2018
2018 Annual Conference of The Association of Technology, Management, and Applied Technology | November 2018
Podcast with Chad Cooper | March 2018
World Leadership Summit | March 2018
JumpStart 2018 | January 2018
People First Effect: 7 Keys For Mastering High Trust In A Low Trust World
2017
Author Jack Lannom and MiTek’s Tom Manenti Will Co-Sign Mr. Lannom’s New Book, The People First Effect
The New Book, Dedicated to Mr. Manenti, Includes a Chapter Featuring Him and Focused on Trust
Connections Quarterly | Spring 2017
The People First Philosophy
2016
The Best People at the Table | March 14th
“ONBOARDING IS TRULY OUR FIRST OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A LASTING IMPRESSION AND MAKE SURE THAT OUR PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE DO, AND WHY IT MATTERS.”
City Furniture is also committed to offering its 1,300 employees rich opportunities for professional growth and personal development. In 2014, the company began partnering with People First International and offering the People First twenty-four-hour leadership development course. The approach, developed by leadership and personal development consultant Jack Lannom, takes as its premise the idea that “the personal drives the professional”—that employees are human beings, not assets. Wincko explains: “Before you get into the doing of leadership, People First really says, ‘But what do you believe as a leader? Do you believe that people generally want to do a good job? That they want to have a relationship with you? That they should be recognized and celebrated?’” Over the past fifteen months, 250 City Furniture leaders from the president and senior level managers to entry level management have completed the People First program. “It is eye-opening,” Wincko says. “It is transformational. People First—what our associates need and want—drives a lot of our decision making: not what does the process say, but what do the numbers say? We don’t make decisions in those respects at the sacrifice of not being respectful and not being truthful with our associates.” The company is now looking to find ways to wrap the program principles into associate training. “At some point everybody in our organization will be exposed to People First at some level,” Wincko says. Even after forty-four years, City Furniture continues to evolve, and there’s always plenty for Wincko to do. “We are focusing on different talent management initiatives,” she says. “A lot of organizations, including us, are moving away from the old traditional performance review. We are shifting to focus on individual development programs that allow us to support associates’ goals.” Wincko is also working on an internal mobility program that offers City Furniture associates clear information about what they need to do to advance in the company. In 2016 and 2017, the company will be expanding into the Orlando area, with several showrooms and a small distribution center. “Orlando is a big market,” Wincko says, adding that human resources will be play an essential role in the expansion effort. At City Furniture, where a table is more than just a table, human resources is more, too. “Really, my job is to be kind of the culture-keeper,” Wincko says. And after twenty-five years at the company, it’s a responsibility that she’s got down pat.