[labnetwork] Industrial Client Policies

Wed Apr 6 10:15:46 EDT 2016

I agree with comments that it is counterproductive to try to hold people back in their career paths.  Better to wish departing employees the best, and move on.  However, that does not mean that we should not try to improve the competitiveness and attractiveness of our workplace environment to retain good employees.  Having worked many years in the semiconductor industry, and now about 3 years in academia, I can appreciate the distinctions.  It appears that academia generally cannot compete with salaries that are offered in industry.  But, we can offer other advantages in the work environment.  Texas A&M has done a very good job in providing meaningful workshops and employee development opportunities.  I found job stress to be a lot less in research/academia compared to the manufacturing environment.  Perhaps the biggest reward for me has been outside of my formal job description - the opportunity to mentor and interact with bright and energetic young people who seek the guidance of some of us more "experienced" folks.

Best regards,
Larry A Rehn
Technical Lab Manager
AggieFab Nanofabrication Facility
Texas A&M University
979 845-3199
lrehn at tamu.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Mario Portillo
Sent: Tuesday, April 05, 2016 9:51 PM
To: bob at eecs.berkeley.edu; Lab Network (labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu) <labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu>
Subject: Re: [labnetwork] Industrial Client Policies

It would be very selfish to hold or stop people from advancing their professional careers and income for self purposes. Gov/Academia need to level their pay to meet or come close to industry. The bottom line is that all of us need to meet our financial responsibilities. Lets dont be the road block of people advancing, as Mr. Hamilton mentioned, we all are replaceable.

My two cents, Regards.

Mario A. Portillo Sr.
HIGH'born Technology USA Inc..
Semiconductor Equipment Services
8130 Glades Road, #229
Boca Raton, FL 33434
561 470-1975 office
561 504-0244 cell
hbtusainc at yahoo.com
www.hbtusainc.com

________________________________
From: Robert M. HAMILTON <bob at eecs.berkeley.edu>
To: "Lab Network (labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu)" <labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu> 
Sent: Tuesday, April 5, 2016 11:27 PM
Subject: Re: [labnetwork] Industrial Client Policies

Lab Colleagues, re: staff poaching

I'll echo Noah Clay's comment about employee-turnover sharing a maxim, "cemeteries are filled with irreplaceable people". 

I've managed equipment and facilities staff for more than 33 years with people coming and going. In the beginning I took it personally when someone decided to move on. That's no longer the case. We've yet to identify anyone we could not replace. When we post a position we'll often get 50-100 applicants. Typically only a handful are actually qualified yet among this small group of the "qualified" we find wonderful talent. 

In the beginning I had anxiety when staff decided to leave. This evolved to an appreciation that periodically I'd be forced to land on my feet and fill that position for duration and find ways to harness and learn from others in our front line to keep operations on track. 

On occasion I have also remained friends with and followed the careers of past employees. While some former staff have excelled most were no better, and often worse off, in their careers. On a couple of occasions we've rehired appreciative employees with great success.

"Fabology" requires a unique set of skills. Government and university research labs face inadequate budgets and we deal with legacy equipment and tools. This requires a special skills. The rewards of the job are rubbing elbows with extraordinary young talent, being part of a community and learning wonderful things - I learn something new every day at my job. These are the privileges of the job and someone who does not appreciative such things or are unhappy, we encourage them to leave. We "develop them out". 

Ultimately, there's no point trying to influence an employee with vaulting ambition. And on occasion, we find people with so much talent that in fairness to them we go out of our way to help them find rewarding positions. 

Regards,
Bob Hamilton

Robert Hamilton
University of CA, Berkeley
Marvell NanoLab Equipment Manager
Rm 520 Sutardja Dai Hall, MC 1754
Berkeley, CA 94720
Phone 510-809-8618 (desk - preferred)
Mobile 510-325-7557 (my personal mobile)
E-mail preferred: bob at eecs.berkeley.edu
http://nanolab.berkeley.edu/

On Mon, Apr 4, 2016 at 5:30 PM, Noah Clay <nclay at upenn.edu> wrote:

Michael,
>
>We have very limited discretionary leverage/funds for employee retention at Penn.  This would typically include a one-time bonus, salary adjustment and/or a flexible work-from-home arrangement.
>
>I've encountered a few folks who've been through poaching recently; the "poached" were very valuable and irreplaceable employees...or so it was thought.  In all cases, they've been able to find great replacements, often upgrading and a wave of fresh ideas from the "new blood".
>
>I do wish you the best -
>
>Regards,
>Noah Clay
>
>University of Pennsylvania
>Philadelphia, PA
>
>Sent from my iPhone
>
>
>> On Apr 4, 2016, at 13:41, Michael Khbeis <khbeis at uw.edu> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Lab Managers,
>>
>> I am going to venture that, like us, you generally shy away, or are likely prohibited from getting involved with the business affairs of your industrial clients. Recently, we have had an uptick in employee poaching between industrial users and even a few from lab staff. I am curious if you have experienced similar challenges at your sites and what measures, if any, you employ to discourage that from happening.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Dr. Michael Khbeis
>> Associate Director, Washington Nanofabrication Facility (WNF)
>> National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI)
>> University of Washington
>> Fluke Hall, Box 352143
>> (O) 206.543.5101
>> (F) 206.221.1681
>> (C) 443.254.5192
>> khbeis at uw.edu
>> www.wnf.washington.edu/
>>
>>
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