Edward Jones Meets in the Kitchen

"The possibilities are endless," said Brenda Large, personal enrichment coordinator for Joliet Junior College's (JJC) Corporate and Community Services Division. "Edward Jones is only one example, but a good one."

She was talking about the quarterly meeting planned by the Edward Jones office in Tinley Park. Edward Jones is a financial planning company with offices throughout the country. They needed a place to meet and wanted to make the meeting more interesting. Connie Bidinger of the Edward Jones, called Large last December to setup a meeting at JJC.

"Connie suggested pizza," said Large. "She wanted something hands-on and something they could eat during the meeting." With Bidinger's approval, Large setup a pizza-making class and a meeting room near the kitchen for January 24.

"The people from Edward Jones began in our kitchen and started rolling pizza dough immediately," said Large. "They were taught by JJC's part-time culinary arts instructor Chef Keith Vonhoff.

"Chef Vonhoff gave us some very good tips on expert pizza-making and got everyone involved in a team building hands-on experience," said Kurt W. Berg, financial advisor with Edward Jones. "Everyone loved their pizza and there was plenty to take home. We will definitely do this again with a new menu."

Brenda Large is talking to other companies interested in having more than just a business meeting. "Turning a meeting into an educational experience is fun," said Large. "Most people enjoy it and it definitely assures a good turnout."

Bosses with Good Manners Get Good Results and Happy Workers

A new study published by the University of Florida reports that bosses who browbeat their employees get worse, not better, performance.

Using real life situations, researchers discovered that verbal abuse flusters people into poor performance. "When someone is screaming at you, you're too busy thinking about the incident and how to deal with it to think about much else," said Amir Erez, a University of Florida management professor.

In fact, just the threat of receiving rude treatment can cause problems. According to Erez, simply imagining being on the receiving end of a tirade hampered worker's ability to perform. "We found that even when the rude behavior is pretty mild, it impairs a person's cognitive functioning and has spillover effects in how they treat their co-workers," he said.

The study evaluated students in three situations and measured their ability to perform different tasks after rude treatment. Students treated rudely solved fewer anagrams, recalled less information and found fewer and less creative solutions to problems.

Students treated rudely were also less willing to help others. An experimenter, for example, would drop books or pencils and wait to see if anyone would help pick them up. Students experiencing rude behavior picked up fewer materials, if they tried to help at all.

Robert Sutton, a Stanford University professor of management science and engineering and author said the study provides "some of the strongest evidence I've seen that mean-spirited behavior can undermine productivity and creativity.

The report, by Erez and Christine Porath, a management professor at the University of Southern California, appears in the October issue of the Academy of Management Journal.

For more information about Joliet Junior College training programs for supervisors and managers, call Bruce Kuzmanich at (815) 280-1512, or e-mail bkuzmani@jjc.edu.

The New Business Function

The Design Management Institute (DMI) is a Boston based organization that encourages all levels of business management to view design as a strategic planning function. They focus on a number of design areas including product and graphic design. This idea is expressed in one of their publications on the use of design and design thinking to solve business objectives:

Design in all its forms (product design, innovation design, environment design, information design, communication design, etc.) is a powerful business tool, and there are specific techniques, processes, and structures to enable success.

But moving design from a project based function to a strategic one is challenging. How do you move design from an expense to an asset?

You begin by understanding the design process and the principles of good design. "CEOs need to be knowledgeable design users," said Amy Murphy, director of Joliet Junior College's Corporate and Community Services Division (CCS). "Top management of any business ultimately decides on the branding image, the product functions, and the type of customer interactions found on their web sites," she said.

The way a business connects with its market will determine much of its success. "Business leaders who fail to understand the strategic link between design and profit," said Murphy, "will handicap themselves in the marketplace."

According to Joe Giunta, former designer and now contract training manager for CCS, the Apple Corporation is a good example of a company using design as a strategic business function.

"Look at their products," said Giunta. "They are designed to appeal to their particular market and their advertising compliments their product design" he said. "There are no message conflicts. A single voice is heard."

To accomplish that single voice, senior management must seek to integrate the corporate mission statement with design.

"Businesses that think of design as an outgrowth of their mission statement and business plans, have a better chance of success," said Murphy.

The Design Management Institute would agree. One of their conference descriptions includes the following: Building business value through design is a business imperative. Well-managed design has the power to create innovation, enable strategy, build brands, and ensure customer satisfaction.

JJC offers a number of design seminars and will be happy to develop one for your company. Call Joe Giunta at (815) 280-2729, or e-mail jgiunta@jjc.edu for a no obligation assessment.

Find out how you can link design to your business plan and mission statement.

10 Things You Can Do To Protect Your Workers

The following 10 suggestions are based, in part, on an article published on the Occupation Hazards web site.

1. Develop a zero-tolerance policy toward energized work. Never allow work on energized electrical equipment.

2. Provide employees with protective apparel and enforce their use. Protective clothing and gear is essential – particularly when employees work on energized equipment.

3. Do a walking tour of operations. Become visible to workers and develop checklists for tracking who is qualified to do different jobs.

4. Train employees. Learn what your employees can do and where they need training.

5. Develop safe work practices and procedures. Document the steps taken to complete a project to ensure safe and proper procedures were followed.

6. Perform periodic safety audits. Safety audits keep workers on their toes and keep accidents to a minimum.

7. Implement job briefings. If the scope of a job changes, conduct another job briefing to keep everyone updated.

8. Exercise care when implementing a safety awards program. If OSHA believes an awards program discourages reporting accidents, they will issue citations against the company.

9. Stay current on NFPA 70E. Keep employees informed of regulations and safety practices authorized by OSHA.

10. Document everything. Everything should be in writing.

For more information about NFPA 70E training, call Bruce Kuzmanich at (815) 280-1512, or e-mail bkuzmani@jjc.edu.

Joliet Junior College has partnered with Steel Grip, Inc. to provide protective wear for our safety classes. For information about protective wear, visit steelgripinc.com.