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Volume 43 Issue 7 July/August 2009
| PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
TO: THE MICA MEMBERSHIP
TO: THE MICA MEMBERSHIP
Hello everyone.
We are well into the summer and I hope this letter finds everyone healthy and happy. It seems to be the time of year when all of the contractors are starting to panic about getting all of their school projects done before schools start up in the fall. If your area is anything like ours, you will be getting calls pretty soon asking why you are not done with the insulation on the project. The usual response is that the piping and sheet metal contractors have not even finished their portion of the work yet. They also then have to test the piping and sometimes the ductwork before we can start insulating it. This all seems to fall on deaf ears and the general then informs us we must be done before school starts or the world will end as we know it.
I am sure most of you have had this type of conversation every year at this time. Well I am here to tell you to do your best to stay positive and do the best you can with the people you have. I have found out that the day schools start the world does not stop or end and that life goes on as we know it.
It is at stressful times like these that we all need to remind ourselves to stay positive and do what we can for our employees to help them through these stressful times.
One process I try to use with my people is a rule of 3 parts positive to one part criticism. This is very hard to do with your people, but if you are able to perform this you will be rewarded with great results. The trick is to realize what is negative and positive. If you walk on a job and ask your foreman why he has not progressed as far as you think he should have you have now stated a criticism. This means you should then follow it up with positive comments. You may state that the productivity is slower than you would like, but the workmanship is very good and it is workmanship like the type your people are displaying that helps our company get more work. It is not easy to consistently do this, but we all need to be conscious of it and try our best.
Remember, if you are successful at this, you will reap the rewards of having a happy, productive workforce that will be a major reason for your companyÕs success.
Enjoy your family and the rest of the summer.
As always,
Pete Gauchel
MICA President
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