DID YOU KNOW?
If thermostats in every home in America were lowered 1 degree Farenheit during the winter, the nation would save 230 million barrels of crude oil.
source: EPA |
Employee Spotlight:
Jaime Perez
Jaime
Perez joined PMI nearly two years ago. He came to the company as a cleaner in
special services, doing day jobs wherever he was needed in Connecticut. In addition to the special day
jobs, Jaime has been supervising night crews in four buildings in Farmington for about
eight months now. Prior to joining PMI, Jaime worked for two other cleaning
companies. In total, he has worked in the cleaning industry for nearly eight
years.
"Jaime is
one of the most responsible, dependable, hard-working persons I have ever met,"
says PMI Supervisor Sandino Cifuentes. "When I give him an assignment, I don't
have to worry about anything because I know the job will be completed to
perfection."
Jaime
enjoys all aspects of his job, but he particularly enjoys the people with whom
he works-both his PMI colleagues and the clients. When the clients need
something special done, he is happy to comply. Jaime says that one of the most
important facets of his role as a supervisor is keeping the team on track
working together to promote good will with the clients, which ultimately can
lead to more work for PMI. He feels PMI is a strong company that treats him
well: they trust him and he always tries to do his best for them. He has a
positive and mutually respectful relationship with Sandino, his direct
supervisor.
Sandino
says, "Another one of Jaime's qualities, and to me the most important, is that
he is a great human being, always with a great smile and attitude-- willing to
help and go the extra mile."
Jaime
lives in New Haven
with his wife, Marta, and their 5-year-old son.
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PMI Managers Learn the Art of Communication
By Susan Minichiello
On February 8,
all PMI managers and corporate staff in the Milford, CT
office participated in a communication workshop led by Jill Diamond of
Lanartco, Inc. The workshop focused on helping managers develop an awareness of
clear and constructive messaging that leads to authentic and confident
communication.
"Being able to
communicate clearly and precisely, as well as actively listening, is
essential," said PMI President Michael Diamond. "I wanted to expose our team to
training that would provide some insight on how to improve their skills."
The workshop
content-drawn from Lanartco's
Act On It!SM methodology-introduced elements of acting skills as a platform
for successful communication. This included using improvisation,
self-exploration and play to explore the issues of presence, passion and
persuasion.
Jill Diamond,
Lanartco's president and founder, led participants through training and
exercises in three modules. The Visual Factor examined the impact of non-verbal
signals such as body language, facial expressions and hand gestures. The Vocal
Factor explored the effects of the pitch, pace and tone of one's voice. The
Verbal Factor focused on the role of preparation and word choice in
constructing clear and actionable messages. Exercises in each module helped
managers learn about their own strengths and weaknesses and imparted specific,
practical tools they can use to improve their communication skills.
Jill's
extensive training as an actor and performer inspired her to create curriculums
to train professionals to become communication artists. She works exclusively
with corporations, providing services to high-level professionals. Get more information at Lanartco.com.
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Greetings!
With the
change of the seasons, we are seeing more examples of how we and our customers are
thinking Green. I've been doing some research and found a few interesting items
to share with you.
March
16-22 is World Water week. Unicef is managing the Tap Project thru
restaurants (primarily in New York
City) where $1 will provide 40 days of clean water to
a child in a developing country.
For easy
ways to protect your environment go to Simplesteps.org. Also check out 41Pounds.org where you can learn how to reduce junk mail and save
landfills.
Enjoy the warmth as spring arrives and I look forward to
seeing you. Sincerely, Michael Diamond
President, Premier Maintenance 
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PMI Snaps into Action on the Campaign Trail
On
Sunday, January 27th, PMI received an important call: A "high
profile" person would be arriving for an event the following morning at The
Learning Corridor in Hartford,
and set-up work needed to be done immediately. As it turned out, that "high
profile" person was none other than Democratic presidential hopeful, Senator
Hillary Clinton of New York.
PMI's
Supervisor at The Learning Corridor, Lou Pedraza, called in four employees at
the last minute to whip the gymnasium into shape for the event. They set to
work cleaning, putting down mats to cover the gym floor, setting up staging and
about 300 chairs, as well as pulling out the bleachers to accommodate the
expected crowd. Mr. Pedraza worked directly with the Secret Service and other
security. He familiarized agents with all of the exits and other aspects of the
facility, providing whatever assistance they needed. 
Photo courtesy: Mike Raciti, Trinity College Communications Then on
Monday the 28th, an estimated 2,000 people stood in line in
below-freezing temperatures waiting to enter the town-hall style meeting. About
1,000 spectators made it into the standing-room-only gymnasium while the
overflow crowd was funneled into the cafeteria to watch a live video
transmission.
State
Comptroller Nancy Wyman and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal introduced
Senator Clinton, who greeted the energized capacity crowd with thanks and
acknowledgements and exclaimed, "It is exciting to be here in this Learning
Corridor. I am thrilled at what I see here."
Senator
Clinton's speech touched upon a variety of issues including the economy, health
care, the war in Iraq
and education reform. Clinton
also clearly took aim at the current administration as she pointed out that
later that night, President Bush would deliver his last State of the Union
address.
Senator
Clinton went on to list specific ways in which her beliefs differ from the
current administration and how she would achieve change for the nation. She
concluded her speech by addressing the crowd directly: "Let me ask you - are
you ready for change in America?
... If you are ready for change, I am ready to lead and with your help that is
exactly what we will do."
Overall,
the event went off without a hitch: Senator Clinton spoke for about 30 minutes,
responded to audience questions for another 20 minutes and then signed
autographs before departing for an event in Springfield, MA.
After
the rally, PMI staff set to work breaking down chairs and other staging and
cleaning the gym, returning it to tip-top shape. |
It's Easy Being Green
 Photo courtesy:
pdphoto.org
U.S. Consumers use 50 billion plastic water bottles every year. that accounts for roughly one-third of the world's total.
SimpleSteps.org
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A Lesson on Liability
What's your policy for letting employees use business equipment for personal use?
By Glenn A. Duhl, Esq.
An
employee's personal use of business equipment is not only unproductive, but it
could also prove to be quite costly. Employers
are seeing increased costs in monthly business expenses--primarily for desktop
computers, laptop computers and PDAs--due to their employees' use for personal
purposes. Every employer should have a
policy stating that its business equipment is to be used for business purposes
only.
Employers
should disclose that business equipment is owned by the business and that
personal use of such equipment is prohibited.Employees should be made aware that any use may be monitored and most
certainly that they should have no expectation of privacy in using the
equipment for personal use.Employers
have the right to monitor e-mails, phones/voicemails and use GPS systems and surveillance
cameras in certain situations. The use
of a GPS system to track company vehicles and equipment may be expensive, but
the value it may save your company in the future by not having to defend a
multimillion dollar lawsuit is immense.
This is
important since employers can be found liable for a harassment claim when
inappropriate e-mails are communicated on company computers.Employers can be found responsible for
employee fault for vehicular accidents while deviating from employer business. (Employers have every incentive to make sure that
vehicles are used solely for business purposes and not for frolics or detours.)
Moreover,
employers must require of their employees that cell phone use in a company vehicle
or on company time is to be hands free.This recognizes several recent decisions in which employers were found
liable for significant damages due to accidents caused by their employees talking on cell phones.Employers should
always be cognizant of the fact that people have a tendency to pursue actions
against the person or entity with the deepest pockets, usually the employer as
compared to its employees.
Employees should be provided with the company's
monitoring and privacy policies.However, a few discussions in furtherance of these policies will give
employees a greater understanding of employer expectations, thereby avoiding
any misunderstandings, let alone liability. Glenn A. Duhl is a management
employment and litigation lawyer at Siegel, O'Connor, O'Donnell & Beck,
P.C.. You can reach him at 860- 280-1215 or by email at: gduhl@siegeloconnor.com.
He represents management in preventive employment law and litigation of
all employment matters. Please visit: www.siegeloconnor.com
The
information contained in this article is general in nature and offered for
informational purposes only. It is not offered and should not be construed as
legal advice.
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Thank you for taking the time to read Solutions. We'd like to know what you think. If you have suggestions for future newsletters or comments about this issue, you can contact me directly.
Best Regards,
Matt Ellis
Publisher
matt@ellisstrategies.com
978-887-6561 |
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