BEST IN HR
MCSHERRY ELECTRICAL, IDA Industrial Estate, Mallow, Co Cork.
Tel: 022 42100. www.mse.ie
Putting
people first
Viastrongtwo-waycommunication
channels,McSherryElectricalhas
increaseditsturnoveryearonyear,
whileatthesametimegiving
employeestheopportunityto
developtheircareers
‘When you invest in people
and give them that input,
then that result is positive
for both the company and
the individual’
Brian and Neil McSherry
L
ONG before the global economic downturn hit, McSherry Electrical operates with a permanent staff of and staff development.
the manufacturing sector in Ireland has had about 35, and provides work to temporary staff or subcon- Manyofthecompany’semployeeshaveworkedwiththefirm
its own issues to face. Many of McSherry tractors throughout the year. In 2007, it achieved the FÁS foroveradecade,andmanyofitssitemanagementandproj-
Electrical’s key clients were in the manufactur- Excellence Through People standard, which helped man- ect management team have worked their way up the ranks.
ing area, and as companies such as Irish Sugar and Dell agement develop its HR strategy. “We believe HR is syn- McSherrytellsofoneparticularindividualwhostarted
cut back on services, it necessitated the pursuit of new onymouswithatrade-orientatedbusiness,”saysMcSherry. hiscareerasanapprentice,andprogressedtoprojectsuper-
markets for the firm. The company has broken its HR practices into a num- visor. As part of his learning and development, he did a
McSherry Electrical set about crafting a business plan ber of sections — namely business planning and quality managementprogrammeandcameupwithaninnovative
in 2005, identifying growth markets such as infrastruc- improvement; communication and people involvement; processsystem,whichhasmadethehandoverofkeydoc-
ture, healthcare and sports and leisure. Determined to leadership and people management; learning and devel- umentationtoclientslessarduousandmorestreamlined.
adapt to changing markets, it is this tenacity that has seen opment; recruitment and selection; and well-being. “By implementing his idea, the company has become
the company go from strength to strength since. So suc- Communicationiscrucialforthecompany,accordingto more efficient and we’ve got a more motivated employee.
cessful has the plan been that, over the past three years, McSherry.Thereisamultitudeofmethods,fromstandard The net result was a positive for both of us. Some compa-
McSherry Electrical has increased its turnover by an management and staff meetings to Toolbox Talks, which niescutdownonHRduringdifficulttimes,butwebelieve
averageof40pceachyear. areheldregularlytoconveyanyinformationthat’srelevant. it’s to their detriment,” adds McSherry.
McSherry Electrical was established in 1986 by Brian “We also issue circulars with wages, and make presen- Lettingstaffknowthereisdevelopmentpotentialandthat
McSherry, who had been working for some years in elec- tations. Most importantly,we believe in one-to-one meet- theirideasarerespectedisalsogreatforbuildingontrustlev-
tricalservicesinawiderangeofindustries.Thecompany ings.Performance-evaluationmeetingsareheldannually, els. Every year, management at McSherry Electrical sits
hasalwaysplacedacarefulemphasisonqualityandserv- but feedback is given both to and from the employee,” he down with employees to draw up goals for the coming year
ice, but it placed its staff at the core of its business plan. says. Any suggestions are taken on-board, and McSherry to align with both what the employee wants and the needs
Neil McSherry, commercial manager at the firm, says its says this has helped develop strong trust levels. ofthebusiness.Thetrainingprovidedbythefirmisalsocom-
humanresources(HR)focushasbeenhugelyresponsible “Our core business requires accurate and continuous prehensive,rangingfromeverythingfromtradeskillsthrough
for its success since. communication.Weneedthatfeedbacktofuelcontinual to IT and health and safety qualifications.
“Wedidastronganalysisofourbusiness,andsomeofthe improvement.” He says trust brings many business benefits. “Trust is
feedback we got from clients indicated we had a key differ- McSherry Electrical doesn’t just pay lip-service to crucial to our success, and it’s not only about the current
entiator: our employees. Our trade employees were our its open-door policy, and staff members recognise this. environment. It’s vital at all times. We’re not in a position
interfacewiththeclients,andonthatbasiswechosetoinvest The firm enjoys a very low turnover of staff, which to micromanage, so our people have to be autonomous,”
in them,” he says. McSherryattributestobothgoodtwo-waycommunication McSherry adds.
WWW.SFA.IE/AWARDS
SFA NATIONAL SMALL BUSINESS AWARDS 29
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40