St. Louis

Sarah mentioned I was gone for training and a few people have asked about it, so here's a short recap. I was attending Management Development training in St. Louis, the Corporate headquarters for Enterprise. The training was for non-sales management so Accounting Supervisors, HR, Vehicle Repair, and Loss Control. It covered topics like leadership, communicaiton styles, review writing, progressive dicipline, motivation, etc. Most people go sometime during their first year as a manager, but for some reason I slipped through the cracks, as I'm approaching my fourth year (at least I had lots of examples to contribute for the discussions!) I flew out on Sunday and training took place on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning. I know it sounds cheesy, but it was really awe-inspiring to visit the headquarters for the company I've worked for the last seven years. The V.P. of the North American Operations met with us during one of the lunch breaks and gave us a state-of-the- union update on the company. It was neat to take the tour and see parts of the campus including the floor that housed all the executive offices. In order to even get off the elevator on that floor, you have to have a certain level security access. Outside of the CEO's office, there is a waiting area partitioned off by glass (rumor has it that it is bulletproof), which again you have to have a certain level access card to get into.



Also fun to visit was the "control room" for overseeing the main computer program that is used out in the field. It was complete with a grid on the wall that detailed which parts of the country had problems and which were running just fine. It housed several T.V.s which were tuned into various weather channels so that the staff knew what to expect around the country. Much of the communication is linked by satellite, which of course can be affected by the weather. We didn't get to visit the other building which housed the majority of the computer equipment, but it is a state-of-the-art center built with concrete walls four feet thick. It will withstand an F4 tornado, and has some other security features that are cool but if I told you......I'd have to kill you.



All in all, training was fun. It was cool to see the Corporate offices and to meet other Supervisors from around the country. The weather was nice, although I didn't exactly spent a lot of time outside.



-P