At L&P, we recognize our responsibility to be good stewards of the environment and to build sustainable businesses for generations to come.
We know that prioritizing sustainability isn’t just good for business – it’s good for people and our planet. Every day, we strive to advance sustainable solutions for our customers, reduce environmental impacts of our products across their lifecycle, and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
To celebrate Earth Month, we’ll be sharing more about Sustainability at L&P in the coming weeks.
Administrative Professionals Day is Wednesday, April 23! The administrative professionals at Leggett & Platt are some of the most hard-working, unsung heroes of our business. They keep our departments running smoothly while wearing many hats – from managing schedules, organizing events, or ensuring our teams get paid on time, their roles are unique and dynamic.
Diane
To show our appreciation and say thank you – we’d like to introduce you to a few of the administrative professionals who epitomize our value of putting people first.
Meet Diane Fourmentin. Diane joined Leggett & Platt Aerospace in March 2023 as an Executive Assistant at Specitubes in Samer, France.
As an Executive Assistant, Diane enjoys working alongside management and providing support on a daily basis. However, what truly drives her is a passion for internal communication.
“A large part of my role is about creating connections between employees – whether it’s creating an internal magazine, organizing events, or designing communication materials. I love to make messages more attractive and reinforce the feeling of belonging within the company.”
The role of an Executive Assistant is often misunderstood. This is especially true for Diane, whose responsibilities extend beyond traditional duties to ensuring unified messaging across the branch.
“I’m involved in various tasks that, even if sometimes unnoticed, are essential to the company’s daily operations and support the management team. My role is unique because, unlike a traditional Executive Assistant, I also handle internal communications.”
“Since my arrival, I’ve ensured that Leggett is more present in our communications, proudly reflecting our belonging to a large group while retaining our French heritage. This fosters cohesion and unites employees around shared values. I’m delighted that my work has been recognized during internal audits and appreciated by our customers, as it reflects a dynamic and reliable image of the company.”
Thank you, Diane, for your dedication to Specitubes and Leggett & Platt. We appreciate you!
Today is International Fun at Work Day! While every day can be fun if you genuinely love what you do, today is an opportunity to let loose, take a break from our busy schedules, and inject some fun into your day!
A recent study by Gallup found that having fun at work affects the bottom-line – companies who have fun see 21% higher profitability. It really does pay to have fun!
In honor of this day, we’d like to share some pictures of our teams having fun all over the world!
The L&P Brazil team enjoyed the beautiful weather with billiards, cards, and ice cream.
Team members at Carthage Spring, Carthage, MO, celebrated the first hot weather day with cold Sonic drinks.
The Internal Audit and Communications teams enjoy some team-building fun practicing their golf swings.
The L&P Automotive Team in India enjoys games outside.
At L&P, we’re inspired by our colleagues who go above and beyond to enhance our businesses. In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re sharing stories of women at L&P who have improved our products and processes with their creativity and leadership.
We’d like to recognize Roseann Chester, Production Manager for L&P Flooring Products – Sponge Cushion in Morris, Illinois!
Early Determination and Career Growth
Roseann began her career with Leggett & Platt 36 years ago. Prior to joining Leggett, she was a single teenage mom working three jobs trying to provide for her children. Her mother, an employee at Sponge Cushion, encouraged her to apply for a position. Despite not having any job experience, Roseann was persistent and called Human Resources every day for two months, requesting an interview. Her persistence paid off.
“I am a very determined individual and when I put my mind to something – I’m going to make it happen.”
Over the years, Roseann has worked every position on the production line and was promoted to Production Manager last month, overseeing all three shifts of employees at Sponge Cushion. She takes great pride in her role, always prioritizing customer satisfaction.
“I am old school and appreciate my job every day. I wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have our customers, so making them happy is my priority.”
Leadership and Teamwork
In her new leadership role, Roseann has already demonstrated her problem-solving skills. When faced with recent machine issues, she and her team successfully manufactured 14 different products that previously couldn’t run on the line. She credits her management team for fostering an environment where she can be creative and experiment without fear of failure.
“With the support of my current management team, I feel confident in my abilities and know that I can tackle any challenge and figure it out.”
Roseann has always faced challenges head-on. During the pandemic, the branch was facing staffing issues. Roseann spearheaded a cross-training initiative to ensure the production line could continue running. Her ability to adapt has also helped the business meet tight deadlines. Faced with a surge in orders and tight deadlines, Roseann sped up the machine, enabling the team to output more rubber pad and complete the orders on time.
“I love a challenge. When things get tricky, we just roll up our sleeves and find a way to get it done for our customers.”
Beyond production goals, Roseann fosters a culture of teamwork and mutual respect.
“I never ask my team to do anything I wouldn’t do myself. By working alongside them, I’ve shown that we’re all in this together, and they’ve shown me the same commitment in return.”
Thank you, Roseann, for your commitment to your team and Leggett & Platt. We are better because of you!
At L&P, we’re inspired by our colleagues who go above and beyond to enhance our businesses. In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re sharing stories of women at L&P who have improved our products and processes with their creativity and leadership.
We’d like to recognize Cindy Morrison, Operations Manager!
In 1977, Cindy began working in the Accounting Department of MPI, which was a private flooring company acquired by L&P in 1986. During the acquisition, she became an operations manager.
Throughout her 48 years at L&P, Cindy has been a team leader and strategic thinker, working with diverse groups to ensure our processes and policies work best for our business, colleagues, and customers. She oversees operations for 12 branches within our Flooring Products business, leading teams for logistics, data control, customer service, and special projects.
Uniting Teams and Operations
Cindy has played an instrumental role in our Flooring Products business, helping complete seven major acquisitions. These acquisitions posed many challenges – think conflicting cultures, policies, and processes – but Cindy’s guidance kept them from becoming barriers. Through prioritizing communication and keeping an open mind, Cindy united teams and operations and often found better ways for our business to run.
“We provided documentation and onsite training for the incoming teams. For the new team members, overcoming a fear of the unknown and forging new professional relationships proved to be successful and rewarding,” says Cindy. “We often uncovered best practices and incorporated them into other Flooring Products operations. These were win-win situations.“
Solving Problems Through Consensus
As an operations manager, Cindy is an avid problem solver. And while she holds decades of operational experience to address issues that pop up, she’s always looking for ways to improve. To make meaningful change, she takes a relationship-based approach, building consensus on problems and solutions.
“It’s important to ensure an understanding of the problem and agree on the root cause. It’s also important to get everyone’s input on practical solutions and buy-in on what actions we will take,” says Cindy. “As a team leader, problem resolution is a key component of superior customer service, and the focus should be on identifying responsibility rather than blame. There will always be opportunities for teaching, learning, and/or process improvement.”
“Also, we should be flexible enough to say, ‘That did not work, but we will regroup and implement a successful resolution.’ Our customers demand and pay for results. Winners make it happen, and I am fortunate and blessed to be a member of this winning team!“
We are grateful for Cindy’s dedication and leadership!
At L&P, we’re inspired by our colleagues who go above and beyond to enhance our businesses. In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re sharing stories of women at L&P who have improved our products and processes with their creativity and leadership.
We’d like to recognize Alex Lazarchik, Social Media Strategist!
Alex has progressed L&P’s influencer marketing efforts over the past year. We talked to Alex about her work and how L&P businesses can drive sales via influencer marketing.
Alex
What’s a day at work like for you?
I work with our business units to create and oversee their social media marketing strategies. Kayleigh Logan, Social Media Coordinator, creates a lot of the beautiful content you see on L&P’s social. She is an amazing asset to our team!
Every day is different, but that’s why I love what I do. There are always new opportunities, challenges, ideas, and conversations that come with each task in social media. Outside of creating social media strategies and developing new partnerships, here are some other projects I’m involved with:
I worked with the Corporate Communications team to create an evolving manual of L&P’s social media program.
I create and offer content creation training to any of our employees who need it.
Quarterly and annually, I prepare analytical reports for our business partners and adjust our strategies as needed.
I meet with our business partners as often as necessary when projects come up, but we always touch base at least once per month.
We are working with many of our business partners on content creation, including developing fresh content and improving what we do. We get to collaborate with other groups like L&P Creative Services.
What are influencer marketing partnerships and why are they beneficial?
Consumers spend a lot of time on social media and often follow influencers – people who can influence other people to make purchases. However, there are so many businesses that aren’t utilizing social media. Businesses must meet customers where they are if they want them to discover and purchase their products. Relying on organic (non-paid) social media efforts limits customer reach, so that’s where influencer marketing comes in.
Influencer marketing partnerships are beneficial for L&P brands that sell directly to consumers because they can help increase brand awareness and drive sales. If you aren’t familiar with how influencer marketing works, a brand partners with an influencer by sending them their product or supplying their service often in conjunction with payment. The influencer posts about the product or service on social media as an advertisement to their followers.
When you work with an influencer, you are reaching an entire audience of people who are likely interested in your product. We have incredible opportunities to do this, and we’re already doing it in our Flooring Products business!
What challenges did you run into with influencer partnerships and how did you overcome them?
Since L&P didn’t have an influencer marketing program, I faced a lot of unknowns. I had to troubleshoot every step of creating the program, which required collaboration with many departments. I created a document to standardize our influencer marketing process and incorporated influencer marketing strategies into each business units’ social media strategies. I was determined to be successful because I know the power of influencer marketing, and now, we have a thorough process for helping our business units navigate influencer marketing partnerships!
I couldn’t have done this work without the patience and collaboration from colleagues. Everyone I worked with at L&P took time to understand influencer marketing, why it’s important for our business units, and how they can be supportive. Because of their help, we were able to successfully build this program.
Today is World Sleep Day – a day for promoting the importance of sleep and good sleep health.
As a go-to source for all things bedding, we know how important sleep is for health and well-being, and we’re proud to create quality products that help you sleep well. While using good products is an important part of sleep hygiene, there are additional things you can do to get a better night’s rest. Check out these 20 sleep tips compiled by the Sleep Foundation.
And as we head into the weekend, go ahead and hit that snooze button once. . .or twice. đź’¤
Today is International Women’s Day, a day to recognize and honor the women at Leggett & Platt and around the world.
This year’s global theme is “accelerate action.” Accelerate action emphasizes the importance of working decisively toward equality. At the current rate, it will take until 2158 to reach full gender parity.
Leggett & Platt is accelerating action through W:ISE, which was founded in 2022. Since then, membership has grown to more than 200 people from 10 countries. W:ISE has hosted guest speakers, coordinated company-wide networking events, and created a mentorship program called Circles.
We admire and appreciate all women who enrich our company through their hard work and leadership. And, for every employee who has served as a partner, ally, and advocate for gender equality, we are grateful for you.
On this Employee Appreciation Day, we want to express our gratitude to our teams across the world.
Every day, you do great work together, showing up ready to give your best for your teams and L&P. Thank you for your contributions, dedication, and resilience. We appreciate you!
Our L&P Automotive branch, Schukra Berndorf, is committed to fostering an inclusive workplace that boosts productivity and promotes a great culture. The branch has a diverse mix of cultures, with employees from Austria, Germany, Turkey, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia, Armenia, Hungary, Ukraine, Croatia, Slovakia, China, and many more.
We spoke more with Frauke Radl, Human Resources Business Partner, about how the branch focuses on inclusion and empowers women.
You have employees from across the world. How do the diverse cultures enrich the branch?
Each employee contributes unique perspectives and problem-solving approaches, enhancing our team’s creativity and effectiveness. This exposure to different cultures improves cultural intelligence and fosters an environment of tolerance and respect. These elements create a strong foundation for a positive and productive work environment. We are rocking every challenge in our manufacturing department.
Girls’ Day 2024 at Schukra Berndorf
We also have many women employees at our branch.Based on our experience, women excel in dexterity and reliability. Part-time working mothers are particularly efficient, well-organized, and determined. Women bring unique skills and attention to detail to the workplace, essential for ensuring quality and precision in manual tasks.
Our workstations are designed to meet women’s ergonomic needs, providing increased comfort and significantly reducing the risk of injury.
Why is it important to get more women involved in manufacturing?
Women offer unique viewpoints and problem-solving approaches, which can lead to more innovative solutions and improved decision-making.
The manufacturing industry often faces skill shortages. Encouraging more women to enter the field can help fill these gaps and ensure a steady supply of skilled workers. Increasing the number of women in manufacturing provides role models for younger generations, inspiring more girls to pursue careers in STEM fields.
Last year, you held Girls’ Day, inviting young students to the branch to get an inside look at manufacturing careers. Where did this idea come from?
Girls’ Day, commonly called “Take Your Daughter to Work Day,” originated in the United States. In recent years, this concept has gained popularity in Europe. Girls’ Day aims to encourage girls to explore different careers and provide new insights into the world of work.
The branch will host Girls’ Day again in April 2025. What do you hope the students will gain from this experience?
Our goal is to show girls that we are a great employer and, with a shortage of skilled workers, encourage women to pursue technical careers.
Thank you to the team at Schukra Berndorf for empowering women and paving the way for future generations of women in manufacturing!
