Learn from Others

A recently concluded nine-month performance excellence project involved executives from five very different organizations. One of the highlights cited by many of the attendees were the exercises where teams were comprised of a mix of the organizations. They stated that they learned that their organizations were different, but they had the same problems.

I can relate to that as it reminded me of an experience I once had. I was in the high-flying computer business in the sixties and we had a pretty high opinion of ourselves. I attended a seminar in San Francisco and quickly learned that most of the other attendees were from soap or oil businesses. I thought I had nothing in common with the others and the seminar would be a waste of time. To my astonishment, I learned that the established companies in mature markets had the same problems that I was facing; the difference was that they had solved them years ago. I returned back to my organization a wiser but much humbler person.

Most organizations could benefit with learning from others outside the organization, but our ego and fear of opening up to others gets in the way. This learning can take the form of private conversations with one of the many retired executives in this area, an advisory board, Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) consultants, or SCORE mentors. Both SBDC and SCORE are affiliates of the Small Business Administration and both offer their services free of charge.

The SBDC provides consulting, training, and information in all aspects of small business management and development including (but are not limited to): Strategic Planning, Financial Projections, Market Analysis, Mergers and Acquisitions, Expansion, Diversification, Franchising, Loan Packaging, Accounting and Record Keeping, Patents, Human Resources, Marketing Plans, and Business Planning.

In addition to the one-on-one consulting services, the SBDC will partner with many organizations to provide a variety of business training workshops and events.

To schedule an appointment, contact the SBDC at (218) 299-3037 or email sbdc@cord.edu

SCORE’s mission is to provide guidance and information that will maximize the success for existing and emerging small business. SCORE is a national non-profit organization of volunteers who provide one-on-one assistance to entrepreneurs at no cost. SCORE focuses on the American dream of small business ownership. Their unique service is based on the idea of “giving back” to our communities. Business people with successful careers and entrepreneurial ventures join SCORE to volunteer their time to help new businesses start and existing businesses grow and prosper. Their national website, www.score.org, provides templates for business plans and other useful tools. They can be reached locally at their office in Room 101 of the Hubbard County Courthouse, by telephone at 218-732-2256, or by email at score@hubbardcountyedc.com.

At a recent SCORE meeting, one of the Mentors presented his view of small businesses in the area

Existing Businesses

1.     successful small business that is doing well

2.     successful small business but could be doing better

3.     struggling, needs help

4.     too late

Start-up Businesses

5.     start up, credible

6.     start up, maybe but needs help

7.     wild idea, little hope for success

Our first reaction was that all of the above types of organizations with the exception of #1 could benefit from outside perspectives. With further thought, a successful organization can always get better. In our experience, it is always the good organizations that ask for help as they are constantly striving to get better.

Every organization can benefit with an outside perspective and advice from those who have been there before. Help is available; you only need to ask for it.

A friend once told me, whether the situation involves the future of the company or just a daily problem, “Never fail alone!”

Basic Marketing 101

To start any marketing activity it is well to understand the aim of the organization and how this marketing activity will help to achieve that organizational aim. Taking a step down, it is then important to understand the aim of the total marketing effort and how this activity helps to achieve that marketing aim.

There are three basic elements of marketing of goods and services, prospecting, nurturing, and closing, and not necessarily in that order.  In fact they are not serial activities, but parallel.

Prospecting is finding people who might be interested in the offerings of your organization. No organization can be all things to all people because of limitations of time, finances, and/or talent. Therefore it is important to identify the market niche where you can dominate. Studies have shown that usually there is room in any niche for two organizations to succeed and one to barely get by. Others eventually fall by the wayside.

Then determine whether you need many customers and you need to “shotgun” your efforts towards a multitude of prospects or “rifle shoot” to a select few who are needed to ensure success of your organization.

Shotgun marketing usually involves the media, newspapers, radio, television, magazines, and broadcast emails. This can take the form of advertisements, press releases, and announcements. A careful accounting of return versus investment is important in these activities. Start with small projects and learn what works for you and your organization.

Rifle shot marketing involves carefully identifying targets and using a personal approach to reach them such as personal emails, direct mail, sales calls, telephone calls, and working through your network.

SCORE, a national organization dedicated to providing free mentoring to small business, provides a booklet titled, 10 Simple Steps to Finding Customers…and Delivering the Goods. It can be obtained by going to score.org on the web or by stopping by your the local office. They stress knowing the characteristics of your prospects, their needs and wants, what they have in common, and how they can be reached.

Nurturing prospects and customers means continuing contact and development of a loyal cadre of people to your products/services, to your organization, and to the people in it. Marketing Sherpa conducted a survey on what worked in nurturing the prospect list and they found out three top activities that worked best; email newsletters, sales calls, and informational papers and articles. Steady personal contact of some sort is necessary to build relationships.

Closing the sale is not a final event but a continuous effort throughout the marketing activity. Every effort should be designed to make it easier for the customer to say yes. First and foremost, listen. The prospect will tell you what he/she wants to hear in order to buy if you give them a chance and listen to what they are telling you. When you do talk, speak in terms of benefits, not features of your products/services. Think of your prospects as selfish individuals; they care not for the history or features of your product/service, they only care what it will do for them.

And always, always follow up after the sale because you want to add each customer to your network of loyal customers. Satisfied customers are like money in the bank and you want to protect and grow that network because they will become your best source of leads and recommendations.

Remember, the biggest asset of your organization is your network of loyal customers

Three Elements of Management

Do you have a documented management system in your organization?

In previous articles, we have said that all work is comprised of a series of processes to form a system. You do, in fact, have a management system but it may not be documented nor understood by employees.

One management system developed by Japanese industrial leaders is comprised of three elements that can be likened to the legs of a three-legged stool. They are Policy Management, Cross-Functional Management, and Daily Management.

Policy Management starts with a good strategic plan with input from many, if not all, employees and other stakeholders such as Board Members, key customers and suppliers, and key members of the community. Not only does this utilize all the brainpower of the organization, it results in buy-in and ownership by employees and other interested people.

The next step is to establish accountability for results. A key employee is selected to lead each of the strategic actions developed in the plan. They then develop an action plan of specific tasks needed to accomplish the strategic action complete with names accountable for each task and timelines for completion. These task leaders then break down their tasks into smaller increments and this is deployed down the organization until the work is identified to complete the strategy. In this way, nearly all employees have defined tasks to guide their actions for their part in accomplishing the strategic plan.

Cross-Functional Management recognizes the need for teams from different departments to work together of achieve the common goals. This need is exploding today and team training is important. The team needs to have open communication, trust and respect for each other, and assurance that they have common goals. Establishing a team charter at the beginning of the effort with approach, expected completion time, budget, meeting schedule and space, and progress reporting well defined are helpful.

Daily Management is, as the name implies, the management of daily activities. In order to maximize the contributions of each employee, they must know what is expected of them in their work and that they are accountable for specific tasks. They must be properly trained and have needed equipment and supplies in timely fashion. They need to know the needs and expectations of their internal and external customers, other employees, and owners. They need to know the products and services of their organization. Participation of employees in discovery and implementation of incremental, continuous improvement of their work processes and products/services are not just desired but critical to the organization’s success. They should feel free to openly communicate needs to suppliers, management, and fellow employees.

Of paramount importance to each of the above management elements is the need to follow up on progress of completion efforts, schedule, budget, and barriers to completion. This is incumbent on management at all levels.

Knowledgeable employees working together to achieve common goals lead to success for the organization.

Keys to Success in Today’s Business

“Times have changed. Have You?”

Many, many books have been written over the years about how to succeed in business; most of them old school. An exception is a new book by Dr. Adam Grant, a professor at The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania titled, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success. His research led him to believe that our relationships play an even more important role in individual success today.

We all grew up under the teachings of the old school on individual success in the corporate world. Many of these teachings were shallow, but effective, like when you move around, always walk fast. This creates the image that you are industrious, busy, hard working, and ambitious. Laugh if you want, but it works.

We were taught to treat the boss as your customer because he/she controls our chances at promotion and salary increases. We were taught to view our co-workers as competitors as we had to beat them out for that promotion. This led to hoarding information and political infighting.

A friend of mine, Bob Killeen who was the Regional Director for United Auto Workers, once said, “You can’t lead a union today like you did in the ‘30s, just like you can’t manage today like you did in the 30s.” Are you working as your ancestors did in the 30s or are you adapting to modern approaches?

Dr. Grant describes three major trends in interpersonal relationships that give rise to increased opportunities for innovative referrals and promotions.

·      People are increasingly being asked to work on project teams and strong interpersonal skills greatly enhance the chances of success for the team.

·      We are in the midst of a shift to a knowledge and service economy. Understanding and caring about the needs of the customer, both external and internal, make or break your chances for success. Whoever uses your output is your customer.

·      On-line social networks expose you for the world to see.  Word of mouth has always been important but now its importance is exploding with the widespread use of various electronic networks.

Grant describes three types of workers, Takers, Matchers, and Givers. Takers look out for #1, Matchers strive to trade evenly, and Givers contribute to others without expecting anything in return. The Givers become the most valuable asset for any organization. Some thoughts on how to become more of a Giver are:

·      Become an active listener. Focus on the customer or speaker, look him/her in the eyes, and understand the point they are trying to make. Follow up to ensure that you understand correctly.

·      Be willing to give more than you receive by sharing information, contacts, and ideas.

·      Understand areas where you can help. Use your area of expertise such as marketing, social media, networking, etc. to provide assistance or teaching to others.

·      Find ways to enhance the fun in your workplace. Make life more enjoyable for others. Do not be super critical of management, co-workers, customers or anyone else.

Now more than ever, the Golden Rule applies to help us become more successful in our careers and personal life. Someone once said we harvest what we sow and that is very apparent in today’s workplace. Besides, it makes you feel good.

Focus on Achieving Life Goals

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

Author unknown

You will probably reach the peak of your career at about the age of 60 and at that time your personal life will be well defined. To accomplish what you desire in life, both in your work and home perspective, to make the most of your talent and ability, you need to identify and clearly define those goals and make sure they are in sync with each other. Then plan how to get there, prepare to succeed, and execute your plan.

One way to identify your ultimate goal in career and personal life is to find a quiet place where you can think and reflect. Close your eyes and picture yourself at the peak of your career, both in a work setting and in your home. What would that picture look like? What would you be doing? What people are with you in that picture? What would make you happy? Then document every detail in that picture or pictures.

Now that you have identified your goals in life, plan the best path to get there. Include personal life and career life together as both are important and need to be planned together. What type of organization offers the best path and what do you need to do to reach your family dreams? Define specific action items that provide the best approach to accomplish both dreams. Make sure you have timetables for these action items. If you find yourself straying from the path or lagging the timetable, re-examine your dreams and if they are still the same, take action to get back on your plan and timetable.

Next you need to prepare yourself to reach your dreams. You can define what education would be needed. You are never too old to go back to school and acquire that basic education. Then ask your self what training you would need for each step in your action plan. Acquire training to excel in your present job and to prepare you for the next step. Also, identify what training would help you become a better family person and seek that out.

To execute your life plan, seek to excel in everything you do. Don’t waste time in work positions and personal situations that don’t help you reach your goals. Ensure the values of your organization and personal contacts are consistent with yours.

As a side note, when interviewing to hire people, it is useful to determine if the present opening fits their dreams. If not, no matter how good they look for the present job, they will probably not be a good fit for the long run.

Having said all of this, it is important to remember to be flexible and adjust as you learn and grow. Technology, times, and our desires change over time but armed with the above, you are better able to adjust and move forward.

Do Results Justify Improvement Efforts?

“I wish Quality was easy; unfortunately it is a hot and sweaty job!” Dr. Noriaki Kano of the Science University of Tokyo often made this statement to emphasize that performance improvement is not easy. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to excellence. Are the results of this extra effort worth it? An objective evaluation from three perspectives is useful to document the value of efforts expended versus results. Keep in mind that we are not talking about “quick fixes” but sustainable, long-term results.

Customer Perspective

The efforts are probably not worthwhile if they are not apparent to the customers. Surveys, focus groups, and face-to-face meetings can be used to measure reliability, performance, timeliness, value, defect levels, complaint resolution, etc. Additional internal data can be collected on retention of customers, gains/losses of customers, warranty costs, service costs, and number of complaints.

Workforce Perspective

Trade, industry, or local data can be accessed to compare to data from your organization to measure workforce perspective. Factors to be considered are turnover, safety, absenteeism, employee satisfaction, grievances, and organizational and personal learning.

Business Perspective

Key financial measurements such as return on investment (ROI), return on assets (ROA), revenue, profit and loss, cash flow, and growth are important and easy to measure but are not the only important measurements. Collection times, write-offs, budget tracking, societal responsibilities, meeting key objectives, and compliance with environment, legal, and government requirements are also important to measure.

Because change is gradual, benefits of performance improvement efforts are not truly appreciated unless objective evaluation measures are in place. Armed with this data, organizations can evaluate their achievements. If the return on investment in time and effort are deemed worthwhile, they can re-dedicate themselves to continue their journey to performance excellence and advance to the next level.

No task is quite so “hot and sweaty” when you can see beneficial results.

Strengthen Your Workforce

“Your employees are not assets to be bought and sold, but treasures that must be preserved at all costs.”

W. Edwards Deming would use this statement to make a point about the fact that you have made a big investment in hiring, training, coaching, and enduring mistakes while employees are in the learning phase of the job. Rather than writing off that investment, if you have an employee whose performance is not up to your expectations you are should investigate why. Have they been put in poor processes or systems, have they been given adequate training, are they unqualified for the job, etc. As the manager, you hired them and are responsible for them being in that position, so if they are a total misfit you should find them a position where they can do good work, whether it is in your organization or not. Deming and others agreed that 90% of the time, it is not the employees fault.

It is interesting to look at a matrix comparing workforce capability to process capability. If we have a low process capability coupled with a low workforce capability, the organization will struggle and the future looks bleak. If we have a high process capability matched with a low workforce capability, the organization will coast and get by. If we have a low process capability coupled with a high workforce capability, we have a situation of instability where the employees are dissatisfied, frustrated, and likely to jump to another job at the first opportunity. If we have a high process capability matched with a high workforce capability, we are on the high road to success.

Many of the previous columns of Basic Business Cents dealt with the 90% category and were focused on process improvement. In this article we will focus on the workforce element. To achieve that high capability ranking, we need to examine four elements of the focus on workforce-Environment, Development, Engagement, and Management.

Workforce Environment

Looking at the environment, first and foremost it must be safe; safe from physical harm and safe from mental harm like harassment and bullying. The employee should be secure that the organization is as loyal to the employee as the employee is to the organization. To that end, management and co-workers must be supportive and helpful.

Organizational values should be consistent with the personal values of the employees so that they are comfortable and proud of what they do. A former employer once offered a seminar titled, Work/Life, taught by a psychologist and was all about getting your work life and personal life in sync with each other. It was probably the best seminar that I ever attended.

The position and the organization should fulfill the employees’ social need or responsibility of being worthwhile to society. The organizational direction or aim should be consistent with that of the employee. It is helpful if the organization provides recreational and cultural activities that build teamwork throughout.

Last but not least the employees should see clear career opportunities that lie ahead.

Workforce Development

Performance is due in a large part to basic education, skills training, coaching, ability, and motivation. Education opens up our mind and makes us curious about learning more. We should never stop learning our entire life, as the world continues to change around us. Training should be formal and consistent and followed by coaching to ensure the implementation of lessons learned is correct. The organization needs to have a regular system of sharing knowledge throughout the organization. Skill training should not only be for the present job but for the next one, which has been identified as a possibility by proper career counseling. The employee should practice new skills and consider learning as a part of daily work. The employee’s ability should have been identified during the hiring process. Motivation comes from within and needs to be viewed by management as what can be done to provide more satisfaction and pride in work so as to create intrinsic motivation. Attempts to provide extrinsic motivation rarely succeed and can backfire.

Workforce Engagement

The employees’ are more likely to be engaged in their work as we stated previously if they have consistency with their work/home life, if they get great satisfaction from their work, if they take pride in meaningful work, and get joy and happiness from their efforts. Mutual trust and respect, up, down, and across the organization are necessities for a highly capable workforce. They should be customer focused, both on internal and external customers.

The employees should be provided with clear direction, both for the organization and their position so that they understand their role in achieving the company’s goals.

Constant innovation and flexibility in the work tend to make it more exciting and interesting.

Workforce Management

In order to achieve high workforce capability, management must do their part. They need to be honest, fair, consistent, and committed to the employees’ wellbeing. They should act consistent with the organization’s strategy and action plans. They should be effective in problem and grievance solving.

Prior to the employee’s placement in the position, management must have good human resource planning and hiring practices to avoid mistakes. As mentioned above, these mistakes are very costly. Once hired, management must be committed to the employee’ success.

Proper focus on the workforce as outlined will result in more engaged, satisfied, and versatile employees that stay with your organization.