 | | Central Valley expertise web site |
The Record, a Stockton, Calif.-area newspaper, holds an annual contest that allows readers to submit the names of the best local companies in different business categories. When SMACNA contractor Smith Heating and Air Conditioning was chosen as the best company for HVAC Service and Installation, the company used the HVAC Expertise logo as part of its follow-up marketing and promotion efforts. Also, Stockton’s Labor Management Cooperation Trust—SMWIA Local 162 and the Northern San Joaquin Valley Chapter of SMACNA—have expanded their marketing efforts to include a new Web site at http://www.hvacexpertisecentralvalley.com. The site makes it easy for visitors to find contractors who can get the job done right the first time, every time. The trust has also sponsored a print ad. Further, visitors can submit immediate requests to schedule an estimate, maintenance, or repair. In addition, member contractors are highlighted monthly on the site. The HVAC Expertise logo is prominently displayed. To see other similar Web sites, visit the Partners in Progress website list of Local Labor/Management Partnership Links at http://www.pinp.org/mktg/local-labor.htm.
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 | | Follow the SMWIA on Twitter - An example of putting this tool to work for the industry |
Tweeting (a short, text-based update sent using the messaging tool Twitter) has taken the business world by storm. “Building one's base leads to marketing opportunities,” according to Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post. Organizations of all sizes are making Twitter work for them, establishing connections and social circles, growing their brands, and bringing exposure. Twitter publically launched in 2006 and remained a relatively underground phenomenon until recently. In the past year, according to the company, the number of users increased by 900%. eMarketer estimates that there are currently about 6 million registered Twitter users, which equates to around 3.8%of people on the Internet. The research firm further projects that those numbers will double by the end of 2009 to 12.1 million users, and pick up another 50% in 2010 to about 18 million registered users. Is there really a place for Twitter in the sheet metal construction industry? According to productmanagementtips.com, you can use Twitter as another vehicle to establish our leadership in the market and also to create awareness of what we do. This can be done by posting Twitter links to - Articles about your company. local, chapter or training center in the media;
- New content articles on how to best solve problems your customers have;
- Best practice articles (does not have to be written by you, provide links to other’s content, what is more important is to make your prospects/customers/followers get better at what they do);
- Your press releases;
- Webcasts conducted by your company, local, chapter, or training center;
- Promotions, such as rebates;
- Conferences or tradeshows you may be attending; and
- Awards received by your company.
It’s important, though to ensure you have rules in place if you start tweeting. “Because it is so easy to dash off a tweet, you may have to be especially careful to resist shooting off a risqué [or flippant] comment. Instead, consider how you can positively impact your brand,” says Phyllis Zimbler Miller, an author and marketing consultant. To start tweeting, simply go to twitter.com, sign up for an account, complete your profile, and write. SMWIA has established a busy twitter account at twitter.com/smwia. Partners in Progress has an account at twitter.com/smpartners and SMACNA at twitter.com/SMACNA. Tips for getting followers—from problogger.net— include 1. Leverage Existing Presence: On your website or other social networking site, mention your Twitter presence and link to your profile. Further, add it to your email signature, business card, mention it in any interviews or public relations efforts. 2. Tweet Often, But Create Space for Reactions: The more active you are on Twitter the more likely you are to have someone find you from within Twitter and add you as someone that they are following. Try to stick to one topic at a time and create pauses between them to let others interact. 3. Be Conversational: When you reply to someone and that person replies to you, you have the potential to be exposed to thousands of Twitter users. Be sure you are conversational about topics that will interest others and are relevant to their lives or businesses. 4. Provide Value: Your conversations should ‘matter’ on some level, providing something useful to people (information, entertainment, news, education etc), otherwise people won’t follow you for long. “Social networking is definitely here to stay and should be cultivated for the long term,” says Bridget Wright of Corporate Eye, specialists in corporate communication.
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 | | Attend the Partners in Progress Conference in March for assistance with your partnering efforts |
SMACNA contractors, chapter executives, SMWIA business agents/managers and JATC coordinators, should mark their calendars and plan to attend the 2010 Partners in Progress Conference, March 18-20, 2010, in Las Vegas at Caesar’s Palace. The conference theme is: Driving Change. Creating Opportunities. Early bird registration began Oct. 15 and is available through Jan. 8, 2010. For one reduced fee, it includes admission to all Thursday, Friday and Saturday events including one ticket to Thursday’s awards dinner. This package is available only to SMWIA members and SMACNA contractors. Register online at pinp.org/conf10/. There are also links to make reservations at Caesar’s Palace. The Partners in Progress Conference is one of the best and most dynamic in the industry and is focused on helping labor and management partners work together to build union market share and improve industry relations. Nationally recognized speaker, trainer and facilitator Mark Breslin, will take center stage at the conference. His overall goal is to transform the union construction industry and restore its competitive position in the marketplace. In addition, the conference will feature breakout sessions covering regional issues, problems and solutions. There will be time for one-on-one brainstorming. New to this year’s program, 500 of the top apprentices in North America will be active participants in the program. Planned activities include a leadership track to guide the apprentices through the spectrum of market opportunities and a focus group with Breslin. For more information call 301-509–0813 or e–mail pipconf@sheetmetalpartners.org.
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 | | Local 36 has been able to spread the word about its commitment to sustainable energy via local media |
Writing about yourself only goes so far. Make the most of any media coverage is an excellent way to market your company, local, chapter, or training center. For an excellent example of this, see the recent coverage of Local 36. 09/23/2009 St. Louis Post-Dispatch By Steve Giegerich, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sep. 23--To work force trainer Dan Andrews, the plans for a new Sheet Metal Workers Local 36 headquarters represent a logical extension of the heating and air conditioning industry's commitment to sustainable energy. The union, which represents workers in the heating and air conditioning industry, announced plans this week to renovate and move into a former manufacturing plant at the intersection of Chouteau and Jefferson avenues in south St. Louis late next year. Upon completion, the $15 million headquarters will draw a portion its power from solar panels and windmills and use some recycled rainwater to flush toilets. Part of the building's roof will be covered with vegetation. Andrews said the building -- once the home of Missouri Boiler -- will showcase what the heating and air conditioning industry has long preached about energy efficiency. "If you look close enough, we've been doing this a long time," said Andrews, recalling his first training in the installation of low energy heating and air conditioning systems nearly 30 years ago. "But we never really looked at it as green." The 50,000 square feet set aside for instruction at Local 36's new headquarters, Andrews said, will take training to the next step with large "mock-ups" of the intricate heating and a/c systems used in today's homes and offices. The new training facility, he added, will also emphasize the processes heating and a/c specialists have adopted to audit home and office energy use. Local 36 represents 3,200 sheet metal workers. To see more of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.stltoday.com. Copyright (c) 2009, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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If you look at the union construction industry you will find that most all the labor and management leadership is made up of "born leaders." These are individuals who, by the force of their personality and characteristics, have risen to lead construction companies, unions and field operations. These born leader types are often defined by their traits or personalities. They are usually identified by things like - Hardest worker,
- Dominant personality,
- Charismatic,
- Commitment and determination,
- Driver,
- Competitive spirit, and
- Dynamic communicator.
Here is what famous leader and coach Vince Lombardi has to say about born leaders: "Leaders are made, not born. They are made like everything else in this country, by hard work." In our industry we spend very little time, money or hard work on building leaders. I think this is because we do not put enough value on it. It is my view that the born leader myth causes contractors, unions and field operations to under perform. You cannot put people in charge without giving them the professional leadership skills and tools to succeed. If you make them figure it out on their own you lose time, money and market share. From a bottom line perspective, here is my take: - I don't want a born doctor working on my kid.
- I don't want a born mechanic working on my car.
- I don't want a born CPA doing my taxes.
- I don't want a born dentist drilling my teeth.
And I don't want a born construction leader running my project or my organization. I want a professional. How bad is it? Field guys become foremen. Training for most foremen is that one day you get picked up by the ass and tossed in the deep end of the pool. If you can swim to the side and bring the job in, you're the foreman. Most contractors spend more on one pickup truck than they do all year on foreman training. Good union guys become Business Managers. Yesterday he was wearing his tools but today he's elected Business Manager. He now runs a very complex multi-million dollar operation; with no formal training or qualifications. Contractor leaders also often come from the field themselves; good builders but rarely trained business leaders. It isn't anyone's fault, it is just the idea of born leaders assuming their position in construction. Like my father, grandfather and great-grandfather also did in this industry. I can think of no other business sector in North America where this myth and practice still exists and has such an impact. Today, construction leaders must be refined by both training and experience. Unfortunately when our labor-management organizations support the "born leader" approach, several business consequences result: - Training for leadership and management is marginalized and not provided;
- Ego substitutes for competence;
- Standards and measures for success usually don't exist;
- Advancement can be skewed by personality or politics vs. leadership ability;
- New leaders and managers struggle;
- Quieter prospects for leadership are overlooked;
- Questions arise about the credibility of the leaders and organization;
- Leaders are reluctant to objectively examine themselves and instead depend on title, authority or power;
- Subordinates are not motivated to perform at their highest level; and
- No one really reaches their full potential, allowing their organizations to under perform.
I propose that it is time to reinvent leadership for our industry, and we should start with apprenticeship. Let's not look at apprenticeship as skill development as the primary foundation. Let's focus on leadership development as the foundation.  | | Attend the Partners in Progress to hear more of Breslin's ideas about strengthening the sheet metal industry. |
In fact, let's build tomorrow’s apprenticeship programs around leadership skills, values and ethics. Let's give them four years of leadership curriculum. Let's have a foreman track for apprentices. With the current economy, and the reduction in indenture rates, we may be under-utilizing the apprentice programs, facilities, and resources; why not use this interval to focus on leadership training for journeymen and foremen? Construction leaders have to capture people's heads and hearts before their hands. Let's teach apprentices and anyone else we can get interested how to do that. Let's realize the long term payoff as they rise to become tomorrow's contractors, union leaders and foremen. If there were ever a time in our country where it is most obvious that leadership determines destiny, this is such a time. Our destiny as an industry will be determined by the quality of our leaders. When our future is on the line it must be delivered by those whose outstanding character, personality and drive is matched by their advanced leadership skills and competencies. Let that be our legacy and market foundation for the future.
Mark Breslin is a strategist, speaker and author specializing in labor-management challenges. He will be speaking at the Partners in Progress Conference in March 2010 in Las Vegas. More on his work and profile is available at www.breslin.biz.
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