Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Train for Success

In these trying economic times, the training budget is a sure casualty. Even in good times, most companies today spend less than 1% of their payrolls on training. World-class organizations are spending 5% or more of their payrolls on training.
There are two elements to consider when setting up your training processes: hard skills (job processes) and soft skills (culture and attitude). Most organizations do a fair job of teaching the hard skills of the job. The soft skills are at best glossed over, or at worst completely ignored. It is important to create a customer-centric culture in good economic times; in times of economic uncertainty, however, it’s a necessity.
How much soft skills training do your employees receive? Is it reserved for the higher level “professionals?” Success comes from unleashing the talents and ideas all employees, not just the so-called "professional" managers. The attitude that "the front-liners are non-professionals," translates into behaviors that damage organizations.
The Walt Disney Company sends every new employee through a multi-day Traditions course on the Disney culture prior to on-the-job training. But remember… training alone is not the answer. All training must be reinforced through focused experiences and continuous feedback.
During your next rounds of budget cuts, try to maintain the core elements of soft training that instill your culture, vision and values. Economic times will get better. Will you be ready for the up turn with a core group of employees who radiate your culture? Or will you be trying to catch up to the world-class competition?

Monday, January 19, 2009

The Motivated or Not So Motivated Workforce

A 2006 Gallup study of U.S. workers discovered alarming facts about their interest in work. 29% of the employees reported they were engaged in their work; 56% of respondents said they were not engaged in their work and 15% actually admitted they were actively disengaged!
When asked, “Do I feed off the creativity of my colleagues?”, 61% of the engaged employees strongly agreed, while only 9% of the disengaged workers gave the same answer. 85% of the engaged employees stated that they had grown in their ability to positively affect the company’s customers while only 19% of the disengaged felt the same.
The Gallup study calculated that lower productivity of actively disengaged workers cost the U.S. economy $328 BILLION! Instead of relying on massive government bailouts, we should find ways to make the work environment more exciting and unleash the potential of the entire workforce.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Why People Work

Some time ago, a Fortune magazine study surveyed all levels of management, from CEOs to frontline supervisors, “why they worked” – (excluding financial reasons) what was the real meaning to them…

Fortune’s three top reasons “Why People Work”:
1. To make the world a better place
2. To belong to a team
3. To perfect their own technical skills

Do not underestimate the power of these values. One of our consulting roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb Corporation was facilitating infant formula production teams. One of the teams would meet for one hour, once a week, to analyze needed improvements in quality and productivity. Approximately six months after the team began their team journey, they presented several recommendations to management. Bill was involved in one of the management debriefs during which a manager, after listening to the impressive team results, asked the team members, “How do like this team concept?” A member named Sue responded, telling them that she was always proud to tell people she worked for Bristol-Myers Squibb. However, she also said that when people asked her about the specifics of her job, she would always change the subject. Here’s why: Sue was a line attendant assigned to watch the bottles and cans being filled with formula, day after day. If there happened to be a problem, she was there to correct it. Since the line worked fairly smoothly most of the time, the job was routine and boring. Sue went on the tell the managers that when she became part of a team, she was reenergized and now tells people that she is “a member of a team who’s job it is to produce the best quality infant formula for the most affordable price for mothers and babies throughout the world.”

Talk about pride in workmanship! The small change to her job – attending a team meeting one hour once a week – led to both a huge change in her desire to excel and her fulfillment level at work.

Similarly, a clear VISION – making a difference in society and in the lives of customers – can make a major impact on the productivity and commitment of an entire organization’s workforce. Consider an industrial parts distributor. For them, a vision of merit would include striving to be the most cost effective and provide the most efficient service to the building industry. A successful construction industry greatly contributes to the economic success of the region. A healthy local economy means more jobs, better schools, and more opportunities. Most people can find meaning in their careers if they simply rethink the impact their roles have on the community.

Monday, January 5, 2009

You Can't Save Your Way to Success

It is the beginning of a new year, and many are making their New Year’s resolutions. Given these turbulent times, many companies are trying to “save their way to success.” While cost reductions and reductions in staff may be necessary, too many companies jump into these efforts with little or no long-term thinking. The result: no effect on the bottom line (reducing customer service ultimately reduces sales) or, at best, short-term, shallow results. The first element of a cost reduction process must be a Disneyesque Dream or visioning process.

Questions that must be answered:
1. How do the guiding members of the organization envision the future?
2. How will success be measured?
3. What kind of organizational culture is necessary to achieve success?
4. What are the values and principles that guide the company?

Keys to Successful Dream/Visioning:
· Invite all direct reports to participate. CEOs need the collective energies of the entire team.
· Start with the story of where you would like the company to be in ten years, and work backwards. If you feel you can readily achieve that vision, you have not allowed yourself to dream.
· Do a thorough investigation of the driving forces affecting your business. These include suppliers, competitors, customers, distribution channels, and technology. Make sure to look outside your own environment; do not assume you know all the external forces that are affecting your business.
· Create a plan that is customer focused. The best reason to be in business is to provide "blow their socks off" products and services to your customers.
· Once you have established your plan, share it with all employees. Too many strategic plans are kept under lock and key simply because the CEO does not want the competition to know the company strategy. Unfortunately, the employees don’t know the plan either. How can an organization accomplish great feats if the “players” don’t understand the goal?
· Include specific, measurable objectives as part of your plan. Here’s an argument that doesn’t compute: "We cannot commit to measurements that are so far out in the future." How will you know that you have achieved your vision if you cannot measure it?
· The best way to establish strategic alliances with your key suppliers is to involve them in the planning process. Don’t forget to ask your key customers if they agree with your strategies; find a good facilitate who will assist in eliciting honest feedback and protect them from defensive “corporate” behaviors.
· Test how well the plan is being executed by doing the following:
1. Hold a meeting with your team two months after the completion of the strategic plan, and ask all members to bring their calendars.
2. If you determine they have been spending over 60% of their time on strategic customer-focused issues, your chances for accomplishing your vision are pretty good. If you want to do even better, discuss how everyone can begin spending 80% to 90% on these issues.

In these troubled times, we need to envision how we can add even more value to our customers rather than cutting costs and services.
Focus on long-term service, not short-term savings.