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Spectrum
Development Training Used
in a
Manufacturing Environment
We produce fully cooked
and raw breaded chicken and beef products. We employ 1200 people in three
states, with a management force of over 200
salaried individuals. Our employees represent a diverse
workforce with a wide range of educational
and occupational experiences. Spectrum Development is the only
training program that consistently meets the
needs of so many different people. It works because it can explain why
we do what we do.
During the summer of
1999, we started using Spectrum Development
Training with all of our directors,
managers, and production coaches. The response was overwhelmingly
positive. Our production coaches used the
information to build their own leadership
skills, and to understand the needs and
behaviors of their employees. Many managers
requested that the training be offered to
their hourly employees.
Spectrum Development
training heightened the awareness of our
management staff about how they communicate
with their employees. It helped directors, managers and
coaches see that their perspective of work
events may be very different from the
perspectives of their employees. Many changed the way they approached
problem solving.
Just recently, we
started exploring the idea of using Spectrum
Development principles to write job
descriptions that categorize qualities and
skills based on temperaments in order to
make better matches between job requirements
and job applicants. We are experimenting with this right
now and the results are extremely promising.
I currently serve on a
Process Improvement Team comprised of a
Natural Orange, a Natural Gold, a Natural
Green, and a Natural Blue. We meshed as a team quicker than any
other team I have worked with before. I think we compliment each other very
well. There
is never a task to be done, that one of us
is not willing to do and do it well. We split the project responsibilities
beautifully. It is a great pleasure to work on
this team.
As a certified Spectrum
Development Trainer, I am extremely excited
when a production coach comes up to me and
shares a leadership success story using
Spectrum Development principles he or she
learned over a year ago. There are few training programs
offered in the tough world of manufacturing
that exhibit the kind of behavior change and
return on investment that Spectrum
Development delivers.
Shannon Ward
Corporate Employee Development Manager
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