*This article is part of “the American Way” campaign, which aims to highlight the U.S. business values and principles which inspire and guide the most successful organizations worldwide.
Telamon specializes in solutions for telecommunication networks and industrial assembly, with special focus on the automotive industry. Headquartered in Indiana, in 2018th the company chose North Macedonia for its second investment outside USA and with this investment for the first time settled operation in automotive industry – producing wiring harnesses for cars.
As a human-centered company, Telamon focuses on the human side of the business by supporting their employees and building a healthy culture. This is not a distraction from their business goals, but it was, in fact, a core aspect of their strategy. Telamon supports and honors both American and local cultures by creating global philosophy based on H2S2 values: Honesty, Simplicity, Harmony, and Stewardship. Their support of these values is shown by the way they encourage and invest in the growth of their employees, and by providing a chance for specialized training to employees who tend to be in higher-ranking job positions. “The Wall Street Journal and Deloitte both named Telamon as a US Best Managed Company and we have never changed and never will what we stand for” – says Telamon Corporation’s founder and Executive Chairman, Albert Chen.
The company is driven by our motto “simplify business” and simplifying is how we solve problems and move up, always taking primary care of the physical and mental well-being of our employees, says Plant Manager of Telamon Macedonia, Georgi Trenkoski.
In more than 5 years of doing business in North Macedonia, Telamon decided to invest in the human capital. In order to implement the USA values in the Macedonian environment and improve the business processes, the company chose to establish an Engineering development center in Skopje, N. Macedonia.
Georgi Trenkoski, Plant Manager of Telamon Macedonia
“The idea for this center is to localize the knowledge and transfer of know-how, by helping engineers gain competences in specialized manufacturing processes and programs, as well as machine development. Due to the unique nature of the work in the automobile industry, we will teach them both – experienced and inexperienced engineers, how Telamon works. Interesting fact is that even though the automotive industry is mostly made up of men, 85% of the people who work at Telamon are women, who are eager and dedicated to the learning process“, states Trenkoski. “Part of the reason is that dexterity is a skill that women have more than men. By providing such support, the company contributes to their readiness, knowledge, and productivity. Accordingly, the company has set up a way for its workers to be heard through initiating establishment of “Employee Representative Team”, and that is the way employee satisfaction is growing, while respect is earned.”
The idea behind this type of Employee Representative Team is to have a Team where ideas would be generated from the Shopfloor and shared with the management, together with the possibility to resolve potential issues that employees might face. “As a result, the last initiative proposed from the Employee Representative Team is aiming to improve their health through small investment in equipment that will provide their greater comfort. This type of initiatives have been joint approach of all the representative offices on a global level, encouraging them to share their experiences and personal knowledge, as well as the increasing the level of synergy and cooperation, which serves the company as a pillar for more reliable and greater growth” explains Georgi. The company believes that putting people first gains their trust, and this is the principle on which Telamon built their investment in North Macedonia. Creating closeness affects employee morale, which is something that we all strive for and without exception this way they will help the company’s growth in a more stable way.
Telamon, at this point, has between close to 250 employees in the Republic of North Macedonia with different backgrounds. Telamon Macedonia supports the development of their skills and competencies, while aligning their values with the H2S2 Values of Telamon in the USA. Among the early detected and adopted principles is the idea of giving back to society that has great impact on the employees who embraced it and further practiced it in their personal life. By improving individuals’ personal perspectives and habits, Telamon tends to positively impact society.