Litania Sports Group | 150 employees | www.litaniasports.com

Litania Sports group is an athletic equipment manufacturer located in Champaign, IL.

Situation

Litania was interested in zero based budgeting, which the CEO had proposed to the management team in August 2016.  The idea around this was that it would address the company’s desire for aggressive growth in untapped markets. Having done previous work with IMEC, Litania trusted the experts to deliver the training they needed to implement true zero based budgeting which they hoped would result in cost reduction by the end of their fiscal year, September 30, 2017.

Written by: Virginia Rounds, Director of the ICATT Apprenticeship Program

The price of vacancy in the high-tech manufacturing industry is staggering, and while companies recognize this is a problem, the true cost has become such a part of the status quo that it is often overlooked.

Mike has a diverse manufacturing background which allows him to connect with different areas of an organization and offer valuable insight at a strategic level. As a Regional Manager at IMEC, he uses his deep understanding of process efficiencies to help businesses in Central Illinois create their competitive futures.

Written by Marie Hale of At Revenue.

Globally the manufacturing industry has undergone a massive transformation in the past decade. Recessions choked demand, employment continues to fall and the floors and lines don’t have the same consistent flow of work to be done. With all of the nuances between each manufactured product and the manufacturers themselves, what is to be done to start to right the ship and save one of the most critical industries to America’s economy?

Sure, you hear us talk about Baldrige and the Excellence Framework, but what is Baldrige?

The Baldrige Excellence Framework is a set of tools that organizations of all sizes in manufacturing, healthcare, government, non-profit, education and small business can use to gain an advantage over their competition. Focused on driving growth and sustainability by improving your organization’s performance, the Baldrige Excellence Framework includes the Criteria for Performance Excellence, core values and concepts, and guidelines for evaluating your processes and results. Organizations succeed with Baldrige because the Excellence Framework looks at the big picture from different perspectives:

 Guest post, written by Ron Jacobs, Human Resources Professor and Consultant.

This one-day workshop provides a practical introduction to job analysis and the skills to conduct the well-known technique called DACUM (Developing a Curriculum). DACUM has a long history of proven success in gathering information about what people do on their jobs, including the following:

• Identifying employee selection criteria
• Identifying current and future job requirements
• Designing training programs
• Supporting quality and safety programs
• Developing work instruction documents

 This is blog is written by the American College of Healthcare Executives.

You may know these numbers. Or, they may simply make sense of what you experience daily. As a healthcare leader in the 21st century, you could be managing six generations of healthcare associates. Consider these generations by approximate birth years and how many of them your employees likely represent:

With 8 years of expertise in the manufacturing industry, 10 successful years in sales and nearly 30 years of leadership proficiency, Rob is responsible for leading IMEC’s field staff. He joined IMEC 5 years ago as a Regional Manager and within the last few months, transitioned to serving as IMEC’s Client Engagement Manager. His wealth of experience and his passion for building relationships - with teammates, clients, community leaders and partners - makes him a valuable asset to the IMEC team.

 Written by Carly McCory, partner and Executive Director - Champaign County Economic Development Corporation

The Champaign County Economic Development Corporation and Parkland College will join community, regional and state partners to celebrate February as Career and Technical Education Month®, or CTE Month®, which recognizes the value and accomplishments of career and technical education programs in the U.S.

This is an original article written by Jacqueline Breslin of TriNet.

The landscape for small and medium size businesses is constantly evolving. Every year brings new HR requirements for business owners to navigate. Below are HR topics and trends that are likely to be top priorities for businesses in 2019, as well as some tips to help employers prepare for the year ahead.