研究表明, 平均, we begin forming opinions about people within seven seconds of meeting them. 他们值得信任吗?? 他们有权威吗?? 他们有能力吗?? 我想成为他们的朋友吗? 七秒钟，啪!—we immediately size them up and determine what box to put them in.
When it comes to people of certain nationalities, 然而, we form opinions about them without even meeting them. 外围十大菠菜app把一整群人放进一个盒子里, 假设他们会怎么做, 尽管从未见过他们. You see it in the media on a global scale all the time. Americans are just as guilty of generalizing and stereotyping people of other countries as they are of us.
That was the case two years ago when I shared with our Board of Directors that we were considering acquiring a company in France.
“小心，鲍勃!他们警告说。. “The 法国 climate for business is a challenge and we don’t know many successful acquisitions in France.”
I respected the input of our thoughtful directors but also sensed that these were good people that we could work with if we established the right foundation in the deal structure.
Last week, we officially announced the acquisition of our second company in France. 丙烯酸-, 在地区, designs and manufactures technology for filling canned meats and edible oils among other things. 他们加入了外围十大菠菜app PneumaticScaleAngelus division to establish a global provider of filling technology. Just a little over a year ago, we acquired our first 法国 company, Arcil (now known as Synerlink), a Paris-based manufacturer of fresh dairy packaging.
“我等你等了39年,” said 丙烯酸- team member Phillippe Martin after the required meeting of the Works Councils, “It is hard to put my feelings into words but I think is ‘At last!’”
劳资委员会是整个欧洲的标准制度. They are comprised of a team of elected company representatives who serve as the voice of the employees to senior leaders. 在法国, the Comité d’Entreprise (Works Council) is mandatory in any company with 50 or more employees. 在收购过程中, the Works Council is available to consult with a Works Council of the company hoping to acquire them and can offer an endorsement or their disapproval of the potential buyer. Company leaders then consider their response before finalizing the transfer.
We invited 丙烯酸-’s Works Council to visit with the Works Council of Arcil in Paris so that they could talk frankly amongst themselves and hear what Arcil had experienced since joining the Barry-Wehmiller family more than a year ago. 迈克红木, Barry-Wehmiller’s Director of International Culture and People Development, said this gesture was incredibly well received for its openness and transparency.
“This opportunity is very rarely offered to Works Councils out of fear of what might be said about the prospective company. When 丙烯酸- team members heard the potential buyer was American, they were concerned. 在法国, American companies have a reputation of being tough in their leadership style and inhuman, just interested in making the most money as quickly as possible.”
在劳资委员会会议后, 丙烯酸-’s Council members voted unanimously in favor of Barry-Wehmiller acquiring 丙烯酸-.
“When we heard more of the project, we became less concerned and eventually relief,菲利普说. “We thought it would be a good opportunity for 丙烯酸- to enter a large American Group, which was an industrial group and not a financial one. The more we learned, the more we knew that this was good news.”
It was good news to us too as it meant we now had 100 new team members whose unique gifts, talents and personalities will add to the rich experience of the global company that Barry-Wehmiller has become. I shared our vision of Truly Human 领导 with the people of 丙烯酸- and offered our commitment to helping them find meaning and fulfilment through their work.
“That’s the first time in my 39 years of professional activity that I heard from a leader the word ‘human’ so many times in a speech,菲利普说.
“I really wish I would be younger because I am near to retirement and I would have loved being able to live this new 丙烯酸- adventure for the many years to come. I have a great deal of hope for 丙烯酸-’s people. We feel a lot of love and care from Barry-Wehmiller.”
My sense is that our two very successful 法国 acquisitions have changed our perspective about the 法国. 和, 到目前为止, we seemed to have changed the perspective of our new 法国 team members about American business.
我的观点保持不变. 无论你去哪里, 人就是人, all in search of the same thing: They want to know that who they are and what they do matter.
As a truly human leader, it’s my responsibility—and my privilege– to show them that they do.
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