United Way Agency Spotlight: Community Clinic

We value a culture of giving and encourage our employees to Do Some Good. One way is through our annual United Way campaign, which has challenged our employees to raise $125,000 this year! Over the next few weeks, we’ll spotlight several incredible United Way funded agencies. Learn more about their stories and the effective work they do to help those who need it most in our communities.

Community Clinic

For more than 26 years, Community Clinic has been providing medical services to the children, families, and seniors in our communities. Last year, they saw over 7,000 patients and assisted with almost 13,000 prescriptions.

While these numbers are impressive, it’s easy to forget that each one represents a person — with a name, a face, and a story. When you help one person, it can change their life.

Here’s just one of those stories.

When Vicky came to the clinic, she was overweight and unable to work. She suffered from undiagnosed diabetes, significant heart problems, and depression. She was also very insecure and rarely spoke to people.

Community Clinic’s providers quickly realized how sick she was. After receiving her diagnoses, Vicky began participating in one-on-one diabetic education, received nutrition and chronic disease management counseling, and began using insulin to manage her diabetes. By understanding her conditions, she was able to take charge of her health.

Vicky has since lost over 80 pounds. She’s managing her diabetes, is no longer insulin dependent, and has joined a group exercise program at the clinic. Her social, emotional, and mental health have greatly improved. Most recently, she was healthy enough to undergo a necessary heart surgery. Better healthcare has led to a better life, and she’s feeling stronger than ever.

While her journey has been tough, the Community Clinic has been there every step of the way. Vicky is now working a part-time job and has moved into her own apartment. She credits the clinic with both saving her life and giving her new friends who feel like family. One of the clinic nurses even gifted her pots and pans for her new kitchen.

“I have so much respect and appreciation for everyone who works and volunteers at Community Clinic,” shares Vicky. “It’s amazing to consider how much I’ve achieved. They’ve been my support through the whole journey.”

For more information about the services available at Community Clinic, visit joplinclinic.org

Photo Gallery: L&P Golf Tournament for United Way

On September 28, Leggett & Platt hosted the 8th annual Golf Tournament to benefit the Carthage Area United Way. After a rained-out August date, a total of 43 teams competed throughout the day in the golf scramble, poker tournament, and hole-in-one and putting contests.

Altogether we raised over $18,000! We couldn’t have made the day successful without the players, corporate sponsors, and our 50 volunteers. Here are some of our favorite photos from the day!

How an Engineer is Helping to Revolutionize Mattress Manufacturing

Matt Smallwood peeks up from his computer monitor, breaking an afternoon trance from designing in SolidWorks. “Would you like to see what I’ve been working on for two years?” he asks.

And so, we leave his office and walk down to the shop floor to see the new Gribetz XT9 Stitch Bridge machine. Matt, a Research Engineer for L&P’s Global Systems Group (GSG), started in his role in 2011.

One of the challenges with this project was finding needles long enough to pierce through foam. The team got creative and made their own.

As he talks through the functionality of the machine, he quickly redirects any praise and instead highlights the collaborative efforts of the team. “I’ve learned so much from Michael James, our resident sewing expert, and Terry Myers, who led the project. This machine wouldn’t have been built without them.”

What is the Gribetz XT9 Stitch Bridge machine?

It’s a thread-based laminating machine introduced just this year by Gribetz International. In an industry accustomed to gluing together mattress comfort layers, this machine stitches them together with thread. Not only is thread more cost-effective than glue, it’s a better-quality product. Continue reading

Top 5 Ways to Enjoy Your Workday

The 8-5 workday doesn’t have to be a grind! We asked five happy employees how they enjoy their time at work.

1. Interact with someone. Make time between tasks to strike up a conversation with a colleague. Remember, teambuilding is good for your soul! Sarah Bentz, Internal Audit

2. Discover what energizes you. For me, I appreciate the perk of being able to travel to branches, and I’m grateful to work with teams across our operations. If you need a boost, lift your head up out of your to-do’s, and focus a minute on your version of what gratitude looks like. Lori Jones, Human Resources

3. Get outside. When you sit at your desk for 9+ hours a day hammering out work, that not only takes a toll on your mind but also your body. Getting outside and taking a break whether it be to run, walk, or ride is one of the best resets anyone can do to break up their day. Tyler Burgess, IT

4. Find the fun. It’s all about attitude. (Because if you’re miserable, that’s on you.) Take ownership of your attitude, the work you do, and how you do the work. I try to joke with coworkers, wear fun socks, or drink from fun coffee mugs. As long as you keep a good balance with being productive, work can always be fun. Ryan August, Corporate Accounting

5. Be friendly. In my 3 years at L&P, I’ve been lucky to meet so many other employees who have become my friends. Working with people you consider friends makes the job that much more enjoyable. Katelyn Pierce, Finance

Leadership on the Front Lines: Supervisor Essentials Training

We care about learning at Leggett & Platt. It’s how we adapt, grow, and continually reinvent ourselves to succeed in our jobs. We’ve worked to foster a culture of learning for employees at every level, and at the core of our operations are hundreds of frontline supervisors who are ready to learn.

Supervisor Essentials is a training program geared specifically toward our frontline supervisors at manufacturing locations. “Frontline supervisors have a tremendous amount of influence on the culture of L&P,” says Stephanie Elliott, Learning & Development Program Manager. “It’s essential that we help equip them with the skills to be great leaders of people.”

For many years, a training program for frontline supervisors has been highly requested from our operations. Frontline supervisors juggle multiple demands throughout their workday. While facing deadlines and urgencies within their operations, they also often lead a team of people – which requires a different skillset altogether.

In response to this request, we launched a pilot program launched last fall, with a total of 65 participants completing a trial of the training in Missouri and Texas. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive as participants found the training to be relevant and impactful. One participant shared, “I learned how to look at both sides of an issue when working with my team, as well as how to be fair in my decision-making.”

This year, the same training from the pilot program became much more widely accessible to our operations, as onsite trainings are currently underway. Participants explore topics such as effective communication, leadership, safety, handling difficult interactions and conflict, and respect in the workplace. The program takes a blended learning approach of both eLearning and instructor-led training, which means participants will guide themselves through a series of online modules at their own pace, then also attend onsite training sessions to further explore to the material. Continue reading

Top 5 Paintings Decorating the Halls of L&P

Two of our former CEOs, Harry Cornell and Felix Wright, have always enjoyed and collected fine art, especially works depicting nature and the American West. Many of these original paintings and sculptures line the hallways of our Corporate Office.

We asked the collection curators, Ken Southwick and Ned Mayes from Marketing + Creative, to tell us about their favorites. Here are their Top 5:

1. “Recording the Hunt” by artist Marilyn Bendell

This painting captures the subtle, fire-lit interior of the Indian artist’s teepee in a beautiful, impressionistic style.

The artist, Marilyn Bendell was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts in 1965. She ran an art school in Longboat Key, Florida, with her husband, artist George Burrows.

Continue reading

Throwback Thursday: Relax!

This business-to-business marketing advertisement from the 80’s says it all. Some of the most comfortable chairs start at L&P —even after all these years!