TBM Sends Controller Elaine Dettinburn to EntreLeadership Master Series: Her Top Takeaways

EntreLeadership Conference Takeaways

Elaine Dettinburn, TBM Hardwood’s Controller recently attended the EntreLeadership Master Series in Nashville Tennessee. She joined over 600 business owners and leaders for the four-day deep dive into operating and growing a business.

“As Controller I wear so many hats and oversee a lot of aspects of TBM’s business,” said Dettinburn. “From high level views of operations to day to day production, this conference gave me some very helpful insights to help build and enhance the business.”

Here are a few of Elaine’s Top Takeaways from the event:

  1. Team Member, not Employee: As an EntreLeader, I take it on as my goal to do away with the word employee and use the term Team Member. I want to help TBM be a culture where all team members feel a sense of ownership.
  2. Instead of Job Descriptions, Key Result Areas: A lot of companies focus on job descriptions for each employee. I believe the concept is outdated and I’d like to move to a format of Key Result Areas (KRAs) for our team members. This move will help us to identify what motivates people and allow us to play to each person’s strengths. The KRAs will set up our team members for success, and in turn, our business for success.
  3. You’ve Got to Have Goals: Communicating a clear idea of the company vision and goals and then sharing that with the team members is important. I want to get everyone at TBM excited about our company values and continue to build a positive culture around it. Then I’d like to set up a way to receive regular feedback from team members, which is valuable to learn what TBM needs to do for growth.
  4. The Employee Relationship Starts at the Interview: Employee recruitment, retention and motivation are all challenges business leaders face, regardless of the industry. The EntreLeadership conference really helped shine a light on the value of a good interview process as the starting place to build a great team. I plan to refine that process to include communicating from the start how TBM is a great place to work.

“It was great to have the chance to attend,” said Dettinburn. “It shows TBM’s commitment to continuous improvement, and now it’s up to me to execute some of these great ideas!”

TBM is always looking for great talent. Check out our Job Openings and join the team!

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