World Fence News

WORLD FENCE NEWS • JANUARY 2020 • 13 Developing innovative techniques and a culture of success in your fence company continued from page 8 ting as many jobs as possible by auto- mating the plant. There was never a successful transformation of work cultures, one way or another. The documentary also noted that by the year 2030, 375 million jobs globally will be replaced my mecha- nization and automation. In my humble opinion what we have in America that makes us strong is our individu- alism, our free thinking style and our innovative ap- proach to work and to life in general. As for automa- tion, the fence in- dustry may not be immune to mech- anization, we are seeing more and more of it every day. But we embrace labor saving tools that make our jobs easier. However no ma- chine will ever replace a good crew foreman and/or his helpers. This brings me back to the ques- tion I asked last month, which was "What is the principle reason you are in the fence business?" Yes, I know, the answer for many, if not most of you, was for the money. But I think that is not the only reason, as many of my readers have concurred. Let me ask you, would you rath- er be working in a China-run factory with "What is good for the company is what is good for me" as your mantra, while earning about $15 an hour? Not me. Truth is, fencing is good, honest work and can be very self-rewarding for everyone involved. Personally I would choose this line of work over a factory job any day of the week. Yes, the work is hard but there really is a sense of accomplishment in what fencers do; a job well done is quite rewarding in and of itself. Am I getting close to the truth? If so, may I suggest that having a rewarding and positive work culture is essential to keeping you and all of the best employees in the company happy and productive? But that certainly is not the end- all of the fence business. Indeed, you are most assuredly in the fence business to make money and provide for your family, as well as provide a good living for your valued employees. What a good work environment or culture boils down to is simply a balance: The consideration of the in- dividual's wants and needs as well as that of the company's, and focusing on how those principles of balance can be channeled into serving the needs of the individual and the company to earn a profit, pay the bills and afford a good livelihood for all the employees. If management understands and accepts their responsibility to the indi- vidual and if each individual employ- ee accepts his or her responsibility to contribute positively to the overall success of the company, you have a win, win situation. That, my friend, is a great work culture. Good communication is at the heart of a strong, positive and suc- cessful work cul- ture and a success- ful business. There has to be give and take, concessions on both sides for everyone to win. We are not and never will be like China, where only what is good for the company must then be good for the individual. We are better than that and can build a stronger and better co- existence between management and labor. I have a number of ideas on exact- ly what this might look like in fencing, as well as some specific suggestions for the fence industry. At the FENCETECH 2020 con- vention in Salt Lake City I will share with attendees in my educational seminars ideas to implement these game-changing philosophies to im- prove work conditions and productivi- ty in your company. Please plan to attend, as this will be something that you can bring back with you to your fence company to have an immediate positive influence for everyone in the firm. I also want to look at some of the core reasons for being in this business, how to succeed in this business and how to have fun while doing that. This way we can hopefully "re- cession-proof" our companies to the best of our abilities, keep our best employees on the job and happy and make money in the process, in spite of world economics. Focusing on optimal performanc- es in the fence industry and specifical- ly on how to build a "Culture of Suc- cess" in your fence company will be the new standard in fencing. We will be discussing this em- powering philosophy designed to not only help you with some best practic- es, procedures and ideas, but we will focus on employees and management If management understands and accepts their responsibility to the individual and if each individual employee accepts his or her responsibility to contribute positively to the overall success of the company, you have a win, win situation. That, my friend, is a great work culture. continued on page 28 Visit LockeyUSA.com or call 888.395.0163 - EASY INSTALLATION, NO WELDING - KEY LOCKOUT FUNCTION TO PREVENT CODE USE WHEN LOCKED - LIFETIME MECHANICAL WARRANTY - AUTO-LOCKING WITH PASSAGE Booth #917

• Cover