From Mailroom To Manager
Maybe Wayne Guiney should have been a politician. At least that's what some people have said to him, because his people skills have kept the staffs he's managed at multiple in-plants on his side.
Now manager of Office Services at Ontario Power Generation Inc. (OPG) in Toronto, Guiney worked his way to the top after graduating from Toronto's Central Technical School in the early 1970s. His first job was at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), where he paid his dues by working in the mailroom—but he didn't stay in the mailroom for long.
"I got the opportunity to run a Gestetner 201, and I took it," Guiney says. Then he worked on a Gestetner 202 and then an AB Dick 285.
"After that, I got bored totally," Guiney reflects, "and I went into supervising."
For 10 months in 1974-1975, he began the transformation to supervising in-plants at Office Services for Ebasco Lavalin. The job was short-lived, though, because OISE asked him to come back and manage.
OISE's in-plant had been operating in the red for eight years, so Guiney had his work cut out for him. Still, by the end of the first fiscal year with him in charge, it was in the black.
In 1978, he set off on his own and opened West Finch Graphics with an AB Dick 385 and some bindery equipment. "It was a real eye-opening experience," Guiney reflects, "and it's where I learned to work with budgets."
West Finch Graphics had four employees, including Guiney, and revenues of $350,000. This was the 1980s, though, and unlike today—when interest rates hover around zero for banks—they were sky high. This made running a start-up business, even tougher. By 1982, Guiney had grown weary of it all.
"One day, I had enough from my bank manager and gave him the books and said, 'call me when you're done, I'm not working for you anymore,' " Guiney recounts.
From there, he went to work at in-plants for the City of North York and the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. At both organizations, he helped the in-plants prove their value, so the in-plants were no longer looked at just as support services. At Document Management Services for the LCBO, revenue was at $350,000 when he started; when he left, it was $1.87 million. At Building Services for the City of North York, the in-plant went from a startup operation to having revenues of just under $2 million when he left.
Getting Personal
When Guiney came on board in 2003 at OPG, the company wanted to streamline Office Services, but Guiney says they were going about it all wrong. They were outsourcing much of the work to commercial printers without making any corresponding changes in staff.
"The union was very strong," he remarks.
Guiney wasn't looking to come in and bust the union by any stretch; he just wanted to make sure the in-plant was running efficiently. So he reduced the amount of outsourcing being done by introducing new technology. The workforce was reduced from 52 in 2003 to 44 at present.
At OPG Office Services, Guiney took his philosophy of creating the perfect mix of printing technology and skilled workers to its pinnacle. When he started, the shop still had duplicators and a Heidelberg perfector, but Guiney believed that the way to go was full digital. So in 2005 he oversaw a complete digital makeover using Xerox equipment. By 2008, that transition had saved the in-plant more than $3 million.
"That's by going through and assessing the work and finding the right technology," Guiney explains. "One of the things you can't do in the business is not educate yourself. You have to keep pace with the technology. You also have to create an environment to keep support services active and have the higher-ups acknowledge all the good you're doing. When I receive an e-mail from a customer thanking me, I send it to the higher-ups. That gives us a leg up."
Since going all digital, he says the in-plant's customer satisfaction rating has risen and is now at 98.7 percent.
Guiney cautions that when you make a change like this you also have to ensure that your staff is fully trained on the technology. "If they're not trained properly, it's going to fail," he says. "I would never set them up to fail."
Guiney cares a lot about his employees, and takes the time to get to know them.
"I show an interest," he says. "I talk to them. I listen. Then when it's crunch time, they are there. I know I can count on them. That autocratic style of management from the '50s is gone."
Guiney, who describes himself as a family man, has two sons and a daughter. He spends a great deal of time outside of work with one son who is developmentally disabled. However, he may soon have slightly more time on his hands, as he plans to retire from the world of in-plant management and possibly get into consulting. He has no regrets about his career, though.
"It's been exceptionally rewarding," Guiney reflects. "The people I worked with, and watching the technology evolve and just getting to be a part of it." Still, he adds, "I think 42 years is just about enough."
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