"I had some strong things to say to him," says Tanekl, "but I needed to catch him in a receptive mood. One Friday, after hours and just after an employee party, I stepped into his office.
"'You're not handling clients properly when you lose your temper,' I said. 'Maybe you know how far to go, but your people may not. They're starting to think it's all right to yell at clients, and I don't think that's good for the company. I'm sure if you think about it, you'll agree.'
"I planned the timing and the words carefully, and it worked. We had few problems after that."
Let employees know about secret management plans.
"If an employee doesn't have enough background information," says Tankel, "he will always misinterpret a management move. He may see the decision as a threat, or an insult, or as something stupid." That rarely happens at Collier, because of what are called "mini-meetings," quarterly gatherings of all personnel in each department, where company matters are discussed. The meetings are staggered so that one takes place somewhere at Collier every other week.
"I make sure I have an agenda; meetings are not just some crazy attempt to make people pals with one another. We use them to keep plant people abreast of management moves. There are times when we think, 'Well, we certainly can't let anyone in on that piece of information.' But once we discuss it, we often change our minds and put it on the agenda. We haven't been sorry yet."
Tankel's belief in openness paid off last year when the company decided to purchase a computer-automated pre-press system for making four-color, plate-ready film. The system, called CAS 2000, was bought to replace many operations that had previously been done manually. Tankel knew that employees at Collier could view this development as a threat to job security.
"We launched a campaign to sell the idea to our employees," said Tankel. "We sent a personal letter, signed by me, to every employee explaining how good the system would be for our future growth together.
"Then, I invited the system's manufacturer to our Christmas party, and asked him to give everyone the complete audiovisual sales pitch. Afterwards, there were many questions. I tried to show everyone that this was not a labor-saving move -- it was a productivity-raising system."
Then the company newsletter came out with a complete description of the system and more assurances of job security. "Collier has one major ingredient within the company that will set the CAS 2000 apart from any industry system -- our people," said the newsletter.
As the CAS 2000 was being installed, the union grievance committee requested a meeting with Tankel. "How many people will this new system replace?" they asked.
"None," replied Tankel.
"Will the union be able to pick the operators?"
"Absolutely not."
"Why not?" they demanded.
"My signature is on the financing papers," said Tankel. "If the union wants to sign the notes, then it can take part in those decisions."
The meeting went on for two hours. When it was over, the union was satisfied that the CAS 2000 was good for the company and its employees, and that no jobs would be lost. "We showed respect for the union," says Tankel. "That, plus our willingness to tell all about our plans for the new system, resulted in a very smooth transition to the CAS 2000."
Think big in hiring new people, but don't sack old-timers.
Tankel began building a management team a year after he took over Collier; it was finally in place by 1977. "It's like building a new plant," he says. "You hire people more skilled than you need at the time so you can grow, just the way you build a bigger building and grow into it."
Hiring wasn't easy at the beginning because of Collier's small size and weak finances. "The people I wanted told me that I couldn't afford them and didn't need them," he recalls. But he kept trying to find the kind of people he wanted for three key spots: vice-president of operations, of finance, and of sales and marketing.
Tankel snared a big-company financial man by using him first as a consultant, both to show him what Collier's small-company environment could offer and also to see how he got along with the man then handling the money, "a guy who'd been with me since the days when we wondered every Thursday where we'd get the payroll for Friday.
"I wasn't going to throw the old out in order to bring in the new. When you start doing that, everyone down to your janitor starts getting worried. A guy's work begins to look like just a job, not a career where he feels loyalty to a company because he's got somewhere to go within it."
The tactic worked. Tankel got his vice-president, who gradually assimilated finance functions. The more professional approach to finance brought a computer, and Tankel's former accountant took over as head of data processing.
Tankel attributes Collier's growth during the past few years to his willingness to spend as much as necessary to get the right personnel. In the years ahead, he plans to build on that team and on the company structure now in place, while also holding on to the feeling that Collier is a people-sensitive organization.
Tankel's goal? "Oh, I wouldn't mind being at $100 million within five years or so," he says, grinning.
