Company
Tri State Foam Products Inc. manufactures, and fabricates polystyrene foam sheet and shaped products for the construction, pharmaceutical, and packaging industries. Founded in 1983, Tri State Foam is a family owned business located in Martinsville, VA. The facility employs approximately 50 workers in their single location.

Situation
Tri State Foam (TSF) has seen steady increases in sales in recent years. The owners are proud of its good reputation with customers for fast service, quality, and delivery. Management expressed concerns over the growing pains resulting from such growth, and how to keep those pains to a minimum. During this time, management became aware that supervisors needed to take the initiative in leading their teams to maintain, and to excel their levels of customer responsiveness, quality, and productivity. Many of the supervisors were young and had little previous training. TSF knew it could benefit from additional leadership training.

Response
VPMEP introduced a supervisory training program entitled Leadership Foundations: A Dialogue at the FrontSM by Emily Sterrett. This twenty-four-session program is aimed at supporting a culture of increasing responsibility and teamwork among supervisors and within teams. Although VPMEP typically facilitates this program, TSF wanted to use internal resources to facilitate. Through a series of on-site meetings, a VPMEP project manager and a trained facilitator for the program coached Kathy Joyce, TSF HR Manager, through the facilitation process. During the program’s duration, the VPMEP project manager and Emily Sterrett were available to provide ongoing guidance and support.

Results
Supervisors and their teams have utilized the training as a very positive vehicle for communications. Employees now do not bring problems to management unless they also bring solutions. TSF saw a dramatic reduction in turnover, even prior to the earlier slowdown in the economy. Improvements were also noticed in employee morale, supervisors’ relationships with direct reports, problem solving amongst teams, and trust between management and employees.

Testimonial
"This leadership training program was well received by our front line supervisors. The content is very focused on ‘real world’ solutions that can be applied immediately to our work environment. It’s not just a ‘canned’ product that presents idealistic theories that will never be put to use. The self-assessment was a very practical tool, which allowed individual supervisors to measure themselves from the beginning to program completion."
-Kathy Joyce, HR Manager

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