Question #1: Is it possible for a manager to manage sales in a retail store?
Through out the retail industry, including manufacturers and distributors, the sales number is often the number one priority. Indeed, in many companies sales numbers are so far above any other measurement that managers live and breathe by whether sales are up, or down. If sales numbers are so important they must be manageable, right? Let’s find out.
A number of years ago two highly experienced retail store managers quit their jobs and promising careers and purchased two stores and began a career of teamwork as owner-partners, rather than employees of a large chain. For four years the partners did everything imaginable to build sales volume in both stores. During the first two years the partners frequently told friends and family, “Sales are up.” In fact, about 18 months into the venture one of the partners said, “Can you believe it, our sales are up 22 percent over last year!” Without doubt these two owner-partners had achieved the American dream. They owned their own business and were controlling their own destiny. Clearly, everyone who knew the owners was envious, wishing they had as much courage to do the same. After all, isn’t this how other successful retail business began?
The first indication of trouble was when the partners tried to sell one of their stores. When that didn’t happen, they abruptly closed it over a weekend. Their explanation was that the store had always had problems and by closing it they could focus their attention and capital resources on the one remaining store. With the problem store closed, friends and family once again heard reports of, “Sales are up.” But within a few months the second store was also closed and the owner-partners declared personal and business bankruptcy. Literally the partners lost almost everything they owned. They escaped the failed venture with one taking a job as a clerk for Home Depot, and the other selling used cars.
What happened? If sales were consistently up, how could the business not be profitable? The answer is that in retail there is no direct connection between sales and profit. Unless gross and expenses are fixed, sales and profit become independent variables. It is possible for sales to go up, for example, while profit goes down; and profit can go up, while sales go down. The reason is that there are no guarantees in retail. Other factors such as gross margin, labor, overhead, and expenses have greater impact on profit than sales alone. That’s what happened and crushed the American dream for two enterprising, former, store managers. Now do you know the answer to the question, “Can sales be managed?” Let’s use a bit of strategic thinking and drill a little deeper toward the answer.
Question #2: Is there anything a manager can do directly to sales that will make the number change? Is it only possible to impact sales by influencing other factors?
Actually, sales are a product of two factors. That means nothing can be done directly to sales to make it change. To change sales a manager must manage something else, not sales itself. Therefore, to focus primarily or excessively on an unmanageable number, at the expense of the things that can change it, could lead to failure. This explains the failure of the two storeowners.
Question #3: What are the only two factors that determine sales in a retail store? Can these two factors be managed?
It’s true that many things contribute to retail sales; things like, margin, signing, suggestive selling, pricing, displays, merchandising, stocking, store location, advertising, product availability, and many more. But all of these things can be rolled up into two factors. Do you know what they are? The accompanying illustration is the key. All of the things listed above, and many more contribute to two factors: (1) Number of Guests, and (2) Sale Per Guest. The number of guests and the amount of each transaction determines sales. Did you answer correctly?
Question #4: Can the two factors that contribute to sales, Number of Guests and Sale Per Guest, be managed?
As with the sales number, what can a manager do directly to Number of Guests or Sale Per Guest to make them change? The answer is, not much. Once again, it isn’t possible to manage these numbers either, because they are the products of other things. Although they are excellent measurements of the health of a retail store (or company), they are technically unmanageable. To focus primarily or extensively on them at the expense of the basic things that really drive sales could be a mistake.
Question #5: So what can a retail manager manage?
The answer to this question is everything that contributes, or rolls into, Number of Guests and Sale Per Guest. The basic elements are the things that can be managed, not the products of these elements. That means the most effective place to manage sales is not with sales itself, but rather in all of the fundamental elements that begin the process. These are the things that are manageable, not the product number such as sales. When a retail employee is told, “Your sales are down, you better get them up,” the employee can only make the change at the basic element level. And if the employee doesn’t have a good understanding of the process, it will be very difficult to make the change.
Many people associate conflict with negativity, but conflict doesn’t have to be unpleasant; it can even be enjoyable. Conflict when used in a constructive way, can bring forth great outcomes and ideas, often benefiting those who are involved by exposing them to alternative perspectives.
Yesterday, while watching the daily news, I saw a commercial that caught my attention. In order to win over new customers, this organization is using a strategy that I like very much. Their approach is creative, it’s innovative, and was sure their competitors would need to respond to this advertising campaign in some form or fashion to maintain market share.
However, after seeing this advertisement a second time, I came to the realization that this “new” approach is classic conflict avoidance. Take a look at this video clip. Can you see where I’m coming from?
Now, please correct me if I’m totally off base, (I’ll be confident and say I’m not), but don’t the fundamentals of business acumen tell us that competition is good? In a situation like this we should want to create a little constructive conflict, forcing these two companies to battle over our business. If we ask Allstate to “break up” with our existing insurance provider for us because we’re too uncomfortable to handle the situation ourselves, we’ll never know whether the current insurance provider would be able to match the offer, or offer a better deal, ultimately saving use the hassle of switching insurance providers. Come on people. Buck up! Step out of your comfort zone and grow a little! Given this type of situation, the customer has all the power. If you add a little conflict to the mix, these two companies will need to compete for your business, “sweetening the deal,” and offering you greater gains. One company claims that it can “save you serious cash,” but the other company wants to retain business and compete for your business. Keeping a customer is much easier than winning a new one. Two companies knowingly vying for our business puts us in a great position, but if your existing insurance company gets a call from Allstate, “saving you that uncomfortable break-up moment,” your opportunity for beneficial conflict has been lost, and so has your power as a consumer.
Confront conflict head on; avoidance never hurt anybody but you.
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.
Whenever I watch a business show on television, I am amazed at the number of times the word “expectation” is used to describe the performance of a company’s perceived value and stock price. It seems that investor “expectations” often drive stock prices in the market. When a company exceeds expectations, the stock price skyrockets and when a company does not meet or is below investor expectations, then prices plummet reflecting the dissatisfaction of investors in the performance of a company.
This same drama plays out on a much smaller scale with leaders and their individual team members. Expectations play a big part of an effective relationship. The only problem is that all too frequently expectations in the mind of the leader versus expectations in the mind of the follower are unclear, confusing, and ambiguous. Yet, everyone wants to know what is expected of them. We want to be clear about our obligations and duties. We want to be able to anticipate the outcomes and requirements necessary to be a good performer and add value to an organization.
Expectations bind us together; they are the fabric that forms a relationship. Expectations play a key role in building trust and confidence as we anticipate the probability of someone executing necessary duties. When trust is high, we value and leverage our relationships more. When expectations are not achieved our trust bank account is depleted.
Expectations are a key driver in the motivation and engagement levels of people. When people understand expectations and buy in to them, they work harder to fulfill those expectations just like a company does in the financial market. People want to know what is expected of them so they are then able to make decisions about the intensity and discretionary performance they are willing to give towards a task or job. When coaches create a two-way agreement with their team members about expectations, they set the stage for the extraordinary performance necessary in a highly competitive world
CMOE is an advocate of a simple process that we call “the alignment meeting” as a tool to define and clarify expectations. The alignment meeting or discussion should occur periodically with any team to maintain a clear picture of everyone’s expectations. These alignment meetings only take one or two hours with a typical team. They should occur more often for teams that are in a state of change or are in conflict, and less often for stable and harmonious teams. Every time CMOE associates have facilitated an alignment meeting, the topic of feedback coaching and mentoring always surfaces. People have a thirst to know how they are doing, where they stand, and where they are going. They don’t want to be a non-performing asset in the enterprises portfolio of resources. Most people want to be productive contributors, but in order to do that, they need information, feedback, and guidance from a coach. This dynamic creates a “perfect storm” for the leader. If the leader is able to capitalize on the need people have for feedback on their performance, and solidify an “expectation’s agreement,” the leader will then be in a position where people seek out and expect coaching and feedback. This creates a legitimate reason to coach people on key factors that will drive performance for the team and the individual. Coaching then becomes one of the central expectations of the team’s culture. When a leader needs to courageously engage anyone on the team about an important topic or situation, they have an expectation platform or a “license” to operate from. The leader has an understanding that it is their duty and obligation to share information, direction, and feedback. It becomes the normal thing to do; no one feels singled out or targeted. In turn, when feedback is lacking, people on the team are more likely to ask for it and hold the leader more accountable to perform coaching tasks.
The license to coach makes it easier to give and receive coaching. It becomes a natural process. Everyone buys into it because everyone understands that to run a business, you need to be able to talk to people about their performance. When leaders create a license to coach by bringing sound skills to the process, people will excel and even exceed your wildest expectations.
The English poet Shakespeare once said, “To be, or not to be — that is the question.” Given our current state of the economy there are many companies who are now asking themselves a similar question, “To train, or not to train? While organizations consider this question, I think it is important to keep the big picture in mind. What do I mean? Well, let me explain.
While times are tough and budgets are under the microscope, it would be wise for organizations to take a strategic and thoughtful approach vs. a reactive one. Determine what the most valuable assets are that will keep the business going long term. Arguments can be made for technology, more infrastructure, more resources and equipment, or more systems and processes. Of course, all of these things are important; however none of them will perform well without people to put them into action. People still remain and will always remain to be an organization’s most important resource. When the chips are down and dramatic changes are needed, it won’t be your computer to get it started, especially when it is the culture and environment that might need the most attention. There isn’t a technology available that can openly capture the level of motivation or disappointment that is going on within an employee’s psyche. So, how can an organization get through it all?
Let’s use the analogy of the stock market to help us consider a potential solution. While many people watch their 401K or other investments dollars declining, their gut reaction is to “stop the bleeding” and sell. However, an important formula called Dollar Cost Averaging exists that an investor needs to consider. While the share price may be getting slimmer and therefore account value is dipping, a key component is that you are buying more for your current dollar. It’s like a sale at the clothing store buy one (i.e. $50) and get the other half off ($25). Who doesn’t like to see 50% off the MSRP. The Dollar Cost average would be $37.50 each. We all like this. So many say, just keep steady and keep on investing, eventually the share price will rise, and as you have more shares, your total investment will increase. So is the same with training, but let’s not call it training, because it is actually development. If you want to see your business grow, keep investing in the development of your people especially when they may be looking for that reassurance from the company. The more you put into them, the more they will be put back into your organization. Call it a “stimulus package” that will spark renewal, commitment, and creative effort by your people to do more for the benefit of their team and the organization. Everybody wants some job security right now. Those organizations, that are willing to provide some investment, will retain their people and, in addition, drive a deeper level of partnership and collaboration from their employees.
We often hear that it’s hard for organizations to take time away from work to “train” their people. Well, here’s some everyday strategic thinking. If business is slower, there are less projects happening, so your people probably have more downtime and are therefore able to break away from work and go be “trained.” So, isn’t this one of the better times to get your staff ready? How is that for breaking the paradigm of it’s too time consuming to develop our people!
Another argument might be that training is too expensive. Yes . . . everything has a cost, some are obvious, and some are hidden. But you will run a bigger risk in not developing your people – which has all sorts of hidden costs that ultimately impact the organization’s profitability and success – vs. not spending money for people development and losing valuable experience. Keep in mind the stock market analogy….it’s easy not to spend money and think we’re doing a good thing but is this a good thing? If you stop investing in your people, won’t they provide you a much lower ROI in the long run? The strategic thinker will invest for the future.
This reminds me of one of the principles taught in university marketing classes. The best time to market is in a slow economy so people see your name; they build brand awareness and brand loyalty and confidence. These same results apply to people development. Put your budgets to work and sharpen the skills of your employees. Make them better tools of the trade to not only get you better results now but in the future. So, if you are asking yourself this question, “To develop people or not to develop people?” The answer is 100% yes, and invest more now and get more “shares” for better ldeveong-term results.
A week ago, the Los Angeles Times printed an article about Barack Obama’s desire to postpone the United States federally mandated switch to digital broadcast television.
When I read the first few lines, I thought “Why postpone? Haven’t we been aware of the switch for years?” Haven’t we been bombarded by media making us aware of this transition, the approaching deadline, and what we need to do? This makes me think of holding people accountable.
The Government created a program where individuals could request a coupon that would allow them to purchase a new digital antenna box for their T.V.’s at a low cost. According to this article, there are 1.1 million coupon requests that cannot be filled due to a lack of funding. Furthermore, as the article stated, 8 million households rely on antennas and are unprepared for the switch.
When I read this, my thought went back to the concept ACCOUNTABILITY. These 1.1 million people obviously waited until just a few months before the antenna box was required, rather than being proactive. They knew of the transition, they knew what was required of them, and they knew the deadline was February 2009.
From my perspective, these 8 million people need a little tough love and a lesson on accountability. The government shouldn’t be required to take care of every need or every issue facing society. Especially when it comes to funding the availability to sit in front of a television set. Shouldn’t these people either make do, or do without? What about your organization. Have you developed processes to have them put off or ignored?
Here are a few thoughts on accountability:
Unaccountable behavior is costly for your organization. How much is it costing you?
As a leader, you have a greater challenge when it comes to accountability. Not only do you need to model the behavior yourself, but you need to instill it in those you manage.
People with integrity and accountability do make a difference in the organization’s performance which will translate to bottom line results.
A culture of accountability will shift people from being reactive to more proactive.
Accountability can be summed up as acting in a responsible way and following through on your commitments.
This article in the Los Angeles times is a great example of a lack of accountability. It reminds me of the woman who spilled coffee on herself while at a major fast food chain. She sued the organization for a few million dollars because she didn’t want to be accountable for her own foolish actions. What’s next? A 50 billion dollar Ponzi investment scheme? Let’s start holding people accountable for their own actions. If you have a good example of accountability or lack-of, post it into our comments section below.
Managers and leaders have many tools available to solve problems, improve quality, increase performance, and change employee behavior. Back when TQM wasn’t a four-letter word, managers also had Cause and Effect Diagrams, Force Field Analysis, and Flow Charts to solve problems and resolve difficulties. Actually, we still use these tools today, but don’t attach their use to TQM. Instead, we quote philosophies like Six Sigma and Process Improvement, new names, but the same old process.
Managers “empower” a team to sift through information and come up with workable solutions or transfer problem and solution ownership to generate personal responsibility and accountability. Another tool that managers can employ is to impose a solution without any team involvement. Yes, managers and leaders today have many tools that can be used in the performance of their jobs. The problem often is, however, deciding which tool to use and when to use it.
When I explain to managers the importance in selecting the right tool for a particular situation, I tell a story that happened to me in 1966. I was about to build a cabin in the mountains east of Salt Lake City and needed to remove a large rock from our future driveway. The top of the rock was about four feet in diameter and about one foot of it was exposed above ground. It was late August and I needed the driveway cleared so the large trucks could make deliveries the next spring. However, since I am not a contractor, I didn’t know what tool to use.
My first tool was a shovel, but the more I dug around the rock, the larger it got. It seemed to grow with each shovel of dirt. Next I tried a sledgehammer. For the better part of a day I beat the rock with the heaviest sledgehammer I could find. At the end of the day, however, all that I had accomplished was a lot of scratches, a few minor chips in the rock and an aching back. The result was clear evidence that I had chosen the wrong tools.
A neighbor had hired a backhoe operator to dig his foundation, so I slipped the backhoe operator $20.00 and asked him if he would move he rock on his lunch break. By the end of lunch the rock was still there, only with a few more scrapes and chips. I got my $20.00 back.
Frustrated beyond description because winter was about to set in, I described my plight to an old farmer. He told me to drill a dozen deep holes around the perimeter of the rock and fill them with water. He explained that the freezing water would pop the top of the rock off before spring. The following spring I anxiously waited for the snow to melt, only to discover the farmer had also recommended the wrong tool. The rock was still intact.
Now I was in trouble. Delivery trucks were going to arrive any day and I had to find a tool strong enough to move the rock. Because I had used dynamite the previous summer to remove tree stumps, asked the dynamite salesperson if I should blast the rock. I didn’t know at the time that the person selling dynamite knew very little about explosives. Being totally unaware of his inexperience I listened carefully to his advice. He suggested that I use 15 pounds of a new type of plastic explosive that had just arrived. He said to pack the plastic explosives and a blasting cap around the rock, and then cover it with several wet blankets and mud.
Now, luckily in today’s world, a common citizen cannot purchase explosives, but my rock experience took place in 1966 when our society was much different. So on a Saturday morning, with the full cooperation of the local police who blocked off traffic on a nearby road, I lit a 15-minute fuse and hurried a half-mile away to await the impending explosion. But 15 minutes came and went, and there was no explosion.
Do you have any idea how stupid I must have been to walk up to the rock and remove the blankets? The blasting cap had gone off, but for some reason the plastic didn’t explode. The police officer let the cars through the roadblock and told me that I had to make a quick decision.
Something I did know is that a blasting cap would set off a stick of dynamite, because I had done it at least 20 times the previous summer. So I guessed that the dynamite detonation would set off the plastic explosives. I quickly reset the explosives with a blasting cap, one stick of dynamite, and 15 pounds of plastic explosives. Then I lit a 15-minute fuse and hurried to my vantage point a half-mile away.
I remember looking at my watch because I was really surprised that we coincidently had an earthquake at the exact moment my watch indicated the 15 minutes were up. Indeed, a half-mile away the ground actually shook, but it took a couple of seconds for the loudest boom I have ever heard to reach me. When I looked toward our cabin site, I saw what appeared to be a small volcano. Tons of rock, dirt, bushes and trees had been blown upward several hundred feet into the sky. As I gazed at this unbelievable sight, I remember wondering how long I would be sitting in jail for blowing up the mountainside.
That’s when I saw debris landing near me a half-mile from the explosion. In fact one rock about four inches in diameter almost hit me. Today, I have that rock in my office as a reminder that selecting the correct tool for a problem is critically important. Perhaps even lifesaving!
I learned later that the single stick of dynamite would have been enough explosive to remove the rock. If I had used the right tool, the explosion wouldn’t have flattened so many trees around the site. And it wouldn’t have required two dump truck loads of dirt to fill in the huge hole that was blasted into my future driveway. Even today, over 40 years later it is possible to see small rocks imbedded into the trees
that survived my application of the wrong tool.
The point is without effective tools managers can become handicapped and even powerless. The problem is which tools to use and how to use them. Clearly, not enough time is spent in today’s business world teaching about managerial and leadership tools. Without proper tools managers spin their wheels, create confusion, generate frustration, and generally become less effective than they could be otherwise. My advice: Be sure that you learn about the tools, and only use enough explosive to remove the rock. Remember, fill dirt is expensive.
Watch for upcoming blog posts on useful tools for managers and leaders. You can also browse past posts and find useful information.
The unanswered question of all time is, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” While an answer to this question has yet to be determined, I will attempt to answer a similar question posed to me recently by a new manager.
CMOE is currently replicating its research on Coaching Skills, which was originally conducted in 1985. Last month, I was conducting the one-on-one interviews for this research project. During one particular interview with a very new manager, I noticed him ruminating when I asked him about his coaching style, experience, and effectiveness. I asked him to describe a specific example of one of his coaching conversations. He contemplated the question for a while before saying “When I meet with my employees on an individual basis, it is because there is a problem. These conversations tend to be more of a negative experience for both me and the employee I’m coaching. This is mostly because I’ve never clearly understood when to meet with my employees. Should I meet with them when a problem arises? Or do I spend my time conducting proactive meetings to hopefully prevent problems?”
Essentially what this person was asking is, “What comes first, coaching or the need to coach?” This is a very interesting question and one that has been asked before in CMOE’s Coaching Skills Workshop. If this question is one you’ve found yourself asking as well, please take some time to think it over or post your own thoughts and comments for others to view. Also, stay on the lookout for Part 2 of this blog that addresses this question in-depth.
A few days ago, my son came to me with a difficult decision. He was debating whether or not to stay in his position. The problem was that he had been having some difficulty with his team leader. As a member of a team, he felt a responsibility to keep this leader informed about the project he was supporting. However, whenever my son met with this leader he became frustrated and often felt devalued. This leader is addicted to his Blackberry. He acts as though the device and what it was conveying was more important than any information my son had to give. Because of this lack of attention, this leader too often missed the important information my son tried to convey.
Dr. Steven Stowell and Ms. Stephanie Mead explain in their book, The Team Approach: With Teamwork Anything is Possible, there are eight internal forces that short circuit teamwork. Two of these, “excessive pursuit of self interest” and “inflated egos and intimidation” seem to fit the way my son felt about his supervisor. I have to admit when I first read these forces I assumed that the authors were talking about the executive who does anything (ethical or not) to get up the ladder.
Excessive pursuit of self interest covers much more than the narcissist; it also covers those who think they are so busy that they fail to acknowledge those around them. When you pay more attention to incoming calls, emails, and interruptions you are silently telling the one you are suppose to be talking to that they are not worthy of your time or not valuable in your estimation. In this case, the information that my son tried to share with the boss and was ignored, lead to an embarrassing situation when the boss was unable to explain why a project was behind to a major client. More importantly, this embarrassing situation happened in a group meeting with representatives from all the different companies involved in the project.
When this boss returned from the meeting, a memo was sent out that was both intimidating and unduly demanding. If only he had listened when my son met with him, he would have known the information he needed and the embarrassment experienced by the boss and the organization would have been avoided. Obviously, my son has a decrease of trust and respect for this person. Dr. Stowell and Ms. Mead state, “Trust and respect are fragile and are earned over time through genuine actions.”
If you don’t take time to listen and assimilate all the information you are going to be embarrassed or caught off guard. How can you assume that you know where to go or how to answer if you don’t have all the information about the situation ahead? To quote Joe Namath, “To be a leader, you have to make people want to follow you, and nobody wants to follow someone who doesn’t know where he is going.” Are you too involved with the activity beasts in your life to hear those people around you?
Sadly, while my son liked his job and wanted to stay, he felt that he had to leave the organization. Think about the costs to the organization when this lack of trust , respect, and courtesy is exhibited. How much does it cost to replace team members? How much transition time does it take to learn the business? How long will it take for your client’s confidence in you and your organization be restored? Isn’t it more cost effective to spend the few minutes of complete attention to a colleague?
A final thought. Communication between team members is essential to the success of the team. But just as critical is the basic recognition that each member is valued and important enough to be listened to. James Humes said, “The art of communication is the language of leadership.’
A few weeks ago our Management Team had just finished our regular weekly meeting. As we came out of the meeting, other co-workers informed us about a wild fire at the south end of the valley on the mountain side. At first, we thought it was no big deal, even though another co-worker and I actually lived in that area. I wasn’t concerned about the situation because I don’t often think about having my home burn down. A few minutes later, my wife called me to let me know that she could actually see flames on the mountainside and while they were not very close to our home, she was becoming concerned.
Her biggest concern was if the fire authorities decided to evacuate people from their homes, there was no returning to the home until clearance was given by the fire emergency personnel. She asked that I come home for the time being while she ran an errand as a precautionary measure. At first I thought this would not be a necessary thing. I highly doubted the fire would get close to our home, besides I had several urgent things that needed to be accomplished at work. Several meetings had already consumed a lot of my time at work so far and working from home for an hour or two was going to hamper productivity even further. I just really didn’t want to do it; but I thought, “What is the most important priority right now? Is it my work, or protecting my family, home and most valuable items from the potential threat of a real fire?” I immediately headed for home.
It turned out to be a good decision. While our neighborhood was not evacuated, 75-80 homes just East of us were evacuated and we were warned that our neighborhood was next. At that point I was glad that I had focused on this priority.
Does this sound familiar? I mean, how many times at work or in life, do we have “fires” that distract us from the work we need to get done and our priorities. I feel that all too often we allow these fires to distract us and take us off course. I suggest that we turn those fires into a positive action rather than looking at them as a negative event. Just like in my personal experience, when the fire seemed like a threat, it helped me to focus on what was the most important issue at hand. I think we can use this in our daily work life. When there are fires at work, be aware of them and use them as a way to focus on what are the important priorities that you and your team are trying to accomplish. Sometimes in all the daily activity and” busy-ness” of business, we can lose sight of the goal. We get so caught up in doing things and prioritizing our schedule that we often forget to schedule in our priorities. We can take advantage of the fires or the threats that surface to help us refocus and re-energize our teams and our commitment to the end result.
Hard Work
Here at CMOE we always have plenty of work to go around. I’m sure many of you can relate to this. On occasion, when we get overloaded during our busy seasons and we often bring in “temporary” people to help with a number of tasks. These workers help to reorganize the stock room and do landscaping beyond our normal service, or help with random projects that often involve significant physical labor.
On one occasion, we had the pleasure of working with a great individual who was helping to clean up after some remodeling. Benny was dependable, worked very hard and focused on the projects he was assigned to. Because of his dedication, we specifically requested his assistance from the temporary labor agency we were working with to assign him to us.
Background On Benny One morning I was asked to pickup Benny on my way into work. During our drive to the office, Benny talked about his personal life. He was barely making ends meet it life and had some health issues. If I had to guess, he was in his late 50’s but looked much older. Benny had spent most of his life working on labor intensive jobs permanently in construction. While he liked this type of work, it was not very rewarding. Too many of the individuals he had worked with throughout his life were very autocratic and dictatorial and having spent some time in this industry myself, I knew the type he was referring to.
The Job Site
Benny worked on multiple job sites for us. One day a few of us decided to jump in and help Benny load some broken concrete into a dumpster. This would help get the next phase of this particular project a jump start and give Benny some much needed help and a bit of motivation to the backbreaking work.
After the dumpster was fully loaded, we took a break from the searing heat and dust. As we were sitting in the shade, someone said to him “Benny, you have been great! You’re such a hard worker and I appreciate your effort and attention to detail. I don’t know where we would be without you this week.” After the rest of us confirmed this comment, there was a pause for a few seconds. Benny responded with a quiver in his voice, “I really try to work hard and do a good job, but no one has ever told me that. Thank you. You guys have been good to me.”
The Impact
When Benny made this comment, you could see he felt undervalued for much of his life. I thought to myself, how unfortunate it is that no one has ever told Benny he does a good job. A simple “JOB WELL DONE” can go much further than we might ever think.
The Lesson – Talent Retention
As I think back on this, I wonder how many managers and organizations lost out on Benny? The concept of providing appreciation to employees is nothing new, but if it is not being communicated or taught to leaders and managers, organizations ARE and will lose great talent. It is not uncommon to hear that employees leave their managers and not their jobs. We can change this by providing some simple appreciation and recognition.
Application Today, celebrate a success with your team.
While times are tough and budgets are under the microscope, it would be wise for organizations to take a strategic and thoughtful approach vs. a reactive one. Determine what the most valuable assets are that will keep the business going long term. Arguments can be made for technology, more infrastructure, more resources and equipment, or more systems and processes. Of course, all of these things are important; however none of them will perform well without people to put them into action. People still remain and will always remain to be an organization’s most important resource. When the chips are down and dramatic changes are needed, it won’t be your computer to get it started, especially when it is the culture and environment that might need the most attention. There isn’t a technology available that can openly capture the level of motivation or disappointment that is going on within an employee’s psyche. So, how can an organization get through it all?
The Government created a program where individuals could request a coupon that would allow them to purchase a new digital antenna box for their T.V.’s at a low cost. According to this article, there are 1.1 million coupon requests that cannot be filled due to a lack of funding. Furthermore, as the article stated, 8 million households rely on antennas and are unprepared for the switch.
When I explain to managers the importance in selecting the right tool for a particular situation, I tell a story that happened to me in 1966. I was about to build a cabin in the mountains east of Salt Lake City and needed to remove a large rock from our future driveway. The top of the rock was about four feet in diameter and about one foot of it was exposed above ground. It was late August and I needed the driveway cleared so the large trucks could make deliveries the next spring. However, since I am not a contractor, I didn’t know what tool to use.
Now I was in trouble. Delivery trucks were going to arrive any day and I had to find a tool strong enough to move the rock. Because I had used dynamite the previous summer to remove tree stumps, asked the dynamite salesperson if I should blast the rock. I didn’t know at the time that the person selling dynamite knew very little about explosives. Being totally unaware of his inexperience I listened carefully to his advice. He suggested that I use 15 pounds of a new type of plastic explosive that had just arrived. He said to pack the plastic explosives and a blasting cap around the rock, and then cover it with several wet blankets and mud.
That’s when I saw debris landing near me a half-mile from the explosion. In fact one rock about four inches in diameter almost hit me. Today, I have that rock in my office as a reminder that selecting the correct tool for a problem is critically important. Perhaps even lifesaving!
The unanswered question of all time is, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” While an answer to this question has yet to be determined, I will attempt to answer a similar question posed to me recently by a new manager.
A few days ago, my son came to me with a difficult decision. He was debating whether or not to stay in his position. The problem was that he had been having some difficulty with his team leader. As a member of a team, he felt a responsibility to keep this leader informed about the project he was supporting. However, whenever my son met with this leader he became frustrated and often felt devalued. This leader is addicted to his Blackberry. He acts as though the device and what it was conveying was more important than any information my son had to give. Because of this lack of attention, this leader too often missed the important information my son tried to convey.
A few weeks ago our Management Team had just finished our regular weekly meeting. As we came out of the meeting, other co-workers informed us about a wild fire at the south end of the valley on the mountain side. At first, we thought it was no big deal, even though another co-worker and I actually lived in that area. I wasn’t concerned about the situation because I don’t often think about having my home burn down. A few minutes later, my wife called me to let me know that she could actually see flames on the mountainside and while they were not very close to our home, she was becoming concerned.
