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Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)

Developing Future Leaders: The Fiber of Electri-Cord Manufacturing’s Culture

With the help of: Pennsylvania Manufacturing Extension Partnership

About

Headquartered in Westfield, PA, Electri-Cord Manufacturing is a global pioneer in the manufacture of numerous types of wiring, power cord and cable assembly products. Electri-Cord’s premium quality electronic products and parts include wiring harnesses, cable assemblies, packaging services, power cords and high-level assembly (HLA) manufacturing solutions for a wide range of industries.

Electri-Cord offers state-of-the-art business solutions and turnkey assembly solutions that produce quality, custom manufactured electronic products that are designed to clients’ unique specifications. Much of Electri-Cord’s success can be attributed to the company’s use of web-based business tools that create efficiencies and maintain consistency across the global marketplace. Electri-Cord, along with its strategic partners, maintains a broad range of certifications that ensure a premium quality product from conception to fulfillment. Electri-Cord also has numerous UL, CSA and ISO certifications.

The Challenge

Faced with high employee turnover numbers and with the desire to provide a better work environment for its current employees, Electri-Cord made the decision to further develop a group of employees who they felt possessed traits of impactful leaders – but just needed a bit more pruning. By investing in these folks and giving them the chance to grow in their positions, Electri-Cord felt that a leadership development training program would most certainly aid in its retention efforts. For help Electri-Cord turned to NEPIRC, part of the Pennsylvania MEP and the MEP National Network™.
Electri-Cord Manufacturing Company highly values the support NEPIRC provides and looks forward to continuing our partnership with the organization in the future!
— Terri Bower, Director of Human Resources

MEP's Role

Electri-Cord chose to partner with NEPIRC and have the organization facilitate its Leadership Development Essentials program in which participants met weekly over the course of eight weeks and covered a variety of topics like leadership and coaching skills, effective communication, conflict resolution, motivation, high-performance teams, change management, performance coaching, employment laws, sexual harassment and workforce diversity.

The program also entailed group activities like a marshmallow challenge in which the participants were divided into teams, and each team constructed a tower using only dry spaghetti, string, one yard of tape and a marshmallow. The second team challenge, the Subarctic Survival Simulation, taught participants how to improve problem solving through learning the interpersonal and rational skills and behaviors of each group member that can lead to successful work. Between the lectures and the group challenges, Electri-Cord’s participants were able to not only learn about their unique leaderships styles but to embrace them as well. Participants were excited to implement all they learned into their respective roles for the overall betterment of the company.

Created July 12, 2022