Tuesday, May 7, 2013

CONFER PLASTICS' POLICY ON MANAGEMENT'S ACCESSIBILITY BY PHONE, E-MAIL



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