Some of our clients may find it confusing, even
frustrating, that we don’t allow for our management team’s cell phone numbers
to be shared with them. They are equally confounded by our lack of
company-supplied smart phones, personal data assistants, and laptops.
It has been a long-held company policy that we
don’t divulge cell phone numbers or equip our staff with the latest in portable
technology because we firmly believe that “family” is a big part of “family
business”. There is a clear division in
our company philosophy -- and demands -- between home and work, and, when the
day is done, we expect our coworkers to spend time with their families.
We do not condone after-hours communication with
our customers because it is exactly that: after hours. Our managers and owners
spend 8 to 11 hours (and maybe more) of their days in the office or in the
plant; that is where they do their work. A good portion of our management team
starts their days by – and even well
before – 7:00 a.m. (we do, after all, produce goods 24 hours a day). We
don’t want them to take their work home with them because quality of life is
contingent on a good job and it’s also contingent on a life outside of that
job.
Our policy applies to our team’s evenings, weekends,
holidays, and vacations. As a matter of fact, we also demand that our personnel
do not call our suppliers outside of their working hours, either – we value
their personal time as much as ours.
This policy may not seem like it keeps with the
times, now that we live in a 24-hour world. But, that constant connectedness
from phones, Blackberries and the like is maybe a dozen years old. The business
world did just fine before that. And, it will be just fine when that technology
goes the way of the telegraph.
But, please don’t think that this means your
business isn’t worth our efforts or attention. We still focus on service,
delivery, and quality just as have for more than 40 years. Our staff will
answer your phone calls and emails during our working hours and from the
office. It might not be that immediate response that you may have come to
expect from the rest of Corporate America, but the ultimate outcome will be
what you have always expected – and what
we always expect – from Confer Plastics: top-notch results.
Thank you for your understanding.
Bob Confer
Vice-President
