in touch december 2010

6 Ways to Make Employees both Effective

and Productive

Operation Optimization 1

From the Editor 1

FCU in Action 4

Energy Saving Tips 5

ABC Inventory Classification 6

Inside this issue:

Volume 6, Issue No. 17

December 2010

It’s Christmas time!

Perhaps the best Yuletide

decoration is one wreathed in

smiles.

We at FCU and Associates would

like to thank all our clients

and friends for making us a part

of your organization’s growth.

You are one of our celebrations

during this season.

May the good times and

treasures of the present become

the golden memories of

tomorrow.

May this season bring you

success and happiness.

Merry Christmas!

In This Issue:

6 Ways to Make Employees More

Effective & Productive 1

An Unusual Business Success

Story

2

What is Being an Effective Leader All About?

3

FCU in Action 4

Are you a Professional? 5

Top 5 Great Business Gifts That You Can Give To Your Staff for Christmas

5

FCU’s New Client 6

Newly-Certified Clients 6

Our New Associates 7

http://www.bestmanagementarticles.com/

It is easy for us to complain about how our employees don't live up to our expectations. Yet, how often do we ask ourselves if we are enabling our employees to be effective and productive? I would say, not often enough. Effectiveness and productivity are very important because an employee can effectively execute his job duties, but if his job description isn't tightly aligned to our expectations, we may not consider him to be a productive employee. Making employees both productive and effective is easier said than done, but there are six ways to marry the two. − Create a clearly defined strategy that is

easily communicated and understood. A strategy must originate from top management and then cascaded into a properly designed organization. Encourage this process by investing in information and tools to help front-line managers better understand their people, so they can form and maintain cohesive , stellar teams.

− Design your departments in such a way

that the positions within each department can easily execute the strategy. Clearly define the attributes of people who fit the culture. Then, you can use that standard to support your hiring decisions. Proactively identify and develop effective front-line managers. View requests to add headcount with healthy skepticism, only after exhausting good alternatives. Ensure employees have the right “fit” for their jobs, as well as proper experience, skills and equipment to perform at full capacity.

see page 2…

6 Ways to Make Employees both Effective and Productive, from page 1... − Ensure that each job not only has a job description, but

distinct and measurable goals. For example, make sure that three people are never doing the work of two. Productive companies closely monitor and benchmark individual contribution. They assess and eases priorities to determine what work is most important and what activities can be streamlined because they don't add sufficient value. Clearly align roles and responsibilities with the goals of the organization so that your employees can help execute the strategy. Clear goals help employees focus on the outcomes that matter most to the organization.

− Create a system that can monitor how each employee

contributes to the overarching strategy. One-on-one meetings and open communication will encourage employees to stay focused and accomplish their goals. Performance-driven cultures - where actions and results speak louder than words - are often most effective. Executives should be in constant contact with front-line managers so that the people under them are always on track and focused. It is always helpful when the department manager sets goals and benchmarks for each employee, but then allows the employee to formulate the strategy for accomplishing the assigned goals.

− Allow employees to take ownership of their

duties and goals. When you allow employees to take ownership, you provide with them with a valuable opportunity to learn how to manage their own success. Open communication and team work are essential. When the team knows how they fit into the overall purpose, and they also know how their peers contribute to the purpose, then they are more connected and committed to the company's success. Failure should not be discouraged because risk taking helps drive innovation leaps. When employees are encouraged to try new things without the fear of being reprimanded for failing, they are more likely to push themselves and exceed expectations.

− Be flexible and open-minded to necessary adaptations

and alterations. Just as clarity of purpose drives productivity, so does flexibility drive efficiency. Productive companies are more flexible than their peers in handling special circumstances such as special projects, peak demand periods and unplanned employee absences. Full-time employees are cross-trained to cover for one another in times of short-term need. The most productive companies cultivate good sources of contract and temporary labor and have good practices to ensure they deliver what is expected. Innovation results from incremental improvements to, and the fine tuning of, existing strategies and processes

(Volume 6, Issue 17)

IN TOUCH December 2010

Something extraordinary usually gets our attention. A Maserati will likely turn heads more so than a Sarao would. A manufacturing company in Brazil, Semco Incorporation, continues to amaze management researchers even after 25 years with its style of management. Researchers are still turning and shaking their heads with words like nutty, eccentric, and amazingly successful when they describe the company’s approach to business. Ricardo Semler’s Management Style At Semco, employees set their own salaries and bonuses. Employees at all levels set their own working hours. Everyone knows what everyone else earns. Workers choose their own bosses and some workers earn more than their bosses. All employees have unlimited access to the company's books and are trained to read them. Moreover, in his article "The Anti-CEO," A.J. Vogl stated “Semco has no business plan, no mission statement, no long-term budget, no HR department, no VP of IT, no COO, no fixed CEO, no dress codes, and no job descriptions. Nobody approves expense accounts.” At 21, Ricardo Semler became one of Harvard’s youngest graduate MBAs and one of the youngest to turn around a struggling company. Ricardo took over the family business from his father at that young age and immediately started massive changes. He fired about 60% of the company’s managers, some of them his dad’s friends, and reduced the hierarchical level to three. The unusual innovations however did not come overnight. As the business continued poor performance with several months of zero sales, more changes had to come.

Brad Wieners offered in his article "Ricardo Semler: Set

them free," that those changes came after Ricardo collapsed

from working 7:30 a.m. to midnight every day and traveling

extensively. His doctor had a serious discussion with him

which led to balancing his work life. In balancing work,

Ricardo found that the more freedom his staff had the more

productive and loyal they became, and performance

improved

Continued, page 3...

An Unusual Business Success Story

When these six best practices are executed in a company from the top down, you will create a culture that attracts and sustains people who will make the company more efficient, and subsequently more productive.


An Unusual Business Success Story from page 2...

The Semco that is famous today began to emerge after they

had tried everything else they knew of for survival. The loco,

wacky, and unhinged styles as some describe Ricardo’s

approach took hold. And Geoffrey Colvin stated, “… except that

it seems to work. Semler's shock therapy pulled Semco out of

its death spin, and, the company has lately expanded…”

Despite severe economic conditions, Semco achieved 900%

growth in ten years. Reports show that the company went from

$35 million to over $200 million. Growth continued year over

year, often at a rate of 30 to 40% per year and Semco is on

track for a billion dollar within the next few years.

Ricardo’s books, Maverick: the Success Story behind the

World’s Most Unusual Workplace and The Seven-day

Weekend are bestsellers and have made the company world

famous. Hundreds of executives worldwide pursue Ricardo to

learn about his successes.

Can Philippine companies operate like Semco and succeed?

Operating a company where employees are able to make high

level decisions and work as they see fit. A company that has

abandoned a great many traditional business practices such as

autocratic and directive rule.

Arguments are that participative management is not practical.

Yet Semco democratization of the workforce proved innovative

and tremendously successful. Does participation bring on more

innovation? Ricardo Semler believes that is true.

In one of his many lectures, Semler said that people become

calcified by the corporate structures in which they work. They

are hired because they know about what the company is doing-

and that is what they keep doing. An example is the airlines.

Flight attendants continue to instruct passengers how to fasten

their seat belts on every flight.

Semler’s School Today, Ricardo Semler has transferred his ideas to education

to reinvent how students learn. His school, Lumiar Institute,

was one of the 12 schools that The Gates foundation chose to

fund for Microsoft Innovative Schools of the future. At Lumiar,

teaching is not only non-traditional but students don’t have to

show up for classes if they don’t want to.

Source: www.sute101.com

Holding a leadership title and being a real leader are two different things. Confused? Well, anyone who gets the post of leadership is called as a leader. But, a real leader isn't just a manager or a controller of people. A real leader is one who inspires and motivates the team, brings about their growth and, at the same time, ensures that the expected outcomes are achieved. So, it is obvious that being a leader takes a lot more than a mere title. Then, there is also the fact that the team looks upon a leader. Their expectations are quite different from what most people think leadership is all about. When asked across various corporate teams, people had this to say about what they expected in their leaders:-

1. They expected their leaders to be quick in making

decisions and then stand by them. Leaders should be the ones to foresee consequences and immediately decide what would be good for the entire team.

2. They expected their leaders to have ready

solutions when faced with constraints. Leaders are not expected to wimp out or abandon a sinking ship during times of calamity, but they should have it in themselves to safely lead the ship ashore.

3. Leaders are expected to motivate people. For this,

it becomes important that the energy levels of leaders should always run high. They should be excited about the things that they are doing, and they should inspire this excitement in their teams.

4. Leaders are expected to have their focus on the

outcome. Whatever they plan and do should be done in such a way that it leads teams towards the desired results.

People expect their leaders to be accountable to themselves. They should not just play the blame game and pass on the buck to other people in their team when things go wrong. They should be noble enough to accept their shortcomings and work to improve upon them.

It is, therefore, a bigger task to be a leader than most people think. Effective leadership stems from being truthful to all these principles and working assiduously towards accomplishment of goals.

What Is Being an Effective Leader All About?

Leadership is understanding people and involving them to help you do a job. That takes all of the good

characteristics, like integrity, dedication of purpose, selflessness, knowledge, skill, implacability, as well

as determination not to accept failure.

~Admiral Arleigh A. Burke~



FCU in Action

Lotus Central Mall, Inc. Imus, Cavite

Internal Audit Workshop

JM Luciano Construction, Incorporated, Quezon City

Surveillance Audit

Internal Audit Workshop at Shipping Classification Standard of the Phils.,

Batagas City

VT Lao Construction, Davao City

Internal Audit Workshop

Workshop to Workplace (W2W) Program at

Philippine Iino Corpora-tion, Lapu-Lapu City

RD Interior Jr Construction

Bislig, City

Surveillance Audit

Northern Builders, Camiling, Tarlac

Stage 1 & Stage 2 Audits

CB Audit at LR Tiqui Builders, Incorporated Sta. Maria, Bulacan


The following short quiz consists of 4 questions and will

tell you whether you are qualified to be a "professional."

Scroll down for each answer. The questions are NOT

that difficult.

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator put in the

giraffe and close the door. This question tests whether

you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated

way.

2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

Open the refrigerator put in the elephant and close the

refrigerator. Wrong Answer!

Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the

giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This

tests your ability to think through the repercussions of

your previous actions.

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the

animals attend except one. Which animal does not

attend?

Correct Answer: The Elephant. The elephant is in the

refrigerator. This tests your memory.

OK, even if you did not answer the first three questions

correctly, you still have one more chance to show your

true abilities.

4. There is a river you must cross. But it is inhabited by

crocodiles How do you manage it?

Correct Answer: You swim across. All the crocodiles are

attending the Animal Meeting. This tests whether you

learn quickly from your mistakes.

According to Anderson Consulting Worldwide, around

90% of the professionals they tested got all questions

wrong. But many preschoolers got several correct an-

swers. Anderson Consulting says this conclusively dis-

proves the theory that most professionals have the

brains of a four year old.

Top 5 Great Business Gifts That You Can Give To Your Staff For Christmas

Christmas is one of the highly anticipated events of the year. This is also the most joyful and brightest among others. Definitely most employees in different sectors of the society will be waiting for warm greetings, gifts and bonuses. If you are managing a business and you don't have a gift for your employees yet, here are some of the best business freebies that you can also use as promotional business gifts.

Apparels- Clothing is part of our key necessities. So would refuse to have a t-shirt that is free of charge. This custom business gift does not just boast of its large imprinting space where you can put your logo, it also boasts of its power to veer an individual into a walking billboard. Calendar- Calendar is a highly helpful and marvelous promotional business gift that you can disseminate this Christmas. It can guarantee you repetitive brand promotion because people will use it for twelve whole months. Just make your calendars unique and beautifully designed so people won't lose interest.

Cups And Mugs- These drinkwares are office staple. Since coffee is such a trend among yuppies in the corporate arena, don't forget to give them a chic container where they can take their caffeine while walking in style. This will not only benefit your workforce; it will also benefit your brand. A few struts on a jam-packed street and your promotion is already in motion. Pens and Notepads- Pen is considered as a universal corporate freebie. It wouldn't be whole without its perennial partner in the form of a custom printed notepad. These materials will not just serve your clients during trade shows and corporate affairs; it will also benefit your brand. Food and Drinks- Food and drink will always be the greatest business promotional gifts. We eat. We drink. It is self explanatory. By the way, there are food and drink products that are commonly granted during this season. Ham and wines can be packed into a promotional package to warm up the cold-ness of the season.

Are You a

Professional?



OUR NEW CLIENTS

Concepcion Basic Builders Incorporated

O.R. Sarmiento Construction

Frilou Construction & Trading Incorporated

VT Lao Construction Corporation

WCS Construction Corporation

RCD Consultant Group, Incorporated

Tokwing Construction

Makapa Construction

DSB Construction and Supply, Incorporated

I really want people to know that i’ve

worked hard, very hard, to get to

where I am today.. this didn’t just

happen overnight. I started in

business over 25 years ago and have

found a way to build on what i’ve

learned through every partnership

and opportunity.

~Magic Johnson

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR

NEWLY-CERTIFIED CLIENTS!!


Northern Builders

Terp Asia Construction Corporation

Shipping Classification Standards of the Philippines, Incorporated

WT Construction, Incorporated

LR Tiqui Builders, Incorporated

...aim for success , not perfection. Never give up your right

to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn

new things and move forward with your life.

Dr. David Burns



It goes by the line ”Love All, Spend Less,

Give More.” The true essence of Christ-

mas relies not on the gifts which com-

mands you to spend more but on the love

and unity that each one of us should

build. Spend less on gifts and more on

relationships!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We would appreciate your comments or suggestions, please

contact us at:

fcu & associates

MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS

Suite 910 West Tower, PSE Bldg.

Ortigas Center, Pasig City

Telephone: (632) 926.9131, (632) 637.3210

30 Sta. Lucia Street

Subangdaku, Mandaue City

Telephone: (032) 344.7746

Visit our website!!!

www.fcuandassociates.com.ph

OUR NEW ASSOCIATES

Marwin S. Perucho

Electronics & Communication Engineering Technology

Lucky Joy C. Millare

Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress.

Working together is success.” ~Henry Ford

Schervylle May E. Gablinez

Bachelor of Science in Chemistry

in touch december 2010

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