Achievement Oriented Managers 9-18-24

Achievement Motivation can be identified by the number and scope of a manager’s accomplishments. I confirmed my preferred style by taking a “personality styles” test that identified strong achievers v friendly helpers v logical thinkers.  We use all of these behaviors, but we usually have a preference. My Meyers-Briggs results were ENTJ, Extrovert, Intuitive, Thinking and Judging. My Inner-directed v other-directed test confirmed my Inner-directedness.  My DISC test showed high dominance, high inducement, low steadiness and middle compliance. My high dominance indicated my preference to lead. My high inducement indicated credibility. My low steadiness suggested that I would not be happy doing mundane tasks. My middle compliance indicated that I didn’t want to be micro-managed. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need places “Self-Actualization” at the top of Maslow’s pyramid and so did I Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need places “Self-Actualization” at the top of Maslow’s pyramid and so did I

My SIMA evaluation predicted that I would end up running my own Consulting Business. SIMA identified the key to success as “doing what you’re good at and love to do.

I chose to work in manufacturing because it added value. I chose to work in Personnel, because US manufacturing was struggling in 1953 with hostile unions that were created by Marxists and had been taken over by the Mafia. I was 10 years old when I read a front-page story about a Labor Union President being blown up in a car bombing. I asked my uncles how that happened and they all said “Mafia”. That’s when I started thinking about being a Personnel Director to improve employee relations and make unions unnecessary. 

I always found out what companies needed before I joined them. My first job was with United Way in St. Louis Mo as a Campaign Division Director for St. Charles County. It was the fastest growing county in the US in 1965. In the interview I learned that my boss was concerned that they might pull out of the Metro United Way. I achieved 125% of goal in 1965 and 1966. My St. Charles Campaign Chairman for 1966 told me that nobody wanted to be the next Chairman. I asked if they would consider consolidating into the Metro structure and he said yes. I asked my boss to call my St Charles Chairman and work out the transition.  I had just received an offer to enter Personnel at a local manufacturing company. I got to break records and eliminate my job. I also got to know St. Charles County. I founded the St Charles County Counsel of Homeowners Associations in 1968. We had 300 subdivisions and 68,000 homes. 

I joined Kearney National as a Personnel Generalist in 1966 and quickly learned recruiting and compensation, I was tapped to join a committee to do financial analysis with the VP Finance of Dyson Kistner, the holding company and the CFO of Kearney National. I learned that Kearney had found a compatible company in Atlanta. I suggested that they buy it and close the St. Louis Plant to get rid of the Teamsters. They agreed. I told them I was not planning on making the move. Our Advertising Manager had a friend at Monsanto and referred me to him. He had a Compensation Job in the Textile Division.

I took the job at Monsanto in 1968. They were keeping the Oil Chemical & Atomic Worker Union from organizing their plants and that required that we keep our pay ahead of OCAW. I learned a lot about maintaining a “Union Free” environment. Monsanto was moving their joint venture company Chemstrand to Monsanto headquarters and had an opening in Compensation. I coordinated with Corporate Compensation on pay actions and policies and converted the 9-factor job evaluation plan to the Monsanto plan. I was offered a promotion and a 30% increase to move to the Division Sales Office at the Empire State Building in Manhattan NY. I turned it down.

In 1971, I took a Personnel Program Coordinator job with Washington University Medical School to establish the personnel function at the Medical Campus and head up a project to automate their Personnel Records. I was also tasked to work with a committee to develop an affirmative action plan. I was co-investigator on a $10 million basic Improvement grant from NIH to add a cage washing facility to the animal research lab and AALAS certify 90 Black Animal Caretakers. We received the grant and I was elect Education Chair for AALAS and had to give a paper at their convention. I had lots of help. The Animal Lab Director was happy to coordinate the AALAS certification training.

I was interested in Washington U because I heard that the Unions were going to try to organize the colleges and universities. I was not surprise when I received a petition from NLRB to hold an election for 90 Black housekeeping employees who signed cards for the SEU, the Service Employees Union. I immediately responded and asked for their LM2 financial report. They sent it along with a janitor contract SEU had. Our pay rates were higher. Our Housekeeping Employees kept bacteria down in our 3 hospital complex. I Met with the University Executives and their Lawyer to explain what I had. The Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs asked me what the employees should do. I said: “They should not join the union, annually.” Everybody laughed. Chancellor Danforth then approved and I scheduled my first meeting with the Housekeeping Employees. We met weekly. In the 3^rd meeting I mentioned that sometimes employees join unions because their supervisor doesn’t respect them. One older guy in the back row said” “Got that right”. I said, “Thank You”. I immediately met with their supervisor and his manager. The supervisor fixed it. In my next meeting, it was all smiles. I scheduled to Business Manager to meet with them and they liked him too. We won with 80% of the vote.

In 1972, I was offered a promotion to Personnel Director for Washington U. I turned it down. I recommended the current Assistant Director. I offered to take the Assistant Director spot to keep my projects plus handling the Unions and Compensation on the Main Campus. Chancellor Danforth approved. In 1973 I added a local survey to the Compensation System, I wrote the Job Descriptions and the Compensation Manual. I finished the Automation project.  President Nixon had imposed a 5.5% cap on wage increases. I drafted the Compensation Plan to comply. The Main Campus Unions vote to decertify the Union. By 1974, I had accomplished more than I had planned . The Personnel Director was retiring.  I recommended they consider giving this job to the Affirmative Action Officer, she had just completed her Law Degree. I returned to manufacturing with Schwan Foods in Salina Kansas.

In 1975, I joined Schwan foods as Personnel Manager for manufacturing plants in Salina KS, Hutchison KS and West Union Iowa and the Transportation Depot in Salina. We served 1400 employees in Salina and were the largest employer. I had 30 employes doing personnel, accounting and administrative work.  I wrote the job descriptions and installed a 9-factor job evaluation plan. I took the APT Test with my staff and we approved it for use as a selection tool and employee development tool. We were automating manufacturing and I wanted to automated office functions. We moved our annual Company Picnic to the plant site and hired carnival rides.

I was offered the Personnel Director job in Marshall MN in 1975 and turned it down. I wanted to keep my projects and my family was happy in Salina. I wanted to build a custom PC with rate-of-rise sensors to monitor our Ammonia Refrigeration System. I wanted Plant Security reduced to 1 Guard in a vehicle outside and 1 guard monitoring the PC system 24/7. I hired a Data Processing Pro to work with Corporate Data Processing in Marshall MN. I replace time-cards and door keys with Rusco Cards. I worked with the Consulting Engineer who was designing automating Sauce, Cheese and Meat applicators. We added space to the Maintenance Department and fabricated our own applicators.

In 1976, The Salina Plant built a float for the bi-centennial parade and won first prize. We also sponsored a food booth at the celebration in the park. We ran radio commercials announcing our progress in automation. We ran an ad in the Salina High School Yearbook. We had a 4-hour shift for students who maintained a B average.

In 1977, we established an employee development process using the APT Test as a base-line and my Training Supervisor worked with employees one-to-one to improve areas they wanted to improve. We added the DISC and Meyers Briggs test and used them for selection and development.  I designed a weighted performance appraisal and we added cash awards for high performance. I tasked my Employee Relations Supervisor with writing the Employee Handbook. I had established an ASPA Chapter with 40 companies to provide monthly meetings for Personnel staffs and an annual wage survey.  In 1978, I was tapped by ASPA to serve as ASPA Director for Kansas. 

By 1979, my projects were complete. Automation took our annual Revenue from $150 million to $650 million. The Ammonia Refrigeration sensors resulted in a $100,000 per year insurance premium reduction. All promotions were filled from within the workforce with few exceptions. We observed a No Layoff policy. Profit Sharing was 10% of pay per year and vested in 10 years. We held Company Picnics in the Summer and Company Dinner Dances in Winter for all employees in all locations. The Driver-Salesmen were provided with a refrigerated truck paid on commission. Their wives took orders from customers from home and relayed them to their husbands. It was a “family-oriented company.

I received a call from the Personnel Manager from Rickel Manufacturing. He was moving to a Personnel job in Missouri and wanted to know if I was interested in replacing him. I knew they had the UAW and I was interested.

In 1979, I joined Rickel as Corporate Personnel Manager. The staff was great. Rickel manufactured custom applicators used to fertilize crops. I recruited some engineers to automate the Applicators, cut costs and reduced union support. We prepared for a strike and lined up metal manufacturing contractors to continue production. We received 100 invalid grievances and let them pile up. I made phone calls and identified most of the companies who delt with our UAW Local 710 group and published the list and sent it out to these companies. Local 710 was a 4-state territory. One company wanted to coordinate meetings to harass the UAW team and I approved.

In 1980, we were approaching contract negotiations and moved these to a hotel.

In 1981, we had a few meetings. The UAW then failed to schedule meetings. I was tapped to write business articles for Kansas Business News. We continued to reduce costs and improve productivity.

In 1982 the Local 710 UAW President called me at home. He wanted to horse-trade our 100 grievances and I wanted to move them to arbitration where they would be judged as frivolous. 

In late 1982, the Salina Journal announced the addition of another ag equipment plant and they published their rates of pay. They were higher than ours at Rickel. I pre-notified the Local 710 President and implemented the wage increases to match those published in the Salina Journal.. This resulted a Decertification Petition being distributed by one of our own Union Reps. The Local 710 President filed a disclaimer and Rickel became “union free”. The ag economy had need weak and we knew the Japanese were about to dump ag equipment on the US. We contacted a broker to our main competitor Ag Chem to see if they would be interested in acquiring Rickel. They jumped at it because we held the patent on the 3-wheel design. We sold Rickel to Ag Chem in January 1983.  

Saline County wanted me to contract to provide a wage survey for counties in Kansas. I signed up and started that project in January 1983.

Hayes Microcomputer called me to join them in Atlanta. I knew the guy from Hayes from his days as a Personnel Manager in Salina. My wife and I met for dinner with Dennis Hayes in Atlanta. The next day I interviewed at the Hayes plant and my wife looked at houses in Dunwoody close to the Dental Hygiene School with the real estate agent. I finally finished my project for Saline County in March 1983 and drove to Atlanta to join Hayes. I resigned as ASPA Director for Kansas and Business Columnist for Kansas Business News.

In 1983, I joined Hayes and began working on my projects and was named Manager of Human Resources in late 1983.  Hayes was a 100 employee $35M company that had developed the PC Modem. Hayes needed to grow rapidly and they needed large company systems. They had a good small Personnel staff. I needed accurate wage survey data. The AEA Survey was National, but there was no reliable local data. I founded the Metro Atlanta High Tech Personnel Association to produce a reliable annual wage survey for electronics companies. MAHTPA had 40 member companies. I wrote the survey and produced the reports. MAHTPA had monthly meetings for Personnel Staffs. While I was developing our wage structures, the CWA began to distribute leaflets. I proposed an immediate 25 cent per hour increase in wages and that stopped the union organizing. I positioned the wages and salaries according to the surveys and the next raises were larger and resulted in some promotions.  We had purchased the best equipment for circuit board production. The trade schools offered electronics assembly certificates. The labor market had a good supply of technicians and engineers.  We staffed up and began hiring 100 employees per month.

In 1984, I established a Medical Plan Trust to cancelled the Insured Plan. I modified coverage to include outpatient addiction treatment. We hired a claims processor and expanded the number of Nurses to provide case management. My Nurse Manager ran it. I had my staff prepare a policy manual. We had to locate in separate buildings that included a manufacturing plane, an engineering building and a Headquarters building.  Revenue reached $200M and headcount reached 1000 employees.  I was sponsored by Hayes to complete a Fellowship in Strategic Studies at WBSI, Western Behavioral Science Institute. It was a 2 year program over the internet. I was given a DEC Rainbow PC to connect to New Jersey Institute of Technology. I got a box of books every month and we met in La Jolla CA for a week each year. I graduated in 1986. 

In 1985, We established an ESOP, Employee Stock Ownership Plan and the large company systems and staffing were complete. Again, I accomplished more than I had anticipated and Hayes was established as the primary PC Modem.

In 1986, I joined Electromagnetic Sciences Inc. as Personnel Manager. EMS had 300 employees and Revenue was $35M. The Reagan Military build-up was underway. EMS had designed and manufactured the Beam-forming network for the Discus Military communications satellite. EMS was a successful Military Research Subcontractor that included manufacturing of what they designed. EMS also did subcontract work on the electronics for Rockwell on the Hellfire missile. We had an Antenna Range, a Machine Shop, a Materials Lab, a Clean Room, Electronics was surface-mount. We developed Computer Integrated Manufacturing and ran the Milling Machine from the CAD. We designed and built the Aegis Missile System.

EMS had also established LXE, a Subsidiary that developed bar-code reading for warehouses. Bids were coming in for both groups.

I led a Personnel Staff of 8. I recruited I Sr Rep to handle LXE and Engineering recruiting and 1 Sr Rep to handle EMS hourly recruiting I had 1 Sr Rep to handle compensation and 1 Sr Rep to handle benefits. I added nurse case management to the medical trust plan administrator, added a “gate-keeper” for addiction treatment, I kept medical plan costs at $150/month and kept the employee premium low. I replaced the Pension Plan with an Age-Weighted Retirement Plan. I maintained the 401K plan.  I served as HR Chair for the American Electronics Association Board from1986 to 1996 and held monthly meetings for local members. I was tapped to serve as AEA Chair for Manufacturing and wrote the ISO-9000 Quality Manual. I wrote the AEA Position Paper rejecting Hilliary-care. I served as an IEEE Chair and presented programs at their conventions. I was tapped to write a column in Computer Currents.

By 1987 EMS had Revenue of $100M and 600 employees.

By 1988 EMS had Revenue of $150M and 900 employees. 

By 1990 EMS had Revenue of $200M and 1000 employees.  

By 1993 the Reagan Military Build-up had been completed and growth stabilized.

By 2011 EMS had Revenue of $290M when it was sold to Honeywell.

I left EMS in 1993 to open NTL Consulting. I was invited to attend the EMS 25^th anniversary dinner in late 1993. I operated my consulting practice from 1993 to 2017 and served 46 companies including Rockwell, Boeing and John Deer. I served Scientific Atlanta, Peachtree Doors and Windows and Scientific Research Corp.  I served continually at Fire Arms Training Systems, Venture Engineering and American Signal Co.

I have been impressed with the Technical and Managerial Talent I worked with and feel blessed that we had an economy from 1965 to 2017. I got do everything I wanted to do. I certainly got to prune back the Union Movement at Kearney, Monsanto, Washington U, Rickel and Hayes.

I sense that we could re-shore manufacturing back to the US and will be writing what we need to do to succeed in restoring the US economy..

Comments

I was fortunate to be able to work at age 14 as a musician. This enabled me to pay 100% of my high school and college costs. This was weighted highly by employers and it gave me an edge in landing by earlier jobs. Going to work part time at an early age was part of my education. I recommend this to strategy to offer a balance to school work.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader