We had a fun training today based on the famous book Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson.
The point of the book is to remain flexible and to keep your eye on the prize. Life happens and you have to learn to ride the waves, no matter how challenging. Some people get stuck and can only keep doing the same thing every day, even if that same thing is no longer working for them and stops pushing them towards their ideal future. In order to succeed, you have to be able to take a step back and course-correct when needed so that you're never stagnant but always moving forward. How do you make sure you're always moving towards that cheese? Below: Greg (left) is always cheering us on, reminding us that we can accomplish anything. Haley (right) is always up for a challenge and has a great attitude when it comes to learning new skills.
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"Light It Up Blue" for autism! We all wore blue at work today to show support for our neurodiverse brothers and sisters. ❤ We have a variety of people working at Bridgeview and that includes people on the autism spectrum.
Below (from left to right): Seth, Peter, Chris, Greg, Ben, Collin, and Kevin A few years ago our founder, Kevin, saw a "Thug Life" t-shirt and jokingly said we were living the "Plug Life". It stuck. Since then we've made t-shirts, stickers, mugs, and postcards all with our Plug Life graphic on it. We encourage our team members to wear their Plug Life t-shirts to work and on work outings. We say "Plug Life!" when high-fiving or fist bumping. It has become a part of our company culture.
We don't just say we're excited about empowering American manufacturing. We actually mean it. Our philosophy is that there is more to work than just earning a paycheck. Everyone wants to feel that their work matters and that they are contributing to something bigger than just making a faceless corporation rich. We live and breathe Plug Life here at Bridgeview. In everything that we do, we make sure that we are rooting for our customers and lifting them up them with our hard work. It fires us up when we can support veterans who are trying to break into a very competitive market. It motivates us when we know we are helping a husband and wife realize their dream of working in renewable energy. We feel proud when we can help a tiny tech start-up land a multi-million dollar contract. What motivates you? Below: We have reminders scattered throughout our shop, helping us remember why we do what we do. One of the exciting parts of owning a small business is when new machinery arrives. We were really fortunate enough to find a great overmolding machine and we are so excited by the possibilities of using it to help our customers.
While the great majority of companies that offer overmolding require a minimum order quantity of 500 or 1000, we are determined to continue to offer our services with a minimum order quantity of just 1. That means if our customer has a mold and needs just one plug, we'll take care of that for them. We're in the business to empower American manufacturing and that means working outside of the standard box. Below: Ben (left) is testing out our new machine, learning how to program it. As small business owners, we have the temptation to look around on social media and compare ourselves to what other small businesses are doing. What we have to remember is that, especially on social media, we're looking at the highlight reel for that business and not the struggles they go through. Every business, no matter how successful they appear to an outsider, has problems and failures.
"Always be a first rate version of yourself and not a second rate version of someone else." - Judy Garland At Bridgeview, we embrace who we are. We're a little quirky, a little nerdy, and a lot of fun. We're driven, hard workers who have a passion for seeing American manufacturing succeed. We have a strong sense of who we are and have no desire to be like any other contract manufacturer. What makes us unique is how personable we are, how willing to help we are, and how attentive we are to the needs of our customers. We live the "Plug Life" and we're proud of it. Below: Richard (left) proudly wears his Plug Life t-shirt to work. Seth (right) shows off his quirky cat calendar. Gary Chapman wrote a very famous book (that is now a series of books) called The Five Love Languages. His theory is that we express love and receive love based on one of the five "languages", which are acts of services, words of affirmation, physical touch, receiving gifts, and quality time. This theory of giving and receiving love became so popular that Chapman expanded his theory to cover appreciation in the workplace.
If you don't know your love language, you can visit https://5lovelanguages.com/. In the workplace we can show appreciation in the following ways: 1. Acts of Service - offering to help a co-worker or leader with a project, helping to clean the shop or office without being told, or offering to run an errand. 2. Words of Affirmation - compliments on work done, compliments on personality, positive feedback 3. Physical Touch - high fives, fist bumps, hand shakes, hugs (when appropriate) 4. Receiving Gifts - giving time off, giving gift cards/certificates, raffles, bringing coffee and donuts for everyone, pizza party 5. Quality Time - one-on-one meetings between team members and leadership, company events and outings, allowing team members a way to give leadership feedback Below: We encourage our team to learn soldering and reward them for their efforts with a certificate that we display at the shop. Peter and Seth (right) first bump to show their appreciation for each other. We recently read a news article where a CEO was complaining that her profit-sharing program wasn't working in motivating her employees. On the contrary, it was creating a sense of entitlement and when they didn't receive the amount they thought was owed to them, they were discontent and resentful. This CEO also felt unappreciated because she alone shouldered the losses of the business, something her employees couldn't understand.
An alternative to profit sharing is to spread the profit around in the form of raises and better benefits. Over the years, as Bridgeview has grown, our team members have reaped the benefits of their hard work. We have a program of growth, where team members that really put in the effort to learn their job get rewarded with a promotion and a raise. We have so many opportunities for growth in our company and what a team member earns is really determined by how much work they're willing to put in. We don't give out raises just once a year. Do you use profit sharing to motivate your team? Below: Ben and Peter (left) work together to build a long assembly. Ben started working at Bridgeview a year ago and went from working only 6 hours a week to now working full-time. Seth (right) started out on our production floor as an assembler. and, almost two years later, he helps to run our inspection department. We're sure most of you are familiar with the Myers Briggs assessment many companies give their potential employees. There's also the Enneagram assessment and the Holland Code. We don't use personality assessments at Bridgeview. Instead, we focus on making sure our different personalities can communicate, which is why everyone who works for Bridgeview takes the DISC assessment.
There are four categories of communication according to DISC: Decisive, Interactive, Stabilizing, and Cautious. Depending on how a person answers the DISC questionnaire, they will be strong in one or more category. Knowing how a person communicates makes for an environment where we can be ourselves and still respect the communication style of others. Which assessment do you use at your company? We believe in clearly laying out for team members exactly how they can succeed at Bridgeview. When they're first hired, part of our onboarding process is to explain the "Bridge to Success" to them.
Everyone starts at the beginning. We don't care if you have a high school diploma or a college degree, when you first start a Bridgeview, you're a Junior-Level team member. After a year (and the accomplishment of various tasks/trainings), a team member can graduate to a Mid-Level team member. This involves a certificate, a round of applause, cupcakes, and a raise! As our team members, gain more experience within the company, they have opportunities for raises, promotions, and more cupcakes. How do you encourage team members to grow within the company? Below: Peter (right) is learning how to insert a small and complicated pin. His sign-off sheet (right) is a record of the various tools he has been trained on. Way to go, Peter! Here at Bridgeview, we believe in lifting up and empowering people of all backgrounds and abilities. We have various personalities that work for us but we also have team members with challenges that other employers might shy away from. From autism to mental health issues, we feel strongly that we can be a place of respect and encouragement for those who simply want to feel proud of the work they do.
How do you support team members of different abilities? Below: Richard and Peter (left) make a fantastic production team, even if there is 40 years difference between them. Kevin and Seth (right) developed our testing procedures. With their combined backgrounds in engineering and programming, they have developed a solid testing program. |
AuthorsChristina and Kevin Hayward Archives
April 2024
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