Transform Culture and Brand into World-Class Excellence
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A critical behavior for accomplishing a project is being proactive. Getting things done requires acting upon something rather than waiting to be acted upon. Being proactive yields high returns. Proactive people want to go the extra mile. They are usually more willing to develop themselves, more committed to the customer/complier, and are drivers of the business. They are usually self-motivated and easily motivate others. Those who are proactive are usually people with good ideas. The other side to this is following through – implementation and execution of ideas. Many are able to come up with ideas, but putting action plans for them is more difficult. Those who are able to do both are a great combination.
In being proactive suggests the following:
- Think critically about your work.
- Plan your work and work your plan.
- Be assertive and ask questions.
Don’t get lost or stuck in planning. Be certain to get down to work when needed.
Ask yourself:
- Who do you know that models being proactive? What can you learn about that person? What energy do you find around that person?
- What areas of our operation would improve if we were more proactive?
- What barriers stand in the way of our being more proactive?
Many organizations have seven-day operations, and while their customers may visit only during operating hours, it still acts as a 24-hour operation in preparing for those customers. No one can be at work all the time. It’s necessary to have multiple supervisors within the same department. But with that arrangement comes several problems:
Relationships. You can easily relate to one manager better than another if for no other reason than you see them more often.
Communication. The more supervisors you have the more conflicting the messages can be.
Overload. Employees are confused or overwhelmed by work given to them by different managers, each of them unaware of what the other supervisor is allocating.
The result is that often employees end up playing off of managers, “shopping” for the answer they want. It’s critical that as a team you take the time individually and collectively to deal with the issues that occur in multiple boss environments. As a team, you should ask the following:
- What strengths does each supervisor bring to the table? How do their roles and responsibilities vary? How are they shared?
- How do supervisors collectively make decisions? How will those decisions be communicated in a way that everyone is on the same page?
- As direct reports, what is the protocol when we feel that we’re getting a different message or a different priority from one manager than with another?
- How as a team do we keep from having one manager play “good cop” while the other plays “bad cop”?
- How do we log our communications so that we know what is going on and what has been decided from one shift to another?
Success comes in mapping out the protocols for working with multiple supervisors, for outlining how decisions are made and communicated, and deciding how different priorities between one supervisor and another.
Finally, whether you are a supervisor or direct report, be sure to find time to build relationships with those who may not be sharing the same shift as you are. It’s an important step to working with a department that has multiple supervisors.
Engaging your employees requires providing developmental feedback. One can’t offer that feedback unless one has good listening skills. People often talk about the first two, but I emphasize the third level, which helps people feel like they have been heard and understood. Let’s review all:
Level I: Passive Listening. This is simply not talking while others speak. It’s foundational, but it’s seldom enough.
Level II: Active Listening. This suggests giving verbal and non-verbal clues that suggest that you understand what is being communicated. It includes doing the following:
- Removing distractions that interrupt.
- Keeping one’s self from interrupting.
- Taking notes as needed.
- Sorting out main ideas as they are heard.
- Giving verbal clues that suggest you are hearing what they are saying.
- Verifying key facts.
- Summarizing main messages.
Level III: Empathic Listening. This suggests giving verbal and non-verbal messages that suggest you truly understand how they feel. It is the highest form of listening and includes the following:
- Verifying feelings–and not just facts.
- Being positive and supportive about how they feel.
- Avoiding judgment and critical feedback.
- Providing empathic messages that suggests you feel the way they do.
- Hypothesizing around the idea that you would feel/respond the same way.
- Building rapport and common ground around their feelings.
- Continuing to listen until they feel heard.
Ask yourself:
- What is the difference between being heard but not listened to? How is that reflected with these various listening skills?
- How do you feel when someone has really empathized with you? How do you feel when one goes through the motions but still doesn’t seem to understand you?
As you go through the week, look for the opportunity to provide that level III empathic-style listening. Caution: Sometimes you have to really take the time to listen. Don’t be rushed. The reward comes when people feel better connected to you because you’ve taken the time to connect with them.
 Press even being held in La Guardia while we were waiting for our next plane. It’s a natural inclination with any organization to “hunker down” as the winds of a major economic turndown overwhelms everyone throughout the country. But World Class organizations manage to forge on in such a way that when the dust settles, they emerge ready to take advantage of the turnaround.
Well the dust has settled, and as I stepped off my plane the other day at New York’s La Guardia Airport I was delighted to see greeting us was scores of red and blue balloons along with complimentary cookies for passengers boarding. All of this was in celebration of Delta inaugurating a terminal expansion and 100 new delta flights out of that airport. While no additional slots were added to LGA’s total number, it is the largest airline expansion in the last 40 years at La Guardia. With this expansion they are able to offer 26 new destinations from that terminal, as well as 700 new jobs.
I admit that I’m a member of Delta’s SkyMiles program with Platinum status. I travel a lot. I think a lot about the quality of service I receive from Delta. My colleagues who flew Northwest Air was concerned that quality would go down when they merged with Delta. It didn’t help that the merger came as the economy was going bust. But my experience has been that service at Delta has improved, and probably has benefited from that merger. As their marketing declares: “Building a Better Airline. Not Just a Bigger One. More Flights. More Destinations. More Work to be Done.”
I think that’s a great message for all organizations: “Building a Better Company. Not Just a Bigger One. More Opportunities. More Business. More Work to be Done.” Now’s the time to act. Whether you think the economy is improving or not. Now’s the time to act.
 I don't get excited about celebrities, but I think Katherine Lee is awesome. She has become a YouTube celebrity for her role in the airline's safety video. An actual Delta flight attendant trainer, she's very nice in person.
In an article entitled Foreign Call Centers Phone Home, David Muir of ABC News notes that call center jobs are beginning to come back to the United States. After having some 600,000 jobs move out of the country in the 80s and 90s, employers are now asking whether you can really save that much money by going overseas.
“Is it really cheaper if it takes two calls to handle that customer,” asked Mary Murcott, CEO of NOVO1, a call center company located in the United States. “I can do the math very quickly and tell you it’s more expensive–that job offshore.”
This article continues by stating that the advantages of being back in the United States. Today, simple questions can be answered online, so the questions coming into a call center are more difficult to answer, and require better communication skills and product knowledge. Questions are more often answered up front and not deferred to others, creating a greater wait. And a better service experience can ultimately result in up sales in additional products or services.
But the question of whether it’s cheaper or not to do the job here or elsewhere should never be the question. World-class companies ask, “What will provide the best customer experience possible?” That may include addressing all the issues addressed above. It may even include asking what is ultimately less expensive to the customer in the long run. But it’s focusing questions on the customer experience and not on the bottom line. Not doing so is what got companies in trouble when they went abroad a few decades ago. And it won’t be any better simply by moving the work back home to the United States. You simply must ask, how can we create the best customer experience possible?
Above is a banner found back of the house at a Hilton hotel. It offers a great reminder of a simple service basic:
Within 10 feet–Greet with a smile and eye contact!
Within 5 feet-Greet using an appropriate verbal greeting.
It only takes 2 seconds to make a great first impression. And I may add, it takes very little. You’d be surprised how improved your brand would be by doing this simple thing. Imagine how better your corporate culture would be if you practiced that same principle with fellow employees, even when in the back of the house.
It’s a simple–and very inexpensive idea for building the brand and creating a high performing culture. Part of what we share in Lead With Your Customer. For more low/no cost ideas that can really impact your organization, order a copy today!
Here are some inspirational quotes for avoiding stress and burnout in the workplace:
- “The No. 1 cause of burnout is doing the same thing over and over again and not seeing results.”Steve Kaczmarski
- “Much of the stress that people feel doesn’t come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they started.” -David Allen
- “Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one.” -Hans Selye
- “Humor is a great way to relieve stress.” - Christina Maslach
- “Social support tends to alleviate the effects of stress. Social support is defined as approval, esteem, and succor for others.” –J. B. Cohen
- “Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.” ~Ovid
- “Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency.” ~Natalie Goldberg, Wild Mind
- “The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” ~William James
Is one of these your favorite? If so, why? Please share with us.
Here are some ideas that were brainstormed last week in the Central Florida Community Partners Network meeting around how to keep your team from burning out. We especially focused on those who are quickly becoming “Team Zombies” and R.O.A.D. Warriors (Retired on Active Duty).
- Nudge them (influence) into being more team focused.
- Ask them what their strengths are and modify some of their tasks to align with their strengths.
- Find out about their career goals and how you can help them get there.
- Give them a specific task or problem to focus on and solve.
- Invite them to mentor newer, younger members of the team.
- Find out what is important to them, and make that part of your relationship.
- Recognize excellence in fun, upbeat ways, raising the bar for all.
- Invite crazy “out of the box” ideas at the staff meeting.
- Find some meaningful professional development opportunities.
- Provide honest, open feedback.
- Provide creative outlets for them to find new ways of breaking up the routine.
- Re-center them on their mission
- Use performance reviews and evaluations as a starting place to discuss behaviors.
- Recognize whenever possible, publicly and honestly.
- Provide an employee assistance program (particularly if the matter is around mental health, or personal problems).
- Lead by example.
Thanks to all who shared their ideas. Are we missing any? Let us know. Meanwhile, here’s to keeping a stress free or burned out workplace!
State regulations require shoes and shirt when you enter a public environment such as a restaurant. To that end a sign is usually found toward the front of the store, insisting on such compliance. Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches chooses to use humor to get people to do what is required. It aligns well with their brand and culture which has humorous signs throughout its decor.
Go back to a hotel or public pool you enjoyed as a kid. Nearby was a sign probably listing at least a dozen rules on them. Did you pay attention to it? Probably not. And you were surprised when the lifeguard then blew the whistle at you. Much better to get people’s attention in a positive way, than to create some rote sign and expect compliance by it merely being shown.
Providing great customer service is often impeded by the reality that sometimes we have to ask people to do things they would rather not do. The question is how do you create compliance other than using stiff enforcement tactic. I think humor or encouragement is often a better way to guarantee compliance, rather than stating signs and posting guards.
Celebrating the same birthday as mine, McDonald’s Hamburger University turned 50 this year. So before 2011 is over, I wanted to acknowledge this major corporate university which has trained some 80,000 restaurant managers, mid-managers and owner/operators over the years.
Courses are taught in some 28 languages. And another university was established in China, where according to an article earlier this year in Bloomberg, it is said that getting into Harvard is easier than getting into McDonald’s University.
This last Fall World Class Benchmarking brought participants from SHRM’s Strategy Conference to McDonald’s University for a tour. Participants from every corner of the HR sector attended and we’re wowed by the experience. They also had a chance to speak to McDonald’s Chief Human Resource Officer Richard Floersch about strategic steps they have taken over the last 10 years to maintain their leadership in the fast food industry. As he puts it “We took our eyes off the fries.” In its place came a strategic focus on building the leadership necessary to taking McDonald’s into the future.
He’s further cited in Talent Management Magazine this month, discussing the challenge of uniting the business with the needed talent. He notes”There’s a lot of orchestration that goes into this but you’ve got to connect against the business strategy. You’ve got to match the culture and the values so they feel like it makes sense for McDonald’s, and then you’ve got to have leadership that holds people accountable. When you do that it starts to cascade throughout the organization.
Such ideas stem from founder Ray Kroc who once said, “If we are going to go anywhere, we’ve got to have talent. And I’m going to put my money in talent.” Hooray to McDonald’s for making the investment. And congratulations to Hamburger University for being in the center of that strategy.
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