MNP Corporation

MNP: The Center’s Supervisory Skills Workshop Elevates MNP’s Management Team

Since 1970, MNP Corporation (mnp.com) has built a reputation as an award-winning fastener supplier. Headquartered in Utica, Mich., MNP is the largest certified woman-owned fastener manufacturer in the world with over 1,200 employees in 16 operating and support divisions across the Midwest and 600 in Utica. MNP has global reach with its diverse distribution capabilities and ships to all seven continents and more than thirty countries. They provide customers with a wide range of products and services in a variety of industries—all with superior quality assurances and cost controls that competitors cannot match.

Challenge

It was the right time for MNP to invest in its people—more specifically, their supervisors. MNP wanted to improve employee retention, strengthen their supervisors’ skills to enhance performance, solve conflict and motivate their teams to achieve goals. MNP believes the Supervisory Skills training offered by the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (The Center) will help improve employee retention and generate benefits that will pay off long after the workshop is over. Effective supervisors with proper training would be able to lead better, increase efficiency and motivate.

Solution

Ten supervisors from MNP attended The Center’s 4-day, hands-on Supervisory Skills workshop. Improvement in overall business throughput, an increase in quality of work and strengthened relationships with peers was expected. The engaging training included videos and worksheets and incorporated invaluable team exercises relating to smarter leadership. The skills and course content enabled the supervisors to:
• Identify their leadership style and its strengths and weaknesses.
• Discover different behavioral characteristics and determine the best method for each type.
• Uncover communication barriers and listening/communication techniques to enhance interaction in all directions.
• Examine how individuals are motivated and identify opportunities to encourage subordinates to achieve organizational goals.
• Determine the most effective methods of delivering on-the-job training and apply them for increased competence in employees.
• Pinpoint what causes conflict and how to mitigate and prevent escalation.
• Identify how to manage time to maximize available time and to decrease non-productive activities.
• Recognize how to relate to subordinates to ensure the smoothest possible transition.
• Identify the phases teams go through and how to maximize positive outcomes of each stage.
• Examine the components of effective meetings and apply them, resulting in meetings that are more productive.

Results

• Retained jobs: 25
• Cost savings as a result of a 32% decrease in employee turnover since the completion of the class.
• Improved culture: The MNP culture is very family-focused and was good from the start, but since our supervisors have gone through this training, the culture has become more collaborative and job satisfaction has increased. Employees at MNP have always been the type to step in when needed and go the extra mile, but now that there is a different type of support coming from their leaders they have really stepped up to the plate. It is not something you can necessarily measure; it can be felt if you work here.