If you’ve been reading along with our newsletters for the past few months, you know that we are in the middle of a series that discusses the general needs that we all have as employees, and how companies can try to do better to support their employees in this new world order.
For this article, we’re going to temporarily put that series on hold for a moment, though, to talk about something else that has been at the forefront of my thoughts lately: New Beginnings.
The Impact of a Move:
This coming weekend, Oberg and Associates, LLC will be moving offices for the second time in company history, and first time in over 15 years. We’re moving to a bigger suite to accommodate our growing company.
Sure, a larger suite brings challenges, and moving is always a pain, but it also can serve as a fresh start.
Our company has seen growth over the past few years, unlike anything in the years before it. The industry, as we have been detailing in this series that I’m interrupting, remains a great place for us to work to be a resource. There are always great people looking to either get out of a bad situation or just take the next step in their careers, and there are always good (and sometimes bad) companies and facilities looking for someone to come in and help them either take their next step or turn things around.
But lately, it feels like we’ve fallen into the trap that success can be sometimes: we’ve gotten comfortable.
Things are going very well, so you take your foot off the gas a little bit. You’re still working hard, but if something doesn’t work out, you know that you’re awesome at what you do, so you assume something else is coming. You might not be putting in the right efforts to make something else happen. You may rely too heavily on clients and contacts that were once responsive, positive relationships, and fail to create new ones.
Corrugated Context:
In the context of a corrugated facility, you may start to get less strict on PM programs, or safety. Nothing has broken down in months, and there haven’t had any recordables. That feels like it can go on forever. You still talk about the PM program and safety programs in meetings, but it doesn’t have the same urgency it once did.
And that’s when something catastrophic happens.
Maybe those things are still the top priorities, so you keep running smoothly, but you’ve stopped listening for new ideas and processes that might make you better. The same new ideas and processes that your competitors ARE implementing, because they aren’t running as smoothly and need a leg up. Suddenly, they’re beating you for customers, and talent.
Wrap Up:
So, while giving the company a fresh start is not the purpose of the move, there are far cheaper and less intrusive ways to spark some energy back, it will be a very positive event once the dust settles.
A new environment, with new goals to reach. A new layout to encourage discussion and new ideas. Eventually, new people in the office, that will bring in their own new ideas and personalities.
A fresh start can happen any time, though. It doesn’t have to be something as dramatic as a move. It can be the turn of the calendar to a new month. It can be getting away from a facility for a few days to relax, and coming back with new ideas.
It can be waking up one morning and deciding to brush the bottom teeth first instead of the top, just to see how that strikes you, and suddenly your world view has changed.
Whatever form your fresh start takes, take it.
Outside the Box 