According to Albert Cotton, technical support leader with Dow Houston Hub, the key business information the average employee needs to know about the health of the site where he or she works comes down to one essential practice: communication.
"Communication is at the top of the list," Cotton said. "Since COVID-19, it's a lot more important to let folks know what's going on."
During this panel discussion, moderated by Jeremy Osterberger, president and COO with BIC Alliance and held at the PRIME Expo, presented recently by BIC Alliance in Pasadena, Texas, Cotton said he has perceived a shift toward people working remotely, accentuating the necessity for clear, concise communication among all stakeholders.
"Folks want to know what's going on. Communicate, communicate, communicate," he said. "I tell my folks to 'over-communicate' if they have to."
John Yanosik, maintenance and engineering manager with INEOS, said he agrees with Cotton's estimation of the importance of communication, especially in terms of how it impacts employee retention.
"It goes back to how you lead a workforce. With retention, they need to buy-in to your company's vision," Yanosik said. "That's not a transactional relationship with your employees to provide a service. They're part of the team and they should know if we're winning or if we're losing. We should all know how to keep score."
When sites communicate this "winning or losing" metric to their employees, those employees, in turn, do not operate in individual siloes, he said.
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Jeremy Osterberger, president and COO with BIC Alliance (left); Albert Cotton, technical support leader with Dow Houston Hub; Dan Kemp, general manager with Union Processing Systems and John Yanosik, maintenance and engineering manager with INEOS.
"When operations, maintenance and reliability all work in the same way, they know the difference between a win and a loss, and the contractors know about winning and losing," he said. "These guys know it's about communication. They see the data from the KPIs that are established by the team as a win, whether it's the leading or lagging indicators on safety, reliability, production or yield. And when they see that data, the organization knows about it without the plant manager even having to say anything."
Dan Kemp, general manager with Union Processing Systems, shared several other key elements that contribute to creating a positive and productive work culture.
"The fulfillment of our professional duties is, number one, to hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public," he said. "Second, only perform services in your areas of competency.
That's engineers, craftsmen." Thirdly, public statements should be issued in a strictly objective and truthful manner. "The truth never hurts," he said.
Additionally, each employer or client should act "as faithful agents or trustees, and avoid deceptive acts," he said. "Don't lie - it's as simple as that."
Finally, Kemp recommended that leaders conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically and lawfully, so as to enhance the honor, reputation and usefulness of the profession. "If you do the right thing every time, you'll sleep well at night," Kemp said.
"I keep it really simple: Just do the right thing. I learned that really early," Cotton added. "And don't overcomplicate it. If someone asks you to do something you don't feel comfortable with, don't do it.
Don't be pressured by the wrong folks." Yanosik observed that a valid way to create the culture of "doing the right thing" is to ensure workers see themselves as part of a team working toward a common goal.
"If they see themselves as part of a team, then they're thinking about the interests of the team," he said.
Yanosik noted that the beauty of this industry is that many industry workers are employed at sites that have been around for 60, 70 years or more.
The next generation can come after us and continue to earn their livelihoods from these same assets. If you try to build that culture, more often than not, people will know what that right thing is, and they'll do the right thing," Yanosik said.
