Employee Relations at Corning Today
With icy weather conditions that forced the Corning-Painted Post Schools to delay the start of school by two hours, a small group of hardy retirees braved the elements to attend the February Coffee session to hear about the company’s employee relations practice and objectives.
Like so many things at Corning Incorporated, the company’s Employee Relations (ER) activities are based on the corporate values of Quality, Integrity, Performance, Leadership, Innovation, Independence, and the Individual.
Speakers were Mario Scarselletta, Director of Employee Relations, who was joined by Employee Relations manager Jennifer Stickler and Lori Mitchell, of the Blacksburg Plant’s Training Department. Mitchell was the bravest of the three, having flown in Tuesday evening from the Blacksburg.
All three described how the company’s employee relations efforts are closely linked to its Manufacturing Excellence objectives through a look at employee relations history, its auditing procedures and how it all relates to manufacturing.
Dr. Scarselletta noted the Manufacturing Excellence program in place today is an outgrowth of the 1994 Corning Competes re-engineering effort put in place when our company history showed that when we lost sight of the very basics of manufacturing, plant performance slipped.
The resulting Manufacturing Excellence (ME) program incorporates critical manufacturing elements such as process discipline and control, safety and health procedures, training and development and identifying the steps to elevate performance with effective communications throughout, both up and down at all levels.
Particularly important has been the development and implementation of an ME system of plant audits the results of which serve as roadmaps or benchmarks to keep raising the manufacturing bar at the plant level and keep Corning competitive in its markets. The objective of the audits is to establish solid and sustainable manufacturing basics, develop “building block” procedures key to that end, share knowledge and benchmark practices, and identify and set goals for improvement. These building blocks form the basis of a Manufacturing Excellence Pyramid – a graphic presentation of components that lead to the ME goal.
The audit process begins with self assessments by plant leaders, followed by an external audit by subject matter experts through observation and interviews. Audit results are given in by a closing presentation with recommendations for improvement. Plant leadership then develops prioritized action plans to address shortcomings revealed by the audit.
This process, Scarselletta said, applies equally well to the company’s older established businesses as well as its new ones. Conducting the audit involves the basics of manufacturing: Know how to define good manufacturing processes; know the company’s manufacturing strategy, be familiar with the Manufacturing Excellence Pyramid, and share internal “best practices.”
In all this, the ER function has a clear statement of its code of conduct: Open communications at all levels; Effective supervision; Clear policy rules fairly and consistently applied; Strong performance management and recognition systems; Dedication to safety and healthy; and Defined processes to effectively address employees’ concerns or problems.
This code is clearly more manufacturing oriented that the old Corning Glass Works ER policy which, simply stated, pledged to be: Fair, Friendly, Firm, Open Door, Encouraging, and provide opportunities for advancement.
The new model addresses manufacturing strategy, flows into engineering execution to gain dynamic improvement and growth through global integration. It targets employee effectiveness development, positive work environments, a culture of continuous improvement, employee safety and health, and communications throughout the process.
In summary, all three ER representatives stressed that Corning’s Employee Relations efforts are all manufacturing focus, which is at the heart of the company’s purpose.
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