March part 2

Every day the ninja turtles, Andre, Louis, Bram, Nico and Jim, go for a walk. 5 Minutes away there is a miniature wildpark, with a lot of water. Here is where we go for a cosnult with our leader, the incredible PET Power turtle :-)
Since a couple of days this turtle is, together with frogs, living in this pond. Feels good to have our great leader near by :-)




Well, Marloes left and we try to manage with the people left. Thanks to the help of Marjan I am confident that we can keep our service on a reasonable level.

Sun is shining, temperature goes up. Let the summer begin. At the same moment (don't know if it is a correct English expression) a fresh, new wind is giving people in Etten Leur a lot of energy. The moments that all machines are running at the same time is growing, and positive internal competition is driving people and machine towards a very dynamic flow.Which of course helps us to boost sales, turnover.

Despite this new energy, the postivie effect in the plant, the improvement we have in the process flow,I am sad that Tom informed us that he is leaving PET Power as well. I started this episode with "Well, Marloes left ..." at that moment I was not informed about Tom, so I am facing a new situation "How to keep the process flow with 2 heads down" Besides the help of Marjan I have to reconsider how to manage.

The fact that 2 good persons are leaving my department hits me in the face. It is not because people are leaving. I always tell everyone `follow your heart, make sure you are happy` But the fact that more then one person deicdes to step out at the same moment is pretty frustrating.

The month of May will (especially) be exciting as Babette is cruising the west coast of the USA
I will hand out sportswear and towels, start up training programmes to make the rest of the team top fit, give instructions to go to sleep at 9 PM latest (and go to sleep!), everyone coming in the office before 6 AM will get a massage......

Next week the EU sales meeting. Finished my presentation, discussion piece "how to improve the win/win for distribitutors and PET Power" I am curious for the ideas coming out of the distributor group. We will see.

Today, March 27, is a very good day. About 4 months ago Operations Office and Customer Service started what is called "Internal Branding", I mentionned this in my first blog/ chapter.
Frenk visited us and asked us "what can you tell me, how can I connect" Great questions !!!!We showed him the posters telling who we are, what we do, why we do it, and what our way forward is. I also showed him the 4 (out of 15) targets for customer service that will be leading the coming month(s) in our discussion. Besides his good taste for music, the person he basically is, as from today he is decorated with the medal of honor. Frenk thanks man.


End of March Babette and I visited our friends at France - Sophie, Isabelle and Marjolein.
Next step after our team meeting in November 2011. It is great fun to talk as a team, Really gives me pleasure and motivation. Team spirit, good questions, open atmosphere and constructive discussions helped us to set new steps in our road map to succes. We are on our way to change the bumpy road in to a French highway.

March part 1

I receieved an excellent youtube link from Annabel. Annette suggested to put the link on my blog (ladies - thanks|) YOU MUST CHECK THIS ONE OUT. We think we are creative but I never heard a suggestion out of the sales team for this purpose :-

I challenge you all to come up with great ideas for a new purpose of our products....


Our plant and warehouse are "decorated". From a safety point of view we have marked the floor with lines so everyone can see where you are allowed to walk, where not. Go outside the lines and the alligotrs will eat you

Drawing the line is in many countries an expression.
In Holland (lijntrekker) we use it for people that do exactly what they are hired for, nothing more nothing less. In a way that you cannot catch them doing something wrong, in an irritating way.
In England something like STOP, this is how far you may go or this is how far I will go.

I am curious if "drawing the line" has a specific meaning in your respective countries. Appreciate when you add it as a comment in my blog at the bottom of this chapter.

There I am sick. The tension of another good month was too  much for me :-) Angelique arranged that Johan Zwaan (shiftleader) would drop of my laptop at my place. Saturday morning Johan rang, I opened and we were both suprised. Johan started "Is this the place where Jim..." He never saw me in my pyama's, with eyes looking gloomy and a beard of 3 days. I , on the other hand, I only know Johan in blue, his dresscode being a shiftleader. When I opened the door I saw a young man in a leather jacket. I recognised his voice earlier then his face. Always funny what context does with your brain. Johan thanks for bringing the laptop.

Sad news. Marloes is pregnant. That is not sad that is great news!!!!!! Sad news is that she is leaving PET Power. March 2012 is her last month. Appreciate your reactions at the bottom of the page in a last desperate attempt to keep her on board. And if not, this this is the link to her linkedin page . I will linked in with here the day she closes the PET Power door, as I appreciated her as a collague and as a person. And I am basically curious what she will be doing the rest of her career :-)