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Leadership Development SIG at Celplast Metalized Products

Our members were fascinated to learn that the Celplast organization, with roughly 60 employees, has roughly 60 leaders!

Yes that’s a 1 for 1 ratio and I must say a few members had raised eyebrows when Marc Jolicoeur, Plant Manager, shared this statistic with us.  Celplast has been on a leadership development journey for the past 18 months and has been experiencing incredible results due to their investment in people and leadership.  I bet you want to ask “What’s unique about their approach”?  Well to be honest, there are a number of unique elements that are coming together to create the momentum in this company.

Currently the Celplast program focuses on five key elements.

  • Forward Thinking Senior Management
  • The FISH Philosophy
  • 1/4ly memorable moments
  • Situational leadership
  • Generous recognition and rewards

The first element, forward thinking management, is an element that was not specifically mentioned, yet I believe is the most important of all elements.  During a trip to the east coast a couple of years ago, Marc experienced the FISH philosophy first hand and recognized that this was a leadership approach that could make a significant impact in his company. Upon his return he approached the management team with the news of what he had uncovered and the process was underway.   Clearly without the ongoing commitment and support and 100% buy-in from senior management, the program could not be sustained!

FISH is a unique philosophy that originated in a fish market in Seattle.  If you google the name, you will see that there are videos that highlight the four key principles which include; be there, play, make someone’s day and choose your attitude.  With the assistance of Platinum Leadership, Marc and his team began to embark upon their leadership journey by holding a 4 day, in plant FISH Camp back in November of 2011.  As you can see from the photos, they speak to the fun and creativity that was unleashed during the FISH camp.  The employees quickly realized during the camp, that moving forward, Celplast was going to be heading down a path of transformation, where high performing, empowered teams, would become the norm and not the exception.

The 1/4ly memorable events are now the primary method of advancing the program.  Each event is both a celebration of achievements, an opportunity to reinforce previous training, and to train on new skills.  Later in the afternoon following our SIG event, the team was holding a 1/4ly event and the excitement could be felt throughout the organization.

Situational leadership is the another key component, which reinforces the need to read and adapt your leadership style in order to be more effective when working with people who are at different level of competency in any given skill, and who may respond and perform better under different styles of leadership.  There are four basic leadership styles that a situational leader must master to be truly effective.

The final piece is the recognition program.  Management believes in supporting its employees with clear and timely recognition and reward.  Educational expenses for employees, their spouses and children are funded through the company, as one example.  The lunch room has a pool table, ping pong table, dartboard and other activities, to relax and enjoy during breaks lunches or even if the stress mounts during the day and you need to step away for a few minutes.

Of great interest to the group, was Marc’s assessment of the ROI on this program.  Sales return allowances are down by 84%, missed shipped dates dropped from 5 to 0, internal rejects were down 50%, absenteeism down 80% and a 60% reduction in people punching in late for work. Changeovers of equipment were reduced between 40% and 60%.  Additional benefits in the areas of overtime participation, hitting daily production and profitability goals have also been realized and morale and unity have been positively impacted.

Congratulations Ceplast and thank you for sharing your leadership development program!

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Packaging Insight

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