A Triumphant Team
The management team at The Principal Financial Group worked together to improve their in-plant and were rewarded with being named Managers of the Year.
by CHRIS BAUER
WHEN REMEMBERING some of the dominant teams of the 1990s, a few come quickly to mind. The Chicago Bulls in basketball. The Dallas Cowboys in football. The Atlanta Braves in baseball. But when thinking of the in-plant world, one team stands out: The team from The Principal Financial Group, winners of the Manager of the Year award in 1995.
Consisting of Dick Croll, Diane Goodson and Mel Zischler, this team is the only group of managers from an organization to ever be honored by IPG. Located in Des Moines, Iowa, The Principal Financial Group is a family of insurance and financial services companies. Working together, Croll, Goodson and Zischler formed a unique bond to provide all of the organization's printing and document needs.
This group was honored by IPG because of its successful reconstruction of Principal's Graphic Services department. The managers ditched the traditional approach of grouping employees by job description and adopted a customer-specific approach. This resulted in the creation of four work teams to cover the company's main areas—group insurance, individual insurance, pensions and corporate services.
By working closely as individual units, the teams became more aware of what the division's needs were. As a result, productivity improved. The teams were also given a chance to work independently, with management encouraging them to operate autonomously.
More Power To The Workers
Employees handled many of the problems traditionally dealt with by management. This gave them a sense of empowerment that carried over to other areas of their jobs. Morale went up along with productivity, and the management team was soon rewarded for its visionary scheme.
"We gained better recognition throughout our company, and our director was very pleased," recalls Zischler of the reaction after winning the award. But not all of the praise came internally. "We received congratulatory messages from people from all over."
Of course, to remain good managers, the team knew it could not become stagnant. And as with all teams, all the great players do not always stay together. Zischler, manager of graphic services, reports he has been relocated along with the mailing department to a new facility a few miles away from the main campus. Croll, manager of central word processing, and Goodson remain on the campus.
Change Is Necessary
"I have found that we have to be very open to change—it's necessary to survive," Zischler explains. Now that his department is separate from most of his customers, he must rely on digital technology to keep his shop in close contact with the rest of the company. He notes that the three Xerox DocuTech 6180s at his shop and the three Xerox 135s that remain on the main campus are able to receive images and jobs through Xerox DigiPath software. The new facility gets almost 100 percent of its work digitally, Zischler adds, virtually eliminating the need to ship hard copy.
The in-plant also has added a new Didde web press and a new imagesetter. The shop now outputs its own film and polyester plates. And even though they may not all be working as closely as they once did, this team is still striving towards the common goal of providing internal customers with the best possible service.
