The People Business

Last week I had the opportunity to tour the Herff Jones plants in Edwardsville, KS and Montgomery, AL.  My Editor-In-Chief was asked to be the voice of a video tour, which will be used as an educational tool, about what happens when the pages leave your school.

The tour was fascinating!  I felt like a kid in a candy store versus standing amidst machinery.  I had no idea how much work went on behind the scenes to execute and deliver our yearbooks.  Quite frankly, it is remarkable that yearbook companies are able to print our books so economically.

One thing that stood out to me throughout the tour is something that cannot be taught.  It is the passion and pride that I saw in each and every employee.  At first I thought, well maybe they only have their happy employees working while we are here.  However, we met dozens of employees at each plant and the average employee had worked there 25 years, if not more.  (What was most impressive was the woman who has been an employee for 48 years and is hoping to make it to 50 years so she can retire at age 90.)

You cannot teach that kind of dedication or pride.  It was at that moment that I thought to myself that this is their corporate culture.  This is the same culture I try to instill in my students in the publications classroom.  But, how do you teach that?  How do you find and breed that dedication year after year? 

Well, I believe it all starts with us as advisers.  When we are happy and enjoy what we are doing we can share that enthusiasm with our students.  I truly love what I do and hope that my positive energy is contagious.  I can’t win 100 percent of my students over, but it’s certainly worth a try.  Much like our yearbook company, we too are in the people business. 

 

Debra Klevens

Parkway West High School

Ballwin, MO