Bridging the gap between the crystal palace (cooperate office) and the field

One of the harder things to do as a company grows is to maintain those key relationships between the corporate office and the field.  As the company grows larger and larger, it is harder to keep those vital relationships and communication flow open.  Communication is the key to a successful business. 

Let’s focus on communication. When the top of the business opens their doors then the field personnel, (The ones actually doing to work) know that they come to upper management with their concerns.  This opens the door to so much more.  Before long, the employees are coming to you with new ideas to help make the business more successful.  The people on the ground are the ones that see the shortfalls of production, where the most unsafe behaviors happen, and why those happen.  They are also the ones who are looking for processes and procedures that they can implement that will save them time and energy.  Take a few moments and head out of the office and into the field, or production floor to see what your people are going through.  Take a few moments weekly and have a genuine conversation with them.  you’ll be surprised how far this small action will get you.

In the corporate setting, we don’t always realize that when we bust out a new company rule, or even a best practice how much extra work we are putting the people at the ground level.  Really, they don’t have an option or say in the new guideline either.  Before you publish something new and write in to “company law” take a few moments to open that line of communication back up with the field and ask what their thoughts are.  If you haven’t implemented the step before this then you most likely see them agree to the new procedure, but their agreement be reluctant.  By making yourself open to their ideas, they will be more willing to share them with you.  Therefore your processes will be even better than before because now you have the whole company working together to improve the processes instead of a small team. 

Don’t forget the small things.  As I have been working with many companies over my career, there is one thing that seems to get lost or forgotten about.  Remember the small things.  Take time to make a note in your calendar of when their birthday is and if you have established a close enough relationship with them note their anniversary, work, and marriage.  You don’t need to remind them of how old they are just a simple gesture of acknowledging those dates, and maybe a small gift.  Corporate swag is always good for birthdays and a gift certificate for dinner is great for anniversaries. It shows that you not only care about them but also their family. 

You and your teams’ actions and attitudes say everything.  Think about when you were just starting out and working on the ground floor.  What did you think about upper management?  Di you think that they felt they were better than everyone else was or were they friendly and open?  Coach your corporate team to know the only reason they still have a job is because of the people who aren’t afraid to get dirty and get the job done.  So many times, I have been invited into a company to help them improve their relationship with the field and right away notice that the majority of their corporate employees “KNOW” that they are better they person in the field. With an attitude like that, they aren’t opening the door, shoot they have the door closed and all the furniture in the office piled up against it.  Everyone has to be on a level playing field.

If you’re in a leadership position for any organization try these few key items to help bridge the gap:

1.       As a corporate employee make yourself available to field.

2.       Open lines of communication with every level of the company and make everyone feel as though they have a say in decisions that affect them directly

3.       Listen when employees talk.  Take to heart what they are truly saying

4.       Don’t make company policies until you have had a communication session with the company

5.       Don’t forget the small things.  Remember birthdays and special events in your employees lives.

6.       Corporates' attitude can make or break the relationship at any time.  If your team has a negative attitude then so will the other teams.

Every problem or issue is an opportunity dressed in ugly clothing. Bridging the gap between the corporate office and the field isn’t really all that hard, but it will take time and a lot of effort on the corporate employees. 

Humble Negotiation is the key to success

We all know the negation is part of everyday life. We get to negotiate when we ask for a raise. We get the opportunity when we are being hired. How about every day negotiating where to get gas, or coffee or even lunch. I even negotiate with my wife. Well honey if I cook, will you wash dishes? Negotiating is something we do every day. The key is to make sure every negotiation is humble.

As I mentioned we started negotiating at a very young age, we might not realize that we were negotiating but we were definitely going it.  I’ll eat my greens if I can have a piece of candy after dinner. Alternatively, my personal favorite was mom I’ll feed the cat if you clean out their litter box. (I did not win that one very often, but when I did, boy was it sweet.)  We have all seen the child throwing a fit in public attempting to get their way.  Do they win? Not very often, in our house that never worked. Shoot one time  I walked away from the child for a minute then come back and look directly at them and said, “who are your parents?” the kid looked back up at me and started laughing. Me on the other hand, I was not impressed.  There were also times where one of my children would come up to me and say, “dad I washed all of the dishes, is there a possibility we could watch a movie, and stay up a little late?”  They were negotiating with humility; I was much more likely to meet then in the middle when they did this. 

How do you handle your negotiations at work? Do you yet upset when you don’t get your way? What about when you are asking for a raise or days off? I have even had to negotiate to get my voice heard.  Heck there were times that I had to negotiate with operations to get them to follow federal regulations.  Here are a few tips to help your negotiations stay humble and improve your chances of striking a deal.

1.       Don’t get angry.  Getting angry is a sure fire way to loose every time. It shows that you don’t have control over your emotions. I’ve heard it said that it shows passion. NO WAY! It shows weakness, it shows that you cant handle yourself let alone what you asking for. 

2.       Brainstorm different scenarios before you go into the meeting.  Take a few minutes and think about different possibilities. Think about where the conversation might go questions that might be asked, statements that might be made.

3.       Look at the deal from their point of view. This ties directly into number 2 take a few moments and think about what you’re asking from the other side. Let’s say it’s a raise.  If they have had to lay off several employees in the company there is a good chance that there truly isn’t any funds to spread out right now. If it is a promotion, maybe there are others that more or equally qualified for the position. No matter what you are, negotiating through look at it from their point to see if it’s a good deal, or of the deal is one sided.

4.       Don’t get in a hurry to get an answer. Negations take time, rushing one will sure not end in your favor. So many times sales people use the buy now technique they use your sense of this deal won’t last, to get you to make an impulse buy. Learn when it’s being done to you and also NEVER use that technique.  You might get the answer you want today, but it won’t be the answer you need tomorrow. 

5.       Be honest.  You have to be honest with yourself as well as the other party. Be honest as to what you really want. Be honest as to what you are willing to risk and do in order to make the deal. 

6.       Don’t make false statements to get your way. Look at the liberals that publicly announced that they would leave the country if Trump were elected to president.  They thought they would convince people across the nation that if they didn’t get their way then we would never see their face on the movie screen again. I’m pretty sure that one of them has moved to Canada yet. 

7.       Don’t be afraid to re-negotiate.  Things change, it’s ok to circle back and make changes. 

8.       Start small. So often, we start too big, asking for too much thinking that we can go smaller.  Have you ever tried starting small and then asking for a little more until we have reached the ultimate outcome?

There are many people who are expert negotiators in this big ole world. I definitely don’t claim to be one of those people. What I can say is that I learn from everyone.  Abraham was a great and humble negotiator; he is one of the only people to walk this earth to actually negotiate with God.  In Genesis 18:22-33 Abraham negotiated with God to allow the righteous people to leave the cities of Sodom and Gomora before he destroyed them. Below I have included the scripture of his negotiation.  I ask that you read it with the intent to learn better negotiation skills. 

Next time you start to negotiate something with anyone, take a few moments and think about how you like to be treated if you were on the other end of the negotiation.  Also, think about how you might maneuver the conversation to be heard without becoming arrogant or angry.  There is always a way to get what you need.  Lastly remember that if you don’t negotiate, you don’t have opportunity to learn, and if the negotiation fails, there is always next time. 

“The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.  Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”  The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”  Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?” “If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”  Once again, he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?” He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”  Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”  Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”  Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”  When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.”

Hazmat vs Placarding??

First of all, let’s identify how the Department of Transportation (DOT) defines Hazardous Materials or Hazmat.

.. DOT defines a hazardous material as any item or chemical which, when being transported or moved in commerce, is a risk to public safety or the environment, and is regulated as such under its Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration regulations (49 CFR 100-199)..

Any item or chemical that is a risk to public safety or environment pretty well sums up what hazmat could potentially be. In the world of D.O.T., they break down any item or chemical into 9 different categories or hazard classes.

1.     Explosives

2.    Gases

3.    Flammable and Combustible Liquids

4.   Flammable Solids

5.    Oxidizing Substances, Organic Peroxides

6.    Toxic Substances and infectious Substances

7.    Radioactive Materials

8.    Corrosives

9.    Miscellaneous Hazardous Materials

After looking at this list of hazard classes, questions can potentially arise about what types of materials that would fit some of these categories. Some common questions that come from various transporters are related to Flammable Solids, and items that could be considered under the Miscellaneous Hazardous Materials. An example of flammable solids would be defined by DOT as follows:

a.      Solids which may cause a fire through friction, such as matches.

b.     Pyrophoric (literally, "fire-loving") materials, those that can ignite with no external ignition source within five minutes after coming in contact with air.

c.      Self-heating materials, those that exhibit spontaneous ignition or heat themselves to a temperature of 200 deg.C (392 deg.F) during a 24-hour test period. (This behavior is called spontaneous combustion)

d.     Dangerous when wet materials, those that react with water to become spontaneously flammable or to give off flammable gas or toxic gas at a rate greater than 1 liter per kilogram of the material, per hour.

One flammable solid that always comes to our minds is magnesium which if in the right conditions like getting wet with water, can cause all kinds of fireworks.

As far as the Miscellaneous Hazardous Materials found in class 9, DOT defines those as follows:

Class 9 hazardous materials are miscellaneous hazardous materials. That is, they are materials that present a hazard during transportation, but they do not meet the definition of any other hazard class.

Class 9 hazmat includes:

• Materials transported by air that could cause extreme annoyance to a flight crew member to the extent that it prevents the crew from performing its duties;

• Hazardous wastes;

• Hazardous substances;

• Marine pollutants; and

• Materials that meet the definition in the hazardous materials regulations (HMRs) for an elevated temperature material.

x

When transporting various hazardous waste streams from their generators to the final disposal, many times class 9 was used for items such as Ethylene Glycol (spent automotive anti-freeze).

Now that we completely dumped a ton of information regarding what a hazardous material is, another frequently asked question that we receive is what all hazardous materials or waste needs to have placards, how often should we use them, and how many do I need to put on my loads. DOT offers some basic regulations regarding placarding.

When the aggregate gross weight of all hazardous materials in non-bulk packages covered in Table 2 is less than 454 kg (1,001 lbs), no placard is required on a transport vehicle or freight container when transported by highway or rail [§172.504(c)].

Non-bulk packages are considered to be portable containers like drums, totes, boxes, crates etc. A bulk package would be complete tankers, rail tanks or vessels. General rule for differences between the two; bulk and non-bulk, bulk containers are built into the unit transporting them, whereas non-bulk containers can be moved from unit to unit by hand, lift trucks or cranes.

IDENTIFICATION NUMBER MARKINGS ON ORANGE PANELS OR APPROPRIATE PLACARDS MUST BE DISPLAYED ON: (1) Tank Cars, Cargo Tanks, Portable Tanks, and other Bulk Packaging; (2) Transport vehicles or freight containers containing 4,000 kg (8,820 lbs) in non-bulk packages of only a single hazardous material having the same proper shipping name and identification number loaded at one facility and transport vehicle contains no other material, hazardous or otherwise; and (3) transport vehicles or freight containers containing 1,000 kg (2,205 lbs) of non-bulk packages of materials poisonous by inhalation in Hazard Zone A or B. See §§172.301(a)(3), 172.313(c), 172.326, 172.328,172.330, and 172.331.

To clarify, anything meeting this large shipment requirement not only requires the placard but also an Identification number as shown below.

Like this example if I was transporting drums of hydrochloric acid I would just need to placard my load and label each container with the Corrosive Class 8 Placard and label. But, If I was transporting a major cargo tank full of hydrochloric acid, I would need to use the Corrosive Class 8 placard and label with 1789 ID number.

When placarding a transport truck, bus, trailer, tanker, and placards need to be visible on all four sides of the unit and placards need to be at least 9.84”on all sides. Sticker labels need to be at least 3.9” on all sides.

Again, we just touched on just a few basic items regarding hazmat and placarding but we are excited to give any guidance regarding placarding or hazardous materials. Please feel free to contact us to help make your life easier.