Summer was once a time to relax, a time to collect our thoughts before our children returned to school and our lives became filled with "business as usual."  Travel was easy and relatively inexpensive.  Gas wars and pricing "battles" encouraged us to set off for the great outdoors (without concern for whether you could afford to return once we arrived at our undetermined destination).  Employees were able to organize their activities (find their desk, perhaps???) as the world seemed to slow in recognition of the beauty around us.  Where have those lazy, hazy days gone?

Michigan is "economically challenged."  We are told that "the last manufacturer out should turn off the lights" by our newspapers.  We hear about company closures but rarely about those that are thriving.  We read about reductions in workforce but rarely about the partnerships being forged to service new markets.  We see the difficulty "displaced employees" are having in securing new jobs but rarely about those that employers find impossible to fill due to a lack of qualified individuals.  Our hotline is filled not with "How do I survive?" questions but rather with "How do I better manage growth?" or "How can I establish accountability within my workforce?"  We have been inundated with calls about how to encourage supervision to lead the change process, about ways to better motivate a workforce, about leveraging employee "buy-in" to change initiatives, NOT with calls about plant closures or reductions in workforce.  Our days here at The Association ARE NOT reflections of summer days gone by, they are an interactive display of business relationships in transition.  Change, however, requires active participation, not passive observation.

What are YOU doing this summer to prepare for the changing economy?  Are you reading, researching, and investigating new opportunities (or are you sitting back watching what others are doing, hoping to capitalize by mimicking their efforts)?  Are you exposing your supervisors and managers to new motivational techniques, helping them to understand the real generational differences they will be facing as they lead today's emerging workforce (or are you nurturing the status quo, hoping that doing things the way you've always done them will produce new and improved results)?  Are you developing systems and structures that will help give direction to your employees, establishing predictability and consistency (or are you maintaining your "desk drawer" systems that give YOU guidance but are not openly available to employees)?

OUR spring has been unusually busy, and summer promises to be equally hectic.  We are helping members by coaching key employees, by establishing transparent compensation systems, by developing and communicating fair and consistent practices in their Handbooks, by promoting change in Leadership techniques.  Perhaps Michigan's economy is struggling, as the news media would have us believe, but we have seen vibrant growth, intelligent preparation for change, and an aggressive "never say never" approach towards new products and markets.  If you haven't yet taken your eyes off where you've been as an organization or what you're currently doing to survive, shifting them to what needs to be done so that you can get where you need to be in order to thrive, give us a call.  While we might have enjoyed the "old" days of summer, looking forward is much more rewarding for us, and hopefully to you, as we continue to grow!