Three Brothers

The Development of Human Resources and Investment in Education

Background:

Established in 1990, Three Brothers company is regarded as one of the pioneers in the field of manufacturing  lighting units in Egypt,  the Middle East , and Africa. The founders were three brothers : Michele Sadeq, Albert Sadeq , and Maher Sadeq. In the same year of establishment, the first factory was built covering 6000 sq meters. In 2010, the second factory was built on an area of 48000 sq meters.

The company differentiates itself with its variety in production, which includes 6000 products ranges in internal and external lighting.

Since 2015, the company decided to focus on exporting because its leadership believed in the importance of this step and its impact on the Egyptian economy. The company now is almost permanently present in three Arab countries, and is planning to open new markets in Africa.

The Policies and Channels of Good Communications Inside the Company:  

Transparency and participation in decision making are two important principles in Three Brothers.

In 2018, the company laid out its strategic plan with all the managers of departments –and some employees also participated. In 2019, the goal is to continue working on policies for good communication, as well as devising new ways to assess the performance of employees. These new policies would enable each individual to know his/her role in planning work duties and responsibilities. They also motivates employees, driving them towards better performance.

Erinie Michele, from the second generation of owners, asserted that the company believes in the importance of investing in human resources, which would lead to improved performance and higher production (quality and quantity). Thus, the company devised new policies by following new strategies that would upgrade and modernize human resources, making the priority to develop the skills of the employees, which in turn achieves high levels of effectiveness and aptitude.  

The Environmental Compliance Office  played an influential role in this context as it often met with the management of the company,  encouraging its leaders to take up such policies, motivating better communication with the employees, raising the workers’ performance, and increasing production.

An Academy to Teach Lighting Sciences:  

Because Three Brothers believes in the importance of education, it established an academy to teach lighting sciences. The academy offers training to university students to study the basics of lighting sciences, such as, the distribution of light using different programs, the various kinds of internal and external lighting, and application through visiting factories and lines of production.

The company also organized a competition with Mona Hussein Design Office where 42 competitors competed for the best local and external lighting designs.

Impact and Results:

Three Brothers started implementing the new polices in the last quarter of 2018. The main objective of the policies was to raise the level of performance by 30%.

The impact will be clearer by the end of 2019. But an initial impact is already felt by the employees as Erinie Michele indicated. She said that the positive change happened when employees saw that there are clear definitive  measures to assess their performance and that there are reports on their performance built on clear tasks, and accurate objective measuring indicators. .

“When each employee knows the objectives he/she has to achieve, and realizes how much he/she already achieved, he/she will feel successful and content. This then, by the will of Allah reflect on the company  at the levels of production and performance,“  said Michele. 

Lamar

Sports Activity and its Impact on the Performance of Employees and Workers

Background:

Lamar is one of the companies of Taalat Moustafa Group that specializes in food products, particularly in the production of juices and dairy products. Located in Nubaria area in Beheira governorate, Lamar is regarded as a complete, self-sustaining agricultural-industrial project. Lamar operates its own agricultural plot, cattle, milking plant and factory. Thus, Lamar has full control over the quality of its products. Inside Lamar’s farm, milking is carried out under tight scientific supervision starting from the choice of the cows’ nutrition, through the milking process which is done without human interference (using machines only), and finally the packaging process. As a result, the milk comes out from these processes as 100% fresh and natural, right from the source.

Effective Channels of Communication Inside the Company:

Due to several policies, the company has been distinguished in good communications with employees and workers. Its first remarkable policy in direct communication with employees is the open-door policy, allowing for approachability and transparency. The Head of the Board of Directors Mr. Hany Talaat Moustafa is keen to be always available for employees, meeting with everyone, one on one, without restriction. Also, there is a weekly meeting with him; its attendees include senior and middle management, supervisors, and workers.  

One of the most important and distinguished ways of communication is sports. Three years ago, the company started caring for sports as a means of bringing employees together, and building a good   team of employees and workers. It established a football field  on site, and allowed employees to play during breaks.

Management allows for the organization of matches during working hours with a maximum duration of two hours. The workers only have to coordinate with their managers for procedural and organizational matters because the game takes place during official working hours. This created a bond between employees. The bond between workers and management became stronger. Unlike other factories, where the employees in different departments may not know each other, all the employees in Lamar know each other well, thanks to sports and management’s vision.

Another advantage of sports during working hours, other than good communication,  is revitalization of energy. The worker takes a break, ranging from half an hour to an hour, in which he renews his energy then returns to work in a fresh state.

In an initiative to comfort employees and workers and to communicate well with them, and in consideration of their personal convenience, Lamar followed the “ Policy of Flexible Presence Hours.” This means that the employee with special circumstances could go to work and leave work at any time.  Generally, there are set working hours because transportation to and from work is available for all workers and employees. The flexibility here is that in cases of personal circumstances, the worker can arrive later at work and or leave when they need to. Workers then become accountable for monthly hours rather than daily hours.

As a result of this flexible policy and the subtle balance between their personal lives and work requirements, the loyalty of the workers and employees increased.

Sherif Moustafa , head  of the engineering and maintenance department, noted that the flexible hours policy has personally helped him to drop his children off to school  before going to work.

Impact and Results:

One of the most important results of the distinguished sports activities at Lamar, was the formation of a high-level football team that won the Egyptian Companies’ Football Tournament for two consecutive years : 2017 and 2018. The team excelled because of practice and good communication among the players.

The communication policies had a clear positive impact on the relationship between managers, workers and employees, and  generally on the performance and loyalty of workers. This was reflected on the monthly employee assessments.

According to Mustafa , “ the impact of good communication is clear in workers’ performance and in productivity. For example, we have achieved global results in 2017 with regard to packaging.”       .

Egytrafo Group

Excellent Communication Policies and Partnership with the Public Sector in Developing the Local Community

Background:

Egytrafo is in the industrial power industry. It manufactures electric transformers , Cadnium nickel  batteries , and dry oil transformers. The main customers of the company are the public sector electricity companies. Egytrafo also exports to Arab countries, Africa, and Asia. The headquarters of the company is in eastern Cairo, while the factory is located in Badr industrial city.

Partnership with the Public Sector to  Develop Badr School for Technical Education:

Egytrafo signed a protocol with the ministry of Education and Almaco company . The three parties agreed to cooperate in a project to develop Badr school for applied technology in Badr city.

Ahmed Hosny, the financial and marketing advisor for Egytrafo, confirmed that this project is unique because the company went into partnership with a public sector company that is also a competitor (Almaco), yet they united and cooperated to implement this project in the best way possible.

The main objective for Egytrafo in this project is to serve the local community because the students who will join Badr School are in the geographic sphere of the Egytrafo factory in Badr city.

The second objective is to employ well-trained, skilled workers. There is an awareness among the leaders of Egytrafo that there is great value in acquiring skilled workers, which is why the decision was taken to upgrade this school to make it a pool of skilled workers after they graduate.

According to Ahmed Hosny, the financial and marketing advisor for Egytrafo, : “ in any industrial company workers represent 90% of  the employees, therefore they are a core element. Thus, our aim is that they join Egytrafo after they graduate from Badr Technical school. They also have the choice of course to join other factories“.

Policies and Communication Channels in Egytrafo:

The company gives priority to communication with workers and improving their work conditions to ensure employee retention and loyalty. Management is very transparent with workers as it involves them in the problems and objectives of the company. The Human Resources department is always keen to discuss and solve the problems of the workers.

In a bid to improve the overall condition of the employees, the company designed a healthcare system. Because the company evaluates its policies regularly each year, it improved its health services considerably in 2018. In the coming years, the company aims at including the children of the employees or their first degree relatives to the healthcare plan.

Because the company realizes that the main problem of workmanship in Egypt is fast attrition (leaving jobs after a short period), it measures and analyses the rate of employee attrition in each department, assessing case by case, and devising the right steps to avoid the problem in the future.

Due to the high attrition rate, the company increased its bonuses by 25%. The company’s bonus system is distinguished and is being improved regularly as an encouragement to outstanding workers. In the same context, the company organizes events where workers who have been in the company for ten years or more are given prizes and certificates of honor, which is meant to encourage other workers to be loyal to the company.

By the end of 2018, one of the most modern ideas in human resources management was applied to motivate workers: honoring the educationally distinguished children of the workers. The honoring includes material and symbolic rewards. This motivated the workers to increase their loyalty to the company because they felt it cares for the human aspect, and contributes in their celebrations of their children. In fact, they felt that the company rewards them for their parenting skills.

Five years ago, the company announced that it is open to listen to any propositions or ideas from any employee aiming to improve the quality of production. The employee could present his idea or vision to senior management, where it will be examined by a specialized committee. For example, a production engineer proposed to the Director of the Production Department an idea that would reduce the time of the installation and the production of the transformer.  The proposal was presented to the specialized committee and was approved.

The door is open for everyone to participate in the improvement of production. Financial rewards are given to creative employees. As a result, employee loyalty increased.

The company also  cares about complaints made by employees. The complaint is usually filed to the direct manager of the employee, who studies it and follows up with transparency, using professional measures to make sure it is resolved.

According to Ahmed Hosny, the   financial and marketing  advisor for Egytrafo, the human component is integral for the development of any company. He added that Egytrafo, headed by engineer Atef Abdel Monem, the CEO, believes that the human element is the most important element and thus human resources should be constantly motivated, encouraged, and developed towards more creativity and loyalty.

Engineer Abdel Monem is also head of the Department of Mechanics, Electricity and Machines in the Federation of Egyptian Industries. That is why there is a strong link between the company and the Federation, as well as the Ministry of Industry.  Three years ago, through the Federation and the Ministry, cooperation was established with the Environmental Compliance Office. The company received a loan to improve the environmental conditions within the company. A large improvement was made, and instead of using harmful chemicals,  hi-tech machines were used. Also, the production stages became more environmentally-friendly. Ahmed Hosny confirmed that communication with the Environmental Compliance Office continues through exchange of ideas. The office always offers technical and administrative support to the company.

Impact and Results

Thegood communication policies left a great impact on workers and employees as bonus policies, creativity rewards, healthcare, and honoring the workers’ children who excel at school, increased their loyalty and sense of belonging to the company.  

“The impact of all these policies on worker loyalty was distinct,” confirmed Ahmed Hosny, the Financial and Marketing  Advisor for Egytrafo.

AME

Good Communication and Its Impact  on the Work Environment

Background:

Established in 1977, the Arab Mechanics company is one of  the largest leading companies in industrial engineering in Egypt.  Management is located in Cairo, while the factory is in Badr industrial city. The company specializes in two fields of engineering :  metallic scaffolds and braces, and  storage systems.

Policies  and Channels of Communication Inside the Company  :

Two years ago, the company started to take steps towards enhancement, especially in internal communication.

The first step was a bulletin board in the factory and in the management building, where all the new policies, decisions, and notices can be posted. The bulletin board catered for communication of information to employees accurately and clearly, which was not the case beforehand.

The second step was the establishment of the Executive Council. Each department is represented  in this council, thus ensuring full transparency of managerial discussions.

Because the company is keen to communicate with its employees and to listen to their complaints, a complaints box was set. The company put one in the management building,  and one in the factory. Consequently, the company received several complaints which were discussed and handled promptly.

For example, one of the complaints was that the rest rooms were  not enough. The response was to increase their number to serve the increasing  number of workers in the factory.  

Another complaint revolved around the value for overtime meal allowances. The company responded positively. They also offered workers 4 free cups of tea each day, which had a positive impact on the workers, and thus, the production rate.

AME’s executive director, Hani Al Nabarawi, had mentioned that workers used to eat their meals anywhere in the factory . After discussion with the workers, a particular area was designated for eating and everyone complied. Also, smoking inside the factory was banned. This progress was a result of good communication with the workers.

Another step towards good internal communication was setting up a box for suggestions of ways to develop production. The suggestions started to pile up in the box. One suggestion encouraged expanding working hours to make up for taking Saturday off, in order to save on transportation and energy costs. This suggestion was accepted in terms of principle.

There were also technical propositions contributing to the increase of production. A special technical committee assesses  these propositions and implements some of them. This committee includes representatives from the workers, which in turn increases their loyalty and allegiance to the company.

The Center for Sustainable Development and the Environmental Compliance Office played an important role in helping the company develop good communications with its workers, as well as monitoring employee health and safety. Hani Al Nabarawi asserted that the company received considerable training from the Environmental Compliance Office, including: human resources development, sustainable development, safety procedures, professional health, and improvement of communication with employees. Among the suggestions made by the Environmental Compliance Office, was to celebrate Workers’ Day. On that day, the company gave workers  free house products produced by the company, such as paper binders. Despite the apparant simplicity of this gesture, it reflected well on the workers’ level of loyalty to the company.

Impact and Results:

All of the above-mentioned policies had a great impact on workers and productivity. Workers appreciated the transformation, and the new benefits. Consequently, their loyalty to the company grew. So did their commitment , energy and enthusiasm towards achieving production standards and deadlines.

Due to the intervention and change in communication policies, there was an apparant  positive impact  on the performance of employees and workers, and consequently production increased. 

“ I call on small and medium companies not to think of how much communication policies cost, because the cost is small compared to the return.” Hani Al Nabarawi , AME Executive Director.

Ahram Security Group

Policies of Reward, Motivation , and  Professional Safety and their Impact on the Workers’ Loyalty Towards Their Company

Background:

Established in 1945 by engineer Ezzat Aref, Al Ahram Security Group is a leading company in the manufacturing of key locks and security systems. The first factory was built in Port Sai’d  street in Cairo. In 1990, the first large factory was established in 10^th of Ramadan city. Another factory was built in 2000, making the number of workers in both factories 1100.

In 2015, the owner and CEO, Mr. Sameer Aref applied a governance policy separating ownership from management. A separate department became responsible for policies and the hiring of qualified staff. The company became a leading company in security systems instead of only being a family business.

Good Communication Policies and Channels Inside the Company:

The new management team gave special care to communication policies, working in cooperation with the human resources department to set up a complaints box. The worker places his/her complaint freely. Later, the complaint is reviewed and addressed. For example, the company fired a driver and wrote off from his salary, because he assaulted a worker.

There is now a team that handles ties between the workers and the company. This team devises periodical questionnaires to measure the level of satisfaction of the workers. Each year, new areas that need improvement come to our attention because it is a dynamic process , said  Mr. Mustafa Fayad, the manager of the department of Safety, Professional Health , and the Environment. 

Among the great organizational policies was to divide the factory to small groups. Each group is led by a team leader who possesses the autonomy of a director of a small factory.  He meets with his team on a daily basis to follow up on work schedules. This meeting was called “ Good Morning Ahram.” The team meets to discuss the objectives, the production plan and how to implement it.

Also, the company started to make a monthly tournament between the different teams, allowing  the best team to achieve the objectives of quality production, safety and professional health is rewarded. As a result, the company was able to monitor the continuous development in all departments and teams.

The company also established an ideas bank so that each employee and worker could propose an idea that would improve the performance of the company , the development of the  product , safety and professional health improvement, or cost reduction. The new idea’s feasibility is studied. For each business quarter of the year, the company rewards those with distinguished ideas. It also rewards all the innovative workers at the end of the year. For example, many workers proposed several technical ideas to upgrade the locks; their ideas were approved. Some workers developed a machine which was about to be disbanded. The workers developed it making it work better than it used to. They were awarded by 1% of the value of its cost reduction due to the proposed development.

Due to the fact that some machines posed danger to workers, the company decided to reduce their use in order to maintain the safety of the workers. Workers were ensured that the company applies all procedures of safety and professional health, and that the worker has the right to immediately stop working if his safety is compromised by any means. Consequently, since 2015 the number of work injuries dropped considerably after more rigorous health and procedures were applied.

Impact and Results:

Due to the above-mentioned policies,the workers loyalty to the company increased. Their desire to work increased’, thus the rate of occasional holidays and sick leaves decreased to an unprecedented rate. Also, the number of workers leaving the company decreased since 2015.

The bonuses the worker gets for suggesting a way to lower production cost or improve production output had a big impact on the increased loyalty to the company and the workers’ motivation to excel.  Thus, the worker became more effective and engaged in everything related to developing work because he wants to get the bonuses. Thus, not only did production improve, but also the quantity of raw materials used decreased.

Since 2017, the safety results showed an improvement from year to year. In 2017, out of 1 million hours, there were 16.3 hours of accidents. In 2018, the hours dropped to 4.54 (Improvement by 71.85%). The number of hours where accidents led to loss of working days were 154.1 in 2017. In 2018 it reached 12.84 (improvement by 91.66%)

Mustafa Fayyad , the Director of the Department of Safety and Professional Health, narrates a story related to an engineer who was working at the department of production. The latter’s performance evaluation was weak. For two consecutive years, he was rated 4 & 5 which is very low. There was already a decision to fire him. However, the administration decided to give him a final chance by moving him to the  Department of Safety and Professional Health. Mr. Mustafa mentions that he spoke with the engineer and assessed him, which led him to realize that he had good skills but he was in the wrong department for his potential. Technically he was very good, but his managerial ability was limited.

Mr Mustafa began to direct this engineer and to monitor his work. He started to put him in situations that would force him to develop his managerial skills, such as asking him to act on his behalf in meetings. The engineer started to gain confidence gradually. Eventually he became responsible for the safety behavior of the workers. A year and half after joining the Department of Safety and Professional Health, his evaluation score rose to 2, which is very high and is a very large progress.

Mustafa explains, “I supported him and assured him that mistakes are ok; the most important thing is that he reports his mistake and tries to fix it. He deserves the 2 because his performance became very good. It is very important to invest in people because no matter how much we invest in machines, humans are most important”.