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www.us-tech.com
September, 2017
Creating a Culture of Service and Engagement at Cirtronics
By Tim Piotrowski, Marketing and Media Manager, Association for Manufacturing Excellence S
ince opening its doors in 1979, employee-owned contract manu- facturer Cirtronics has always
applied principles of lean manufactur- ing and continuous improvement to set itself apart from its competitors. In addition, President and CEO Gerar- dine Ferlins wanted to create a work environment where employees felt safe, happy and excited to come to work.
Today Cirtronics has grown into
a 175,000 ft2 (16,258m2) facility, lo- cated in Milford, New Hampshire, with 200 employees. The company was recently recognized by the New Hampshire Business of Social Re- sponsibility for its people-centric cul- ture. Front and center is its “Six We Serve” philosophy, which outlines the six different entities it is commit- ted to serving: customers, suppliers, the corporation, the environment, community, and employees. “Effectively serving all six simul-
taneously demonstrates that it is pos- sible to serve, make money and nur- ture happiness and delight among em- ployees,” says Cirtronics director of marketing Stephanie Gronvall.
Employee Focus One of the main reasons that
Cirtronics has been successful in building a people-centric culture is
Cirtronics uses display boards at daily meetings to optimize resources and personnel.
Low Charging Tapes, Films and Labels
Booth #803
through its commitment to honest, transparent communication among its leadership teams and employees. The employees are 40 percent owners in the company through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), which drives engagement and behavior. Once a year, a visual display
board is placed on the shop floor. For several weeks, employees share their ideas, which can either be strategic, tactical, or something less vital like, “I think we should bring in fruit on Tuesdays.” From there, each of these ideas and suggestions is read, re- viewed by the leadership team and
discussed as the yearly plan is estab- lished and the budget is determined. Employees also use team boards
throughout the facility each day. This allows team members to share thoughts about what is or is not working or how a process can be changed. While these ideas do not al- ways result in immediate change, it does give everyone a chance to see them and they can be shared and dis- cussed in larger groups. Another visual engagement tool
used every day is the service agent board, which is a magnetic board with buttons and diagrams representing different teams throughout the organ- ization. Representatives from each team can visit the board to let other teams know they need additional re- sources to complete a job during the daily service agent meeting. If one team has an extra person they can let other teams know that someone is available to help another team.
Open Communication Employees are informed and en-
gaged in several ways. Monthly sales goals are shared with all and daily up- dates are communicated on how the company is meeting those goals. Gen- eral monthly meetings, and more fo- cused quarterly meetings called “The
Continued on next page The material matters in material handling
HELP PROTECT STATIC SENSITIVE
DEVICES Booth #803 Tucson 10-15 September
ANSI/ESD S20.20, IEC 61340, JEDEC JESD625B Compliant
1.603.352.1415
polyonics.com
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