Have You Hugged Your Supervisor Today?
A good supervisor must be part
field officer, part psychologist, part
coach, part troubleshooter and
part friend. Frank Rogers has been
at it about a year and we asked for
his impressions.
“Basically my job,” said Frank, “is
to represent management here at
Ecusta to my staff. I need to get
along with both and I suppose I’m
doing a good job when both are
happy at the same time.”
Frank started work with Olin over
three and a half years ago in the
perforating department. Prior to
becoming department supervisor he
was a relief supervisor for nine
months.
Frank describes the supervisor’s
job as having four primary responsi
bilities—safety, housekeeping, quality
and production. Each of these are
equally important, says Frank; and, in
fact, you can’t do a good job in one
without doing a good job in all four.
Frank begins each shift by confer
ring with the relief supervisor and
determining what the production
goals will be for the next eight hours.
If there are going to be changes in
the jobs they are to work on, he must
Keeping up with the paperwork is vital
to coordinating department operations
and requires over 20 percent of Frank
Rogers’ time.
order paper stock, prepare the proper
labels, review the customer’s stand
ing instructions and complete the
necessary paperwork.
Throughout the rest of the shift
Frank is monitoring all aspects of the
perforating operations. Crews are
regularly sending samples to quality
control for evaluation. If product is
not up to standard, Frank works with
his technician to quickly spot and
correct the problem.
Even if everything is running
smoothly, Frank makes regular tours
of the department. He is on a
constant vigil for any safety hazard or
Frank stresses two-way communications
in his department. Here he confers with
Leona Owen, reclaim operator.
any of his staff using unsafe proce
dures. He keeps an eye on the condi
tion of fire extinguishers and hoses
and checks that fire doors aren’t
blocked.
Housekeeping also receives top
priority. Frank and his crews are
careful not to let unnecessary
materials collect in the department.
Each shift cleans up thoroughly
before the next shift begins.
Frank believes that good communi
cations with his staff is essential. He
makes sure that on each shift he
speaks individually to each of the 13
people in his department. He also
makes sure he is available if they
want to speak to him about any
matter—job or personal.
“Giving orders is not my style,”
explained Frank. “I give my staff the
reasons why we need to do some
thing and why we can’t do it their
way. They understand what needs to
be done and we have a good working
relationship.”
Besides the scheduled safety meet
ings, Frank holds frequent informal
off-the-cuff meetings to keep his staff
informed on business conditions or
special safety, quality or housekeep
ing concerns. He finds that everyone
feels freer to exchange ideas in these
meetings.
“We’re all interested in solutions,”
Frank continued. “The union steward
comes to me first with a problem and
we discuss possible ways to settle
the matter to everyone’s satisfaction.
This is a lot easier than trying to do
this in a grievance procedure.
“The more I work at my job the
more I enjoy it. I get satisfaction from
meeting a shipping date or the stan
dards on a new product. Sometimes it
seems that things are going back
ward in spite of everyone’s efforts,
but it’s important to work together
through the hard as well as the good
times.” O
Quality, safety, housekeeping and pro
duction are a supervisor’s top priority.
Frank inspects bobbin quality before
packing for shipment.
Children's Christmas Parties
Olin Cafeteria
December 17,1983
Ages 12 and Linder
9:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
1:00 p.m.
2:00 p.m.
3:00 p.m.
• Santa and his helpers
will entertain
• Favors for each child
who attends
• Music, songs, stories
People
On The
Move
14
PROMOTIONS
Audrey T. Morgan has been
promoted to quality control
inspector in the technical
department. Mrs. Morgan
joined Olin in 1961 and
worked in paper finishing and
endless belt.
William E. Bradford, Sr. has
been promoted to assistant
superintendent, machines
10-12. Bradford joined Olin in
1965 as a process engineer
and was most recently a staff
process engineer.
Pamela D. Carland has been
employed as an accountant.
Miss Carland graduated from
West Henderson High School
and received a B.S. degree in
financial management from
Clemson University.
William C. Hooper has been
promoted to casting supervis
or in the casting department.
Hooper joined Olin in 1951
and has 32 years’ experience
as a casting machine
operator.