As a native of the Detroit Region, Sylvester Hester, President and Chief Executive Officer of Detroit-based LM Manufacturing, LLC, understands the challenges facing Southeast Michigan. As a regional leader, he is committed to tackling those challenges and making a positive impact, leveraging his company’s culture and people-centric approach to accomplish this.
In a recent interview with the Detroit Regional Chamber, Hester highlighted that beyond supplying complete seat assemblies for the automotive and mobility sectors, LM Manufacturing’s greatest competitive edge lies in its culture. This culture extends beyond the tasks performed by its employees, recognizing and valuing the individuals behind the work. It centers around LM Manufacturing’s vision to provide help and hope for a better tomorrow, as well as its five Cs—care, commit, connect, communicate, and celebrate—creating a foundation for everything they do.
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‘Primal Leadership’ Through Emotional Intelligence
According to Hester, the five Cs are anchored in health, wealth, and education—common ground shared across all four generations of employees at LM Manufacturing, from Baby Boomers to Gen Z.
“[To employees] I say, ‘Who is interested in getting their money together?’ ‘Who is interested in getting promoted?’ ‘Who is interested in getting healthier?’ ‘Who is interested in continuing their education?’” he said. “There are the things we can talk about when we see each other on the floor.”
Beyond the five Cs, LM Manufacturing’s culture draws inspiration from Daniel Goleman, Richard E. Boyatzis, and Annie McKee’s book, “Primal Leadership,” which emphasizes four emotional intelligence tenets: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.
Hester asserts this approach creates alignment among the organization’s 700 employees, from front-line workers to management to the C-suite.
“Our entire organization is based on primal leadership. Developing people is something we take very seriously, and it pays off,” Hester said. “For every 1% improvement in your service climate … there’s a corresponding 2% improvement in revenue. That’s why it’s a competitive advantage. It’s all based on being people-centered.”
Empowering Employees Through Innovative Engagement Programs
LM Manufacturing embraces a people-centric approach by offering multiple employee engagement programs:
- Finance
- Transportation
- Entrepreneurship
Hester teaches the finance program and provides information on savings, budgeting, credit and credit repair, net worth analysis, and goal setting. Along with addressing income and net worth disparities, this module is important to Hester because he believes financial literacy empowers employees to make better decisions and build wealth.
The second program focuses on transportation, one of three barriers to daily work for LM Manufacturing employees without their own cars. The company’s work schedule, aligned with the automotive industry, operates seven days a week with three crews working four-day, 10-hour shifts across day and night—including times where public transportation is not available.
“Transportation to work is a premium,” Hester said. “Some take public transportation, but the bus system doesn’t work 24 hours; some of the routes have scheduled downtime. There are some who can get to work, but the bus cuts off and they can’t get home. Those are the types of things that we try to make sure in employee programs we try to address.”
Through a partnership with Feonix Mobility Rising to offer Elevate, an all-in-one car subscription program, LM Manufacturing employees gain access to vehicles for $399 per month, including insurance and maintenance.
LM Manufacturing’s final employee engagement program on entrepreneurship provides employees with skills to venture into sewing and house flipping. Those who complete the receive a credit to purchase their own machine, and employees in the house flipping course learn about the entire process, from sourcing and purchasing properties to understanding paperwork and identifying contractors.
Through these entrepreneurship lessons, Hester aims to equip employees with transferable skills.
“If it’s their dream to do more than make wonderful, high-quality components, I support that,” Hester said. “Do this [job] right now, do the best you can, but here’s what’s next for you—we promote from within.”
Expose to Inspire: Improving the State’s Labor Participation Rate
LM Manufacturing extends its impact beyond its workforce, considering the broader Detroit Region and state in its commitment to make a difference as an employer.
“It’s important to me to recognize that in this community, in the Detroit Regional area, [when] we look at our state’s labor participation rate, we’re around 62%,” Hester said. “Where’s the other 38%? Companies go in for the purpose of helping improve that, which is something we do. And how does one improve that as an employer?” Hester said.
One of LM Manufacturing’s flagship programs directly addressing Hester’s question is “Expose to Inspire,” (E2I) a MOU with Detroit Public Schools that comprises five key components:
- Manufacturing Day: This event brings 250 to 300 students to LM Manufacturing, providing insights into STEM careers and other careers within the company, from HR to accounting and engineering to marketing.
- Guest Speaker Series: Hester, along with salaried and hourly employees, visits schools to educate and inspire students to explore STEM careers.
- Job Shadowing: High school juniors and seniors spend two hours gaining firsthand work experience at LM Manufacturing. At this point in the program, Hester encourages those without post-high school plans to join the company—and he means it. From the Class of 2023, 14 individuals now work at LM Manufacturing.
- Project of Value: This initiative delves deeper, inviting students onto the production floor to gain real-world experience. According to Hester, this is where they “sink the hook in a little deeper.”
- Internships: At the end of the program, students interested in working for LM Manufacturing have the chance to start an internship and begin integrating into the workforce.
This comprehensive approach allows LM Manufacturing to engage with at least 350 kids annually, with aspirations to scale the program for greater impact on the broader workforce and economy. Hester elaborated on the interconnected nature of employee development and community engagement with the economy, emphasizing:
“The reason I tie everything back to small business, minority business, and the labor participation rate is because of what the pandemic did to us – disrupted our supply chains,” he said. “So, how do you help increase it? By having employers come work in these communities that have not been first, second, or third choice when economic development was being issued out. By coming in and reclaiming a Brownfield site, my partner and I made an investment to bring those jobs here to Detroit.”