Masonry Magazine December 2005 Page. 48
News
learn maintenance and repair procedures, review regulatory requirements, explore solutions to masonry problems, and participate in a masonry construction demonstration.
For further information, contact Raymond C. Matulionis at (608) 263-3372, matulionis@epd.engr.wisc.edu, or visit http://epdweb.engr.wisc.edu/WEBG671.
OSHA and SkillsUSA
Create New Alliance
Fostering safer and healthier workplaces for young workers is the goal of a new Alliance signed between the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and SkillsUSA on Oct. 17. Through the Alliance agreement, OSHA and SkillsUSA will work together to provide career and technical educators and their students with materials, guidance and access to training resources that will positively impact the occupational safety and health of young workers.
"It is important to educate our nation's youngest workforce about safety and health hazards in the work environment," says Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jonathan L. Snare. "The sooner they learn, the more aware they will be of hazards and ways to avert those hazards. A quality work experience is the result."
SkillsUSA Executive Director Tim Lawrence adds, "A lifetime of career success counts on worker safety. It's essential to any job. That's why career and technical education, and SkillsUSA, stress safety and safe working practices to our students. SkillsUSA is enthusiastic about our alliance with OSHA. We look forward to helping our instructors in over 140 occupational areas reach their students with OSHA expertise."
OSHA and SkillsUSA will provide expertise in developing information on the recognition and prevention of workplace hazards and on ways of communicating such information (e.g., print and electronic media, online forums, electronic assistance tools and OSHA's and SkillsUSA's websites) to educators, employers and young workers.
Alliance members will promote the national dialogue on workplace safety and health by participating in forums, roundtable discussions and stakeholder meetings on young worker safety and health issues to help forge innovative solutions to hazards in the workplace.
For more information, visit www.osha.gov.
Simulations Predict
Savings From More
Airtight Buildings
U.S. commercial building owners could save substantially on annual heating and cooling energy costs by improving airtightness of their building's envelope, according to a recent National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) study. The research used simula-
News continued on page 48
A Winning Team
MASONRY NEWS CONTRACTOR TIP
To win football games in the NFL, a team must have top players. The best football coaches do this by eliminating the weakest players and then trading or using the draft to field a winning team.
I have always believed that success in business is much like winning football games. Top management must get the right people in the right places first, and then everything else follows. Until we have the best players performing the work, our company's results will suffer. If the NFL has discovered a way of fielding the best players, why can't we?
The year 2005 has come and gone. Now we all get to look at our end of the year financial statements to see what our yearly record is or to see if we made any money. In a perfect world, all of us would consistently work at a profit. However, even if you had a profit in 2005, was it enough profit to offset the possibility of a downturn in 2006? Did you do everything you possibly could to make the most of every resource you have? One thing is for sure: if you do the same things in 2006 that you did in 2005, you will get the same results.
In order to win in business we must hire, train and maintain the best people. The idea of running a business like a football team comes from my friend Ronnie Strahler. At a Christmas party, Ron explained to me that we should run our businesses more like the NFL coaches select their teams. Since Ron is a very successful businessman, I was all ears when he shared his secret to staying successful year after year. Ron said, "At the end of every year, we should reevaluate our team. Anyone who isn't doing their part to help the company reach its goals should be let go. Then we should go out and draft the best new workers until we field the perfect team."
Once we field the best team, how do we keep these exceptional players? Like in the NFL, if they are better, we must pay them more. But let's not just pay them based on salary or per hour worked. This type of compensation is entitlement compensation. With entitlement compensation, even the best will become mediocre. In my book "RACE" I write about ways to keep the best employees by measuring what they do and paying them accordingly. This yardstick is made up of expected outcomes, such as company goals. This way, as we give more, we consistently get more in retum.
So how's your team doing? Are they 3-13 or 13-3? If they are 13-3, "Great!" If they are 3-13, maybe you should look at drafting new players. Or at the very least, consider changing the game plan or systems they work within so they improve that record for the upcoming season.
The subject of merit pay verses entitlement pay is so important that it will be the focus of our next month's Tip. And if your interested, you may also choose to read my book or attend one of our seminars held solely for mason contractors who are looking for a better way to become profitable in a difficult industry. For information, call Kerri at Lang Masonry, (800) 417-9272.