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NECA Transmissions is a collaborative effort from CEO John Grau and NECA staff to provide insight and feedback on key issues from the front lines of the electrical contracting industry.
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Category Archives: Productivity
Getting It Right
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal asked the question: Why Aren’t Companies Getting the Employees They Need? It states that even with unemployment of 9%, companies are complaining that they can’t find skilled workers. They lay the blame on schools for not giving kids the right kind of training and on government for … Read more
Posted in Apprenticeship, Certification, Productivity and tagged "the right way", NJATC, training, union.
Feeling Better?
It’s year’s end, and I’m reading a lot of financial and economic reports. They tell us how we did in 2010 and make predictions about what 2011 will be like. The consensus is that, economically, the worst is over, and we are recovering. But it is a very slow recovery.
Posted in Financial, Productivity.
Health Care Reform: Prognosis Undetermined
I can’t decide how I feel about health care reform. It’s now near the top of the legislative agenda and lots of proposals and ideas are being floated by the House and Senate committees working on a bill. Almost every American has a stake in the outcome. The health care industry is a huge segment … Read more
‘Tis the Season
No. not that season. At least not quite yet. It’s the season for 2009 construction economic forecasts. The reports are coming across my desk, and they don’t paint a pretty picture. I mainly rely on the annual forecast produced by McGraw-Hill Construction. Other groups that try to crystal ball the construction economy are the U.S. … Read more
Health Care is Front and Center, Not on the Fringe
[...] I think we all recognize that fringe benefits aren’t so “fringe” anymore. They’re a big part of our labor costs and a major factor in our struggle to complete with non-union costs. It doesn’t mean, however, that these benefit plans have to be an albatross hung around our necks. Properly structured and managed, our fringe benefit programs can be part of our competitive advantage.
Posted in Labor Relations, Productivity.
2008 Budget is More Than Numbers
Mike Thompson and I may be the only people at NECA who get excited about our annual budget. I find that the process of creating the budget is one of the best methods for me to keep my finger on the pulse of what’s going on at this large and complex organization and to steer its … Read more
Posted in Productivity.
Visiting Chapters Without the Air Miles
I remember hearing a story about how one of my predecessors, Lawrence Davis, took an extended trip by railroad in the 1930’s to some of NECA’s west coast chapters. It was a major excursion, and it took him three or four weeks to visit a half-dozen chapters. I don’t know if he ever did it again, but … Read more
Posted in Productivity, Productivity and Production.
Q&A on Code of Excellence
NECA member Jerry Hayes of United Electric in Atlanta sent a question in response to my recent post “Executive Committee Meeting Recap.” In that post, I said that the committee had taken action to make the Code of Excellence Category I language. Jerry responded with his perspective on what including the Code of Excellence in … Read more
Posted in Labor Relations, Productivity.
Hard-Won Changes
Two weeks ago, I sat in the front row at the annual IBEW Construction Conference . . . The current national officers of the IBEW were there as well, along with business managers from construction locals across the country. As I sat between my former and current colleagues, I realized just how much has changed about the conference during the years that I’ve been attending.
Posted in Productivity.
