Employee Engagement | Martin Willoughby

27 Jan 2016

Sticky Post By overseer Posted in Business Development, Leadership, Managing Your Business Permalink

ARE YOU CONTINUALLY IMPROVING YOUR BUSINESS?

Sticky Post By overseer On January 27, 2016

Is your organization getting better all the time??

Most business owners would like to think that their business is always improving; however, very few people are willing to actually do the heavy lifting to create an enterprise that is systematically improving on a regular basis. In the world of manufacturing, these concepts have been around for awhile.? American consultant Edward Deming was a pioneer in? quality improvement with Japanese industry post World War II. The Japanese term kaizen has become synonymous with continues improvement and this method was popularized by Masaaki Imai in ?Kaizen: The Key to Japan?s Competitive Success.? In his book which was first published in 1986, Imai introduced the ?LEAN? philosophy to the world and shared the secrets behind the success of Toyota and other Japanese companies.

The core principle of continuous improvement is the ?self reflection? process.? This is essentially a feedback loop that requires a willingness to be brutally honest about your organization. The purpose of this process is the identification, reduction, and elimination of poor processes. Using a commonsense approach, minor improvements are continually made in small, incremental ways in the organization with a strong emphasis on the customer.

As a company successfully embraces continuous improvement then it moves from being a best practice to becoming part of the fabric of the organization. While these concepts may have originated in the manufacturing sector, they are rapidly being adopted by service businesses, particularly in health care and technology.? There is a tremendous opportunity to gain a competitive advantage by committing your company to a path of continuous improvement.

Mississippi entrepreneur Jill Beneke formed Pileum Corporation in 2002, and she has successfully built a management consulting firm by relentlessly focusing on improving her organization. Beneke worked for over twenty years in financial services, and she was Senior Vice President of the Capital Management Group for AmSouth prior to forming Pileum.? Her father was an entrepreneur as well as her husband, so it was a natural shift for Beneke to launch her own venture when the timing was right. Pileum acts as a trusted partner to companies in multiple industries to help with their information technology and their most important asset ? their data management.? Because of this critical role the company plays for its customers, Beneke and her team have to stay ahead of the constant evolution of technology and meet the real time needs of their customers.

While Pileum may not use phrases like kaizen or LEAN to describe their internal process, they are very much committed to the path of continuous improvement.? The management team and staff continually ask the question ?How can we do things better?? According to Beneke, ?our management team gets together frequently, and we are open and honest about trying to improve.? This means that we can?t be afraid to be self-critical.?? Pileum also provides a significant amount of in-house training for its employees and pays for its employees? external training and industry certifications.? Their goal as a company is to be getting better all of the time.? For Pileum, this commitment to continuous improvement has helped separate it in the marketplace and establish the company as a leading technology consulting business.? The company now has over 30 employees and services a large number of clients in the Mid-South.

If your company is not embracing the principles of continuous improvement then time is of the essence because your competition probably will be soon.? As a leader, you can demonstrate a commitment to continual improvement and set the direction of the organization.? In order to be successful, you also need buy-in of the members of your team and for them to embrace this kaizen mindset.? While dramatic changes may not occur overnight, your team will daily be embracing a way of thinking conducive for long term success.

25 Jan 2016

Sticky Post By overseer Posted in Uncategorized Permalink

THE VALUE OF CULTURE

Sticky Post By overseer On January 25, 2016

I must have looked lost as I was meandering down the food aisle at a Publix Super Market.? As I was unsuccessfully trying to pick up a few items off my ?honey do? list from the grocery store, I heard the words from a friendly Publix employee, ?Can I help you find something??? I was a little caught off guard because I couldn?t remember the last time I was asked in a grocery store if I needed some help with my shopping.? I was prepared for some directions on where I could find the missing item; but instead, the employee insisted on retrieving the product for me while I continued my shopping.? WOW!? I was blown away.? As a business coach and consultant, I take note of great service.?? I was also intrigued.? What kind of organization was this with employees who were so passionate about customer service?? As I was in the checkout line, I shared my positive experience with the checkout clerk (who was also very friendly).? I asked to speak to the manager of the store so I could report this excellent customer service.

I learned a lot in my brief exchange with the store manager.? This young man shared with me that this was normal behavior for their employees.? I learned that he had been with the company for over twenty years and started as a part time employee in high school bagging groceries.? As I pressed in for the secret sauce to the great service, he pointed my attention to their secret – THE CULTURE!? He shared with me how important the company?s culture is and how much attention they pay to cultivating and reinforcing it throughout the organization.? The focus on culture has paid off for Lakeland, Florida based Publix. It is the largest and fastest growing employee owned super market in the country.? With over $27 billion in sales, 1,056 stores, and 157,000 employees, Publix is ranked 106 on the Fortune 500.? What caught my attention though was that the company had been on FORTUNE magazine?s ?100 Best Companies to Work For” for over 16 years.

Publix?s emphasis on its culture dates back to 1930 and the company?s founder George Jenkins. Jenkins held himself to the high standards he expected of others and created a culture of service ?not only to the customer who came into the store to shop, but to every associate as a customer of another associate.? Jenkins and other leaders believed that ?people want to help, and, if given the resources to do so will provide extraordinary service.??? One of the ways they create such loyalty is by promoting from within.? The current CEO and President each started out in Publix as front-service clerks over 25 years ago.? I also took note that, the average tenure at Publix for store managers is 25.1 years, retail hourly workers average about 5.1 years, and hourly support workers average about 9.1 years.

As I have studied companies like Publix, I have become convinced that building a great culture is absolutely one of the keys to building a great company.? It is particularly important for any company that wants to grow and expand with people.? For some, talk about culture may sound ?soft? or of secondary importance.? These type naysayers may believe that having a great culture is a ?nice to have? versus a ?must have.?? Very few companies can afford to ignore their company culture.? If your company involves people interacting with people, then you should be paying attention to your culture.

?For definitional purposes, I describe a company?s culture as the shared values and practices of the people in the organization.? These are the common beliefs and habits of the organization.? Here is the critical part ? your employees represent YOUR BRAND.? They are the living, breathing implementers day to day of what your company stands for.? In other words, they are the front line in creating your brand in the marketplace.? Companies can spend millions on positive advertising but one bad interaction with a representative can destroy the customer?s feelings about the company.

I was attending a conference at the Ritz Carlton in New Orleans recently, and as I was leaving a member of the housekeeping staff stopped me on my way to the elevator and wanted to make sure I had enjoyed a great stay at the hotel and wished me safe travels on my journey home.? She did not have to do that.? It was probably not part of her job description.?? However, with a smile and genuine sincerity she made a point to wish me well on my way.? I have shared with dozens of people about this simple exchange and how that positively reflects on the brand of The Ritz Carlton.

Gregg Lederman, founder of Brand!ntegrity and author of the book entitled Engaged! Outbehave Your Competition to Create Customers for Life, travels the country helping companies realize the value of culture and how important it is in developing their brands.? He notes, ?Branding is not part of the business, it is the business. Every interaction with an employee, with a coworker or a customer has the power to strengthen or hinder the brand image of your company.?? Lederman emphasizes that branding is about experiences and not logos and taglines. ?He teaches companies that the little things that they do daily are more important than the big things they may say about themselves.? I believe and share with my clients that every day their doors are open is ?Game Day,? and they should treat it with the opportunity for greatness.? Unfortunately, for too many companies it becomes like ?Groundhog Day,? and mediocrity can creep in.

I recently discovered Lederman?s company and work, and I have been impressed.? In addition to his thought leadership on this subject, his company has come up with something truly unique in my opinion.? They have created a proprietary software system that actually allows companies to better manage their brand by tracking and measuring customer satisfaction, employee engagement, and financial results. What they have accomplished is the linking together of these critical aspects of the business in a quantifiable way that encourages the right behaviors.? This use of metrics and creative ways to reinforce positive behaviors strengthens and builds the culture, and it is all tied back to the company?s profitability.?? I believe in the future we will see more and more organizations focused on building powerful brands, and I think we should all start to consider what is our R.O.C. ? Return on Culture. ?

18 Dec 2015

Sticky Post By overseer Posted in Attitude, Healthcare, Managing Your Business, Operational Excellence, Uncategorized Permalink

CREATING AN ENGAGED WORKFORCE

Sticky Post By overseer On December 18, 2015

One of the key habits of entrepreneurially minded physicians is developing an engaged workforce. The Gallup Organization has done extensive research on the engagement level of employees in organizations and the overall impact on company results.? According to Gallup?s research, engaged employees are more productive, profitable, customer-focused, safer, and less likely to leave.? In the average organization, 30% of the employees are engaged, 50% are disengaged, and 20% are actively disengaged.? In comparison, in world-class organizations, 63% of employees are engaged, 29% are disengaged, and 8% are actively disengaged.

Engaged employees are those who have a positive attitude, take personal responsibility for their actions, are passionate and committed to the company?s goals, contribute discretionary effort, and are solution oriented.? These are the ?A? players on the team. Disengaged employees are those who ?punch the clock.?? They do just enough to keep their jobs and are resistant to change.? They don?t give the organization their discretionary effort and tend to react passively to problems.? Finally, disengaged employees are those who are poison pills in the organization.? They stir up trouble and recruit others to their cause s.? They blame other people for their problems and make excuses.? They erode a company?s bottom line and bring down the morale of an organization.

Physician leaders, like other organizational leaders, spend an inordinate amount of time dealing with actively disengaged employees.? They are the squeaky wheels on the staff.?? We often are forced to ignore our engaged employees as we clean up the messes of the disengaged and actively disengaged members of our staff.? Effective leaders know how to raise the bar and increase the level of engagement of their teams.? They know how to actively listen and learn what the root causes of the problems are.? They don?t ignore issues, but instead, deal with them head on.? Leaders can raise the level of engagement by sharing a compelling vision, coaching their team members, communicating clearly, raising expectations, and insisting on accountability.

In a medical setting, a poorly engaged team can lead to disastrous results.?? Patient care and safety is obviously first and foremost.? Disengaged and actively disengaged employees are apt to ?let balls drop? that can lead to safety issues for patients.?? This could include forgetting to follow up on medications or testing, or even mishandling paperwork or other instructions.? Beyond safety issues, disengaged and actively disengaged employees project their poor attitudes to patients.? The patients (customers) have plenty of options for healthcare services.? Rude treatment by staff can run off patients in a hurry.? For better or worse, these staff team members are the front line representatives.? The quality of the patient experience will largely be dictated by the treatment from the medical staff.? The net effect is that the level of engagement of a practice?s employees has a direct impact on the bottom line.

Interestingly, Gallup?s research found that engaged organizations have 2.6 times the earnings per share growth rate compared to other lower engagement organizations in the same industry.?? The engagement level of employees has a direct impact on key performance areas including absenteeism, turnover, safety, customer satisfaction, and profitability.

Creating an engaged workforce is easier said than done.? First, sometimes we have to ?get people off the bus.?? This means we have to recognize and deal with actively disengaged people.? While some employees may be salvageable, sometimes the best thing to do is to let someone go.?? A disengaged employee is obviously not happy.? We don?t do them favors by keeping them in a miserable job.? For salvageable disengaged employees and the generally disengaged, we need to learn how to be better coaches.?? We do this by observing our employees better, questioning them to learn more about their motivations, truly listening to their responses, and giving candid feedback.? Finally, we have to rally them to action.? This means that we? establish clear expectations and standards, and I prefer to put these in writing.? It is critically important to have regular accountability meetings to track progress towards goals and expectations.

It is important to remember that employees do things for their own reasons, and not their leaders.? In the end, all motivation is self-motivation.? While we can yell, scream, and threaten someone into doing their job better, they are not going to become an engaged worker utilizing that management style. Engaged employees respond best to visionary and coaching leadership styles.? The dilemma for physicians is that they are extensively trained on their clinical skills, but not on the entrepreneurial skills of being a great leader.?? Learning to be a great leader can be accomplished by first embracing it as a real priority.? Books and podcasts can be used to grow these leadership skills.? Ultimately, it is a process that the physician must undertake in conjunction with his or her team.

Regardless of your practice setting, you will likely be working with people that either work directly for you or with you.? There is no reason to allow your practice to be an ?average? organization with almost 70% of your employees disengaged.? Just imagine the patient satisfaction and enhanced profitability that you could experience if you were able to reverse that and have at least 70% of your employees be engaged.? Creating an engaged workforce is a habit that you can start today in reshaping your practice and planning for tomorrow!

11 Dec 2015

Sticky Post By overseer Posted in Business Development, Managing Your Business, Structuring Your Business, Teamwork Permalink

MULTIPLIERS

Sticky Post By overseer On December 11, 2015

Here?s the problem.? Most employers only get about 50% of the potential out of their employees. Research has validated this point.? Gallup, Inc., the national polling and consulting company, has done extensive analysis on the engagement level of employees in organizations and the overall impact on company results.? Gallup?s research showed that in the average organization, 30% of the employees are engaged, 50% are disengaged, and 20% are actively disengaged.? However, they found that in world-class organizations, 63% of the employees are engaged, 29% are disengaged, and only 8% are actively disengaged.

?Disengaged? employees are clock-punchers.? They give minimal effort and do just enough to keep their jobs.? They don?t give their employers their discretionary effort and tend to react passively to problems.? ?Actively Disengaged? employees are the poison pills in the organization.? They are the trouble-makers.? They like to stir things up.? Actively Disengaged employees blame others for their problems and make excuses.? They erode a company?s bottom line and bring down the morale of an organization.? In contrast, ?Engaged? employees have a positive attitude, take personal responsibility for their actions, and are passionate and committed to the company?s goals.? Engaged employees contribute their discretionary effort to the company, and they are solution oriented.? They are the ?A? players on the team.

It seems very obvious then that we should all try to have Engaged employees to put our companies on the path to success.? Of course, that?s easier said than done.? To have great employees, you need great leadership.? Liz Wiseman, a former global leader for Human Resource Development at Oracle, has done extensive research into the way leaders can dramatically impact the productivity and attitudes of their teams. In her recent book, Multipliers, Wiseman summarizes her findings that there is a continuum of leadership with ?Diminishers? on one end and ?Multipliers? at the other end of the spectrum.

Diminishers are the kind of people you hate to work for.? They ?diminish? the productivity and potential of their subordinates.? They are tyrants that keep everyone on edge.? They can be micro-managers that make you second-guess yourself.? They keep people in the dark and make unilateral decisions without seeking input.? Multipliers, in contrast, are great bosses.? They empower people, foster real debate and thinking, and get the most out of their employees.? Multipliers are the kind of people everyone wants to work for.

Wiseman describes Multipliers as ?genius makers.?? She rightly points out that Multipliers are not wimpy, feel-good leaders.? They are tough and demanding, but fair.? They push people to achieve their best.? Wiseman argues that we all can improve our ability to be Multipliers.? She points to five disciplines of the Multiplier: (i) attracting and optimizing talent, (ii) creating intensity that requires best thinking, (iii) extending challenges, (iv) debating decisions, and (v) creating ownership and accountability.

Wiseman?s work provides useful language to think about leadership and ideas on how to be better at getting the most out of the resources we have.? This is important given the fact that we have significant challenges in business today with limited resources.? We don?t have the luxury of having our employees operating at 50% of capacity.? The problem is that we get lulled into a sense of complacency and accept minimal performance as the standard.? The research shows that we can expect and get more.

If we are honest, we all can probably identify with both ends of this spectrum.? Even great leaders can slip into being a Diminisher on occasion.? Diminishers are usually bright people. In fact, it?s their success that usually leads to their managerial promotions.? Like the old ?Peter Principle,? people can be promoted past their level of competency and expertise. Being a great individual performer does not necessarily mean someone will automatically be a great leader.

From my perspective, Multipliers are really great coaches. As a former coach, I remember having to push my students to achieve their best.? We all have a certain amount of talent and potential waiting to be unlocked. A real coach knows how to do that.? They are demanding, but also inspiring.? They challenge you to new heights.? You don?t mind giving it your all, because you know you are on a worthy mission.

Here?s the reality.? Most managers are never really trained on how to be a great coach.? Managing can often be more about ?baby-sitting? and organizational reporting than performance optimization. I agree with Wiseman that these skills can be learned.? The question is whether it?s really worth the trouble to learn to be a Multiplier.

The good news is that the data shows tangible benefits of being a Multiplier.? Wiseman?s own research and others have shown that Multipliers get a 2x increase from their employees.? Similarly, Gallup?s clients that focused on increasing employee engagement have seen an increase of 26% in gross margin and 85% in sales growth compared to their competition.? The bottom line is that being a Multiplier can have a big impact on the real bottom line.? We all go to great lengths to try and improve our businesses.? We make significant investments in our technology, marketing, and real estate.? However, we tend to neglect the greatest asset we have ? the talent, skill, creativity, and energy of our employees.? While it?s certainly not easy, I think it?s clear that learning to be great Multipliers is one of the best investments we can make in our business.