Outsourcing the HR function

Running a successful operation is not always about the technology or the process. For Promold Plastics, it's about the people.

Companies rely on people. That’s a fact no matter how much automation a plant might have in place. Humans are still the number one resource a company has when it comes to competitiveness, quality, and execution of the job. It’s critical to have the right people in the right job.

Promold Plastics is a 35-year-old custom injection molding and moldmaking company in Cromwell, CT. Richard Puglielli stepped into the president’s position five years ago after his father retired. Although Riccardo Puglielli, the founder of Promold, built a successful company, the company’s structure was that of the typical family-owned job shop.

With the increasing pressures of global competition and demands of providing better products faster and at lower costs, the younger Puglielli recognized the need to do business differently from the way his father did. “The old way of doing business is no longer an option,” states Puglielli. Nowhere was that more obvious than when it came to the company’s 48 employees.“People were being overutilized in some areas and underutilized in others,” says Puglielli. “There was a lot of wasted time and energy in some areas.”

Puglielli was skeptical of bringing in a consultant, fearing that this person would only assess the problem, offer a solution, and then walk away. He also knew that a small company couldn’t afford a full-time HR manager at a $50,000 or $60,000 annual salary. And Puglielli doesn’t have the time to concentrate on HR issues such as assessing employees, interviewing, evaluating, and hiring. “I needed someone to help assess the skill sets and get people in the right position, do the recruiting, and hire the right people for the right job,” Puglielli says.

The Service Solution

What Puglielli eventually found was a human resources service that works as a partner to Promold to assess current employees and recruit and hire new ones. “Unlike a consulting firm that comes in, tells you what to do, and then leaves,” says Puglielli, “this company collects the data, advises us, and then actually works with us to bring us where we need to be.”Decision Point LLC (Wethersfield, CT) began working with Promold about a year ago. It assessed the skill sets of the employees, providing individual assessments of key players (both strengths and weaknesses), and analyzed ways in which everyone could work together as a team. Next, it helped Promold reallocate resources and restructure the organization from a human perspective to create a more efficient organization with people who became more satisfied in their jobs.

“There is nothing worse than a team of highly skilled people all focused on their individual agendas, rather than a common company goal or objective,” Puglielli asserts.

Joyce DiMartino, for example, has seen her role evolve from bookkeeper, isolated from the day-to-day activities, to that of a key member of the middle management staff. “I really feel part of a team, that my opinions count,” says DiMartino. “Everyone works together. It’s really fun to come to work.”

This type of success story has been repeated throughout Promold’s organization. “We believe it is absolutely critical to assess all of our employees and how they function within the company, and then make the necessary changes that will unlock their maximum potential,” Puglielli emphasizes.

An Investment in Education

Training also became an important component of the reallocation of human resources. “Investing in the right capital equipment is important but should not even be considered until staffing and training needs have been reviewed,” says Puglielli. “Unless you have the right people in the right positions and an effective training program in place, new equipment will do nothing more than increase your expenses.”

Promold continues to use Decision Point on an as-needed basis, in an ongoing outsourcing partnership. Some of the results that Puglielli has realized through this partnership include better communication, better planning, better execution, and a reduction of overtime hours. The changes have provided employees with more ownership of their positions in the company, making them less dependent on Puglielli for information or direction.

“I’m still in the loop as part of the team,” adds Puglielli, “but I have more time to focus on strategic planning. That’s the goal—to have everyone flourish and succeed in their positions.”