officers include: President- The President schedules, sets the agenda and presides over the Council meetings. Vice President- The Vice President is responsible for filling vacancies on the EOC by notifying the cell/departmental heads of the vacancies and monitoring the election process per Article II section D. The Vice President will also assist the President in all endeavors and becomes the President if he or she resigns or is removed. Treasurer- The Treasurer will record the Council spending and give a report at the Council meetings. Secretary - The Secretary will record and distribute the minutes from the meetings and post them on the EOC bulletin boards and DMI Intranet. Historian The Historian will be responsible for gathering and archiving information from events and meetings. The Historian is also responsible for keeping the DMI EOC Commemorative album up to date in order to use in new employee orientations and other special events.

30 Committee Charters Items included in the Charter should be: A list of team members Purpose of forming the team Importance Scope Deliverables Measures Resources

31 Sentry Equipment Committee structure: SOCC committee: 4 office/4 shop representative & 1 chair EARS (ESOP Alumni Resources): all past SOCC members Meetings: Quarterly, more often Sept planning for October events How we meet: In person

32 Douglas Machine Committee structure: Douglas Machine has 14 representative of which 2 are appointed by the CEO. Meetings: We meet once a month, members get free lunch once a quarter. During Employee Ownership Month (October) we do a series of events that gets us together at least once a week each week in October. How we meet: We are lucky and have all of our members in the Alexandria area and are able to meet in-person.

33 Charter CONSTITUENCY/MEMBERSHIP ELIGIBILITY Members will be appointed/elected by XXX with recommendations from current members and or employee owners year terms (beginning in Jan/June/Sept) Committee shall elect two (2) officers from among themselves (Chairperson and Vice Chair/Secretary) Officers will serve 2 years in their elected position.

34 Charter Meetings At least once per quarter in person Conference calls fill in the gaps Lot s of s Traveling meetings (Outer Locations) Formal agendas Homework Assignments Amendments Two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Committee membership and final approval from the President (30) day notice to members

35 Developing Committee Charters Guidelines for developing a charter Prepare your own thoughts and ideas As a team brainstorm on thoughts and ideas Develop a rough draft of the charter Allow the draft to marinate for a couple of days Finalize and distribute the charter

36 Goal Setting/Measurements Budgets Questions from the attendees Survey feedback October Employee Ownership month participation Vesting cards/pins AACE Awards Culture

37 Signs of Stagnation We ve always done it this way Habits locked in Loss of curiosity Stop outside learning (own experiences) Anxiety of trying Lack of goal setting Lack of measurements

38 How to avoid Stagnation Develop collaboration Common goal the group believes in Green light sessions Tap into childhood curiosity Learn from outside sources Follow the meeting rules Develop succession plans

39 Action Items Identifying the need Committee sponsor Committees Members Practices Mission Charter Goals Avoiding Stagnation

40 Questions