The home heating oil industry has a long and proud history, and Fuel Oil News has been there supporting it since 1935. It is an industry that has faced many challenges during that time. In its 77th year, Fuel Oil News is doing more than just holding
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EDI TO R ' S N O T E Keith Reid Let Your Employees Drive the Company Forward YOU FREQUENTLY HEAR BUSINESS OPERATORS speak about the importance of hiring qual- ity people then backing off and letting them run with enough guidance to know the expectations, but without crippling micromanagement. Editing two magazines with a simi- lar small business focus I regularly write profile pieces on exceptional companies. Invariably while most companies give lip service to the goal of letting quality employees pull and push your company to the heights of success the ones that stand out tend to be the few that actually deliver fully on this goal. While senior managers may very well understand the power behind the concept, human nature and business realities can stand in the way of letting go of that extra control. On the human nature front, an owner that worked hard to build a business can find it difficult to trust others to watch out as intensely for the interests of that busi- ness. That is particularly the case if he or she has been burned on occasion when delegating authority. And, in delegating authority there will be occasional failures— but hopefully not major ones—as part of the employee's learning curve. On the practical side, hiring and retain- ing the most competent people can cost money. If they are truly competent, they know their value as do your competitors. They will want to be paid what they are worth. However, the success stories you come across show that leading companies realizes that saving pennies at the expense of dollars is a short-sighted approach. Proper hiring brings into the operation bright and energetic "raw material" for your success. Proper training in a mea- sured and controlled manner will bring them along as their careers advance. Giving employees both responsibility and authority—with adequate management (but not micromanagement)—allows them to operate independently, but because of the proper training be solidly grounded in the specifics of their authority and the perfor- mance expectations. If mistakes are made, much as with raising children, look on those as necessary learning experiences through a non- confrontational review process. Repeating the same mistakes is another matter, of course. Finally, if you want them to have the same passion for your business, then pro- vide the incentives that will give them such passion. Part of that is compensa- tion related. However, a bigger part can be actually treating them as your partners in success by letting them know how much you appreciate their work. And make them true partners. As they gain experience, they may be able to provide ideas that you or your other senior managers might not think of because they will be more intimately in touch with various areas of the operation. Again, nothing really new here. But the execution is what tends to set the leading companies apart from the average. NOV EMBER VOL . 7 7 NO. 1 1 EDITORIAL STAF F Editorial Office 1030 W. Higgins Road Suite 230 Park Ridge, IL 60068 847/720-5600 Editor Keith Reid 847/720-5615 kreid@m2media360.com Managing Editor Debra Reschke Schug 847/720-5618 dschug@m2media360.com Columnists Charles Bursey, Sr. John Griffin George Lanthier EXECUTIVE STAF F President/CEO and Group Publisher Marion Minor List Rentals/ Reprints – Cheryl Naughton 678/292-6054 Fax: 360/294-6054 cnaughton@m2media360.com PRODUCT ION Production Manager – Mary Jo Tomei Art Director – Andrew Stamm ADVERT ISING SALES East – Dave Campbell, Associate Publisher 413/528-2364 Fax: 413/528-8835 dcampbell@m2media360.com Central & South – Rich Alden 603/899-3010 Fax: 603/899-2343 ralden@m2media360.com West – Ken Jordan 972/540-2122 Fax: 972/540-2127 kjordan@m2media360.com MAIN OF F ICE 1030 W. Higgins Road Suite 230 Park Ridge, IL 60068 847/720-5600 • Fax: 847-720-5601 CUSTOMER SERVICE 845/856-2229 • Fax: 845/856-5822 Fuel Oil News P.O. Box 4290, Port Jervis, NJ 12771 M2MEDIA360 Membership applied for 7/1/2010 BEV-AL COMMUNICAT IONS INC. Marion Minor Gerald Winkel President/CEO Director of Finance Joanne Juda-Prainito Mary Jo Tomei 8 NOVEMBER 2012 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com VP Audience Develolpment Production Director