E-News for March 2001
Greetings ALMA Members,
After 10 years of study (initiated by Elizabeth Dole), OSHA finalized a set of workplace rules to combat repetitive-stress injuries in January that would cost businesses an estimated $4.5 billion. With President Bush’s support, Congress repealed the rules this month. However, this does not necessarily end the discussion on this topic. Democrats are now planning on introducing amendments to other popular bills to require OSHA to develop a new revised ergonomic standard within two years. Stay tuned for further developments.
The use of temporary employees in the laboratory appears to be a growing trend as companies look for ways to handle the workload while maintaining lean staffing. Since these employees may not go through the normal new employee orientation and safety training, it is important for the lab manager to review their safety readiness to avoid a potential safety problem. Any employee who is not fully familiar with safety procedures or who is not fully aware of possible hazards is a danger to both himself and those working with him. It is reasonable to expect the contracting agency to provide basic laboratory safety training prior to any assignment but OSHA has ruled that the hiring company has responsibility for maintaining safety records, supplying personal protective equipment, and providing site or job specific training. The lab manager must make sure that these employees are included in all safety functions and are held to the same standards as permanent employees.
Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric, is regarded as one of the most innovative and respected business leaders. Some comments from his retirement address are relevant for lab managers:
- One of GE’s long-standing management tenets, which has been mimicked worldwide, has been that all its businesses must become No.1 or No.2 in their markets. Welch has scratched that requirement, saying it leads management teams to define their markets narrowly to “nonsensical levels,” and has caused GE to miss opportunities and growth. The lesson learned here is that we have to be realistic in evaluating our pet programs and recognize when it is time to admit mistakes and move on to something else.
- Big companies can afford to take big swings and big risks, but bureaucracy must be “hated,” Welch says. He says it’s been largely exterminated at GE, but "people need to be vigilant—even paranoid—because the allure of bureaucracy is part of human nature and hard to resist.” “Bureaucracy frustrates people, distorts their priorities, limits their dreams and turns the face of the entire enterprise inward.”
- The top 20% of the workforce should be "rewarded in the soul and wallet because they are the ones who make magic happen. Losing one of these people must be held up as a leadership sin," Welch says. The middle 70% should be energized to improve; the rest should be shown the door. Not getting rid of the 10% early “is not only a management failure, but a form of cruelty,” Welch says. They will wind up being fired eventually and be “stranded” in mid-career.
- There are four types of leaders, and the most problematic are those who get the job done but don’t share company values. To fire someone who makes the numbers is an “unnatural act,” Welch says, but they succeed “on the backs of people, often kissing up and kicking down.” Those managers “destroy the open, informal, trust-based culture we need to win today and tomorrow.”
If you have any comments, cost saving suggestions, opinions, etc. let me hear from you .
Wayne