Congratulations to the winners of the recent Motivational Strategies contest held by Tompkins Press in conjunction with the book, Think Outside the Box. Contest entrants were asked to submit a proven program or event that successfully motivated employees. The winning strategies will be highlighted in the February 2002 issue of Competitive Edge, Tompkins Associates' publication for Total Operations Excellence.

In first-place is William Gillette of Pharmacia with the "Catch of the Week" award program. Each week during the maintenance staff meeting at Pharmacia, an individual who has shown the most preventive or predictive behaviors is nominated. The identification of potential obstacles and actions taken to eliminate the root causes has resulted in new safety suggestions, institution of inspections, and removal of breakdowns.

The "Catch of the Week" receives a personalized plaque and a pair of movie tickets. "Recognition tied to action is one of the greatest needs in business today. Catching folks doing something right and officially recognizing them is a valuable part of leadership that needs to be emphasized," says Jim Tompkins, president of Tompkins Associates.

In second-place is Marcia Moore of Newark Electronics with the "Develop Newark" leadership program. In order to help employees become accountable for their work and the customers, a curriculum program was established consisting of classes on topics such as operations, finance, coaching, time management, conflict resolution, team building, and business writing and oral presentation skills. The classes are set up as building blocks in which perfect attendance is required. Each participant in the program receives a diploma during graduation exercises.

"Employee development and preparing employees to take a more active role in delivering customer satisfaction is so very important. Leadership needs to assure that their entire team is knowledgeable to get the job done for the customer," says Jim.