Career Reflections 3-2-25

Companies are fragile and short-lived. Of the 8 companies I worked for, only 4 companies including United Way, Kearney National, Monsanto and Washington U continue to exist. 3 companies including Rickel, Electromagnetic Sciences and Schwan Foods were sold. Hayes failed to manage its working capital, went bankrupt and closed. 

I watched once great companies like General Electric fail. Lower prices from competitors and market saturation can drive big companies to make mistakes. They scramble to add more profitable businesses outside their expertise to increase revenue. They should focus on their core strengths. Boards of Directors are too focused on increasing revenue and quarterly profits. They should fucus on continuous improvement of operations and product quality.

My career was geared to accomplishing what I came to do.

United Way rapid expansion and structure fixing

Kearney National teamster dumping and relocation

Monsanto promotion refusal and water treatment issue

Washington U promotion refusal and SEU dumping

Schwan Foods promotion refusal, automation and solving employee development

Rickel UAW dumping and industry consolidation with Ag Chem

Hayes rapid expansion and cost containment failure

EMS rapid expansion and rapid contraction

I watched the US auto industry fail to compete with the Japanese auto industry and attribute this to their lack of innovation and systemic unionization.

Unionization in the US peaked at 35% in 1954 and is currently 10%. I was involved in improving employee relations to make unions unnecessary. Unions need to reform their focus to support automation and innovation to increase productivity. Wages are based on labor supply and demand and are controlled by the average wage for each occupation. Non-union wages are typically higher than Union wages. Wages are also determined by expertise within the ranges published by occupation.

Employee development begins with testing to establish a “Base-Line”.  Employees are responsible for their own development.

This is also true for Education from 1^st grade through high school and beyond to college. Students are responsible for their own education. Parents and Teachers need to prepare students to become self-supporting. Students need to identify their Motivated Abilities to ensure that they are happy and successful.

God is in charge and will help if we listen. We need to identify what we are good at and love to do as clues to God’s Plan for us. We are as unique as our DNA.

I am extremely grateful for my career that was guided by God’s Plan for me. I got to use my musical talent to work as a musician for 18 years from age 14 to age 32. I got to use my business talent to work in Personnel for 51 years from age 23 to age 74.

I am extremely grateful for my wife’s career as a Dental Hygienist for in Dunwoody 31 years from age 43 to age 74 after raising our 6 children. She loved her job, the Dentists she worked for and her patients. It was God’s Plan that she enjoy being a Mom and enjoy having a professional career.

I am grateful for the success of our 6 children and hopeful that our 13 grandkids and our 6 great-grandkids will succeed in finding God’s Plan for each of them.

God has a Plan for you and you’re not going to like it if you fail to discover God’s Plan for you. If you listen, God will help you through the tough spots. 

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

NTL Consulting Atlanta 3-1-25

In 1993, the consensus forecast for industrial production in the United States was a 3% increase. This was more than double the growth in 1992, but still below historical standards.  

In 1993, I was approached by several of the CEOs I had worked with on the AEA Board. They wanted me to open a consulting practice and they had projects lined up to upgrade their HR functions. It was a group of 6 companies with projects and timelines that were doable. The Reagan Build-up had ended and Defense Companies were being consolidated.

I had selected my corporate jobs to learn everything I would need to know to lead Personnel Functions and end my career as an independent consultant.  My time had arrived. I called an old friend I worked with at Monsanto and who had started his own consulting practice. He suggested that I file my taxes as a Sole Proprietor. I decided to office at home and go to customer sites as needed. bought a Gateway PC, a Honeywell Printer, Scanner Fax Machine and a lightening arrestor. I used floppy discs to make copies of policies, affirmative action plans and other documents for customers. I rented a PO box to receive resume responses for recruiting. I filed my own quarterly taxes and as a Sole Proprietor could deduct my basement office square footage, mileage, recruiting ad costs and other expense. I used my home phone number, had an answering machine and was available 24/7 to customer calls. I billed my time like a Law Firm. I didn’t have rent expenses. I had no employees. I made no sales calls. All of my 46 customer companies were referrals. I would screen referrals when they called. If I determined that I could help, I would meet with them, give them my Confidentiality Agreement and have them sign my Consulting Agreement. If I determine that I couldn’t help I would refer them to those who could.

Marlene was working as a Dental Hygienist and enjoyed it. The kids were age 18 to 28. 3 of the kids were married and 3 were in college.

My first job was to re-do their Compensation Plan for L-3, a defense contractor. I identified their need to use better Design Software that included the Bill of Material to save cost and errors.  Next, companies wanted my generic policy manual and affirmative action plans, some wanted engineering recruiting. I wrote job postings to include what they would work on and what tools they would use. I led recruiting efforts, screened resumes and participated in interviews. I served on several acquisition teams, recruited for new start-ups, did post-acquisition work, I upgraded their Compensation Systems. I solved production bottlenecks and recommended automation solutions. I handled terminations and hiring plans and resolved sexual harassment issues. I implemented ISO 9000 Quality and Lean Manufacturing. I handled regulatory compliance including OSHA and avoided Discrimination Cases.

I had a base of clients that were permanent. I was “on call” at Venture Engineering, American Signal, Fire Arms Training Systems, Rockwell Automation and Rockwell Missile Systems. I had long assignments at Scientific Atlanta, Boeing Missile Systems, Peachtree Doors, North American Packaging, Timber Jack, Scientific Resources and Rockwell Collins. I was called to assess operations a Wadley Regional Medical Center in Texarkana Tx.

I continued to serve as HR Chair for AEA and wrote the AEA Position Paper on Hilary-Care. I wrote a weekly column for Computer Currents. I chaired the IEEE Convention Program on “loose electronics”. I resigned from MAHTPA and HRMA, because I was a Consultant and I had denied entry to consultants for these groups when I wrote their bi-laws.  I also served as Manufacturing Chair for AEA and wrote their ISO 9000 Quality Manual for AEA.

I retired in 2017 at age 74 and had prepared my client companies for my retirement by training their existing employees.

In 2017, manufacturing accounted for 11.18% of the US GDP, or $2,192.93 billion. At the same time, manufacturing employment was 8% of total employment in the US. 

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader