by Bill Becker
Years of helping clients effectively address culture
and performance improvement with learning solutions has given us
a broad perspective on and a deep insight to the problems and issues
confronting organizations. Many times the obstacles are due to a
lack of strategic alignment or the successfulness or unsuccessfulness
of initiatives such as mergers, quality assurance, customer-relationship
management and employee development. Successful, as well as, unsuccessful
events can become problems or issues. When we succeed in turning
around the situation, we are asked, "How did you do it?"
So here is a look at a few of the things we have found to be helpful,
especially in the customized and tailored work we do with on-site
clients.
Look for the Root Cause
Often the problems and issues expressed by senior
management are just symptoms of the underlying circumstances serving
as obstacles to achieving the goals set by the company. At times,
there is a tendency to get caught up with the symptoms while the
real underlying causes of the problems and issues just never get
surfaced. What prevents that from happening are the values, knowledge,
skills and experience within the organization.
Inclusive Discovery
The first step in determining what's needed to
bring about positive long-range changes in an organization is to
provide the client the opportunity to be able to see how they operate.
We don't assume to know the issues and problems, and we certainly
don't walk in with solutions. Because experience has proven that
the solutions are inside the organization, we provide them a mirror
into which all of the leaders, managers and employees (and sometimes
their vendors and customers) can see what is happening. One of the
best ways to accomplish this is by doing a business scan of all
operating areas. We use an in-depth audit checklist that helps them
look at their marketplace, how they relate to internal and external
support groups, as well as, at their internal relationships and
competencies. This systemic information gathering results in a detailed
causal-based report and recommendations. Specific learning and development
activities are recommended that will address the company's expressed
needs, the needs they have discovered in collaboration with the
AMA. This collaborative discovery process provides us with a clear
assessment of the readiness of the company to accept the challenge
of transformational change or improvement. It also creates high
energy and commitment to action by the client.
Sounds simple; but in the real world it is tough
for a company to do this kind of assessment themselves. It's hard
to be objective unless the culture is very open. The openness of
an organization depends upon its basic value system and the resulting
leadership and management philosophy and practices. The lines of
communications have to be open. And the management climate has to
be developed to the point that the company has realized one of Deming's
core principles and driven "fear out of the workplace."
For many organizations this is too great a challenge
to attempt on their own so they find it is a lot easier and more
effective to bring in an outside source to get the job done. One
of the key decisions that we have to make, even if the clients says
they are ready, is whether they are really ready, and if not what
we must do to get them ready. There are, of course, companies that
are more open and ready to look at situations objectively.
Success Stories
Here are some examples of success in real world
applications of the business scan, needs analysis and later the
gap analysis.
Case #1: A major international food manufacturer
obtained state funds to train their people in an effort to improve
productivity at a plant that was in danger of being shut down. While
previous improvement efforts had been attempted and various participative
management initiatives were tried, they were unsuccessful. In conducting
the Business Scan and analyzing the data we discovered that the
problem was not with the motivation and initiative of the employees.
It had more to do with management's lack of teamwork, feedback to
their employees, unclear performance expectations, and turnover
in the management team.
The company had correctly identified a lot of
the training needs of the organization such as the need for better
metrics, goals, individual and group accountability, and teamwork.
However, the root cause of prior failures was that management had
metrics to gauge their performance, but their people didn't. Other
collateral facts that came to light during the interview process
were that meetings were planned and conducted by top management;
employees were not empowered to make recommended changes; and, there
was little management follow up.
So we designed a mix of learning events, including
an Alignment Conference, seminars to address manager needs first,
followed up by simulations for mixed teams of managers and employee
groups. The objectives were to improve communications; develop interpersonal
skills; increase awareness of financial results; cultivate teamwork
abilities; and enhance customer service. The results far exceeded
just productivity gains. The plant became a model in the entire
North American operation. Teamwork for managers and employees greatly
improved. Regular and effective feedback became the norm and technical
training increased.
Case #2: A fast growing health club client
wanted to develop more consistency in operations. They also wanted
to enhance the level of customer service at each of the clubs—with
the express purpose of improving client satisfaction, adding luster
to the corporate brand, and raising the company image in its industry.
Their sole training piece was a handbook dealing with values, guidelines
and customer service protocols that all employees had to read. During
the initial client interview we discovered a couple of collateral
issues: (1) interpersonal politics; and (2) a hockey stick growth
curve coupled with low wages that seriously hampered quality recruitment
efforts. The interviewing process included managers of the Sports
Clubs and focus groups with Directors, plus part time and full time
employees. In the course of the Business Scan, we learned just how
valuable the people at the front desk (managers) were. They had
a lot of knowledge about physical training and their clientele.
They also had a lot of ability. What they wanted was greater authority
and more information from the top. What they were living with was
internal politicking, lack of respect from corporate headquarters
and no sense of teamwork. We took a three-tier approach. First,
we needed to improve basic business and management skills training
at the club level coupled with some organizational development programs
to improve communications, information sharing and teamwork. Second,
we recommended executive level training and development modules.
This is a story in progress but the club manager training has been
adopted and so far the prognosis is very promising.
Read Between the Lines
You have to closely observe things that are not
so obvious to validate some of the assumptions to which interviews
and focus groups may lead you. This is why we can't "phone
it in." We have to be there personally to observe the true
management and culture picture into focus. It's not that clients
consciously try to hide anything. It's just a matter of not picking
up on one's own patterns and behaviors. Taking a systemic look at
the organization is a bold move. Sometimes you have to help the
client understand the benefits. And look for the signals that senior
management is willing to let go and accept participative decision-making.
On the manager and employee side are they willing to take on the
responsibility and accountability that come with empowerment? Those
are big things. But there are subtle things as well. Like the parking
lot. Observe where people park. Is it early-to-works who park up
front or executives with reserved parking places? What about dining?
Is there one dining room or a separate room for executives? How
does the client treat us: do they keep us waiting? Do they let others
interrupt and take phone calls when meeting with us? Do they ask
a lot of good questions? And finally, how do people treat each other
in the workplace. All of these are subtle signs that foretell how
ready they are to commit to change and how successful improvement
efforts are likely to be.
Bill Becker is Director of Organizational Development
with AMA's Assessment and Solutions Group and has over 20 years
of experience in a range of industries, with medium sized companies
to Fortune 500 corporations, internationally and domestically. He
helps organizations through major strategic and operational change
efforts, and has designed and implemented workshops, seminars, simulations
and conferences for all levels of management.
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