2025 Jan-Feb RETA Breeze

know each other. The better they know each other, the better they will look out for each other. They will also begin to compensate for each other’s short comings. I used to work with someone who always forgot to order lunch until the last minute, guess who we stopped putting in charge of lunch? Another member of our team was a less than perfect driver (Traffic does not equal Nascar race, guys!), guess who didn’t get the keys when we traveled? Once your team knows each other well, their strengths will shine through and their weaknesses fade. This is one of those slides that took a little explanation. The pirate mentality “all for one and one for all”. Win as a team and lose as a team. Good leaders take responsibility for team failures and attribute successes to the team. It’s ok to highlight an individual achievement when warranted, but it’s important that it be phrased correctly. I’ve seen this in action. A teammate scored a huge win on a special project, almost entirely an individual effort. But when speaking about his accomplishment, he noted that others on the team had taken some of his normal workload to allow him to work on the special project. Take care of your team and they will take care of you. This can also be the downfall of a team, or company though! If you pin your team or company against another team or company, it can cause way more issues than it is worth!! This slide points out that you need to understand what motivates your team, what they take pride in. The inference is that you will use this knowledge to create opportunities to allow your team to do those things they take pride in. Sometimes, people care about certifications. It makes sense to pay operators to acquire skills (certifications). Skills make the operator more valuable, so encourage operators to get certifications and then pay them for their additional skills. This slide made me laugh, only because some of my past coworkers and I used to call the presenter “President Patches”, because he has a ton of shirts with RETA and RSES patches all over them. Over the top? Possibly. However, this is a big motivation for him, so we just let him enjoy his patches. What is important is learning what motivates your team. If its patches, by all means get them patches as they earn them. This slide pointed out some additional employee motivation / perks. Some employees enjoy representing the company at community events. Other employees enjoy coaching company sponsored baseball teams. Some employees prefer additional responsibilities at work, as it builds their self-worth. Some employees enjoy being involved in the emergency response team or safety committee. The bottom line is that these activities are good for the company. Having employees who wish to engage in these activities is a win / win. My notes from this slide were just a , as I am fortunate enough to have a great work-life balance in my role. This slide for my generation is a big deal! We want more time with family and friends. I can’t speak for everyone here, but I don’t mind working my butt-off, but I want to see my family more. Increased time-off is an extremely important benefit. Some companies hold family-friendly events from time to time, like a group outing to a baseball game, or a trip to the zoo. These are really good for getting the team and their families together as well!

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