November 26, 2007
CSD: Ten Ways to Help Your Employees “Get It Done” Every Day
Through a special arrangement, what follows is an excerpt of a current article from Convenience Store Decisions magazine presented here for discussion.
A survey conducted by OnPoint Consulting show that almost half of respondents believe there is a gap between their organization’s ability to develop a vision and strategy and its ability to execute that strategy, and even more – 64 percent to be exact – lack confidence that the gap can be closed.
But Richard Lepsinger, president of OnPoint Consulting and co-author of Flexible Leadership: Creating Value by Balancing Multiple Challenges and Choices, insists that companies can make a conscious effort to close the execution gap. You simply have to take some tried and true steps to creating a “get it done” culture. For example:
1)
Recognize that execution starts with a plan. “A solid plan can immensely improve the efficiency with which a project is carried out,” said Mr. Lepsinger.
2) Ensure plans are aligned and coordinated across the organization. A common snafu at many organizations is that the head of one department will implement a new initiative without considering how it will affect the overall company or specific departments.
3) Clarify, clarify, clarify. It’s often difficult to get things done because people don’t understand their role, responsibilities, or what exactly is expected of them.
4) Establish clear expectations. Goals help everyone focus on important activities and responsibilities.
5) Don’t micromanage your entrepreneurial-minded employees. But do monitor them. Your entrepreneurial-minded employees — those who take individual initiative and do an effective job without much direction from you — are the gems that make your company special. But just because you feel like you can let them loose with a project or client doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t follow up with them periodically.
6) Encourage employees to openly share bad news. Getting information from employees can be easier said than done.
7) Balance careful analysis of a problem and decisive action to solve it. Effective leaders move quickly to deal with a threat or problem.
8) Make decisions as close to the action as possible. The key here is ensuring that decisions are being made where the best information is in order to increase speed and quality of responsiveness.
9) Facilitate informal and spontaneous interaction among employees. The ability to connect with a colleague “in the moment” when you have a problem or new information is essential for effective execution.
10) Turn your performance management system into a business tool. It ensures goals are aligned across levels and work units, helps people know what they need to do and how they need to do it, and allows leaders to monitor progress toward goals.
“When you put these elements in place at your organization, you’ll see a general improvement in individual, team, and overall organizational ability to execute plans and initiatives,” Mr. Lepsinger said. “Your employees will start getting things done more easily and consistently, and these regular wins will encourage them and inspire them to redouble their efforts.”
Discussion Question: Which factors do you think are most critical in creating a culture of execution? Which factors do you think are the most underestimated?
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I agree with all 10 points made in the article but would add some emphasis that management needs to also completely understand its capabilities and limitations to execute with regard to numbers of employees and how they will be deployed.
Ouch–Paying employees well will solve all the problems? Paying inept employees more money will only create higher paid inept employees, unless you restaff. Making employees part of a real team and giving them a sense of ownership in the plan is the key to getting things accomplished. If they perform well “then” pay them well.
Planning is a lost art and forgotten science. There are too many folks attempting to hit a home run every time they step on the plate only to find out how difficult it is.
A good plan not only clarifies and defines objectives and roles for all involved but it accounts for contingencies and allows for adjustments as it progresses. Points 2 to 10, as described by the article above, are all essential parts of a good plan.
Keeping with the sports analogy at the beginning of my comment, if the fundamentals of batting are not obeyed, the batter will swing three times and retire to the pine.
I like the list and would add that real executive buy-in, not just lip service, is required. We often find that it’s the guys and gals sitting in the ivory tower that are undermining new initiatives; not the rank and file (who are usually excited about new approaches and opportunities). When the executive team gives the nod to a new product, brand, program, distribution channel, corporate message, etc., they must support the good the bad and the ugly associated with the pursuit. That means heads don’t roll when things don’t happen overnight, execs co-evangelize WITH the lower ranks, resources are realistically deployed, and staff sometimes gets compensated for building foundations (not just when sales roll in). Employees know when the attitude at the top is “I dare you to make this happen” vs. “We can make this happen,” and it makes all the difference in outcome!
I agree with the points listed above–and would like to elaborate further on #2 (“Ensure plans are aligned and coordinated across the organization”).
Accomplishing this is nearly impossible without the tools to facilitate collaboration and communication across business units at corporate HQ and stores. An example that I often use to illustrate this concept is a merchant at HQ examining category performance and a store manager examining labor percent to sales numbers.
When the merchant determines that the category needs an ad hoc promotion to boost sales and margin–and the store manager determines that labor percent to sales is creeping up beyond pre-established levels, we encounter a problem. In most cases, the merchant is using a separate sales forecasting engine than the store manager is using to create upcoming labor schedules. As a result, the promotion will not be well-staffed or well-executed.
The solution here is a single demand forecast aiding all the decisions across the business (HQ and stores) supplemented by task management tools to communicate timely, relevant and actionable information and track compliance.
How many retailers make “plans” that don’t include a reasonable allocation of trained labor that doesn’t conflict with other “plans”? Many folks who work in stores get unhappy with companies that don’t allocate reasonable amounts of time to train for, and implement, all sorts of simultaneous goals. Some managements feel that no matter how little or how much work is assigned, the whining will continue. Well run retailers know the difference between the real time allocation issues and the fakes.
I would add these points:
It’s critical that tasks are fully aligned with established organizational goals and objectives, and are critical to their achievement, otherwise you are working at cross purposes.
It’s critical that tasks take into account the ability of the organization to accomplish them. Throwing too much at an organization at one time can be very destructive, and can very quickly alienate employees. And nothing ends up getting done very well.
Finally, it’s critical that the tasks and their importance to organizational goals be clearly and repeatedly communicated. It’s important to avoid competing messages to reinforce that these tasks are truly important.
A lifetime ago (in the 80s) when my current partners and I worked for Supermarket Insights, a video series that was part of Progressive Grocer, we used to mail “how to” videos to retailers that were quite popular. I’ll never forget the comment that came back regarding one of the tapes: “Too many new ideas.”
That comment has generated lots of laughs over the years but I think especially for smaller organizations without a lot of structure there is a lot of truth to it. We’re all able to think of a lot more ideas than we can possibly execute well, so it’s important that any new initiatives are rigorously evaluated to ensure they will be worth the time, effort, and expense.
I would just scrap all those listed points and simply pay employees well for their performance. Then all the rest of those issues will fall into place. Buzz words like “vision and strategy” and “execution gap” sound good but if you don’t pay people what they are worth, nothing is going to get done right. Simply make all employees owners and put everyone on commission.
We often forget that a business is about taking action to improve the results of the business. Making plans is incidental to carrying them out. Yes, if we’re all about carrying out plans we must have plans to carry out. But in the end, if nothing happens but the creation of the plan, then the plan is flawed. You’d think that was apparent but it is not, judging by the actions and results of many companies.
The biggest hurdle for executive teams is to get frontline staff to embrace directives. Unfortunately, what happens most of the time is that a ream of paper is sent to the manager with instructions on what to execute. What’s missing is the ‘why’. Having robots working the store is never good for business. Most managers that I have had contact with (myself included) want to know why we do things. Directives are great but let’s get a little deeper and understand why we are taking this direction. Understanding why will bring managers and staff on board faster and ensure flawless execution.
I would like to suggest that there is a bit of everything discussed above involved here…and that’s the problem; there is no silver bullet to a successful implementation or improving operating efficiency.
But there is a balance to be struck between an executive that leads change, a well thought out plan that is supported by an active set of business objectives (or customer plan) and resource that is sufficiently motivated, coached, inspired and allowed to take risks.
Change is an elemental force and needs to be respected; it will either carry you along to better things at a pace you can manage or it will drown your original vision in a mire of confusion, overspending and a lack of trust–and eventually faith–by your employees.
So my view is to be careful, over communicate, put the right people in the job, let them do the job and be courageous enough to listen to the bad news and then ask what you can do to help.
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I agree with all 10 points made in the article but would add some emphasis that management needs to also completely understand its capabilities and limitations to execute with regard to numbers of employees and how they will be deployed.
Ouch–Paying employees well will solve all the problems? Paying inept employees more money will only create higher paid inept employees, unless you restaff. Making employees part of a real team and giving them a sense of ownership in the plan is the key to getting things accomplished. If they perform well “then” pay them well.
Planning is a lost art and forgotten science. There are too many folks attempting to hit a home run every time they step on the plate only to find out how difficult it is.
A good plan not only clarifies and defines objectives and roles for all involved but it accounts for contingencies and allows for adjustments as it progresses. Points 2 to 10, as described by the article above, are all essential parts of a good plan.
Keeping with the sports analogy at the beginning of my comment, if the fundamentals of batting are not obeyed, the batter will swing three times and retire to the pine.
I like the list and would add that real executive buy-in, not just lip service, is required. We often find that it’s the guys and gals sitting in the ivory tower that are undermining new initiatives; not the rank and file (who are usually excited about new approaches and opportunities). When the executive team gives the nod to a new product, brand, program, distribution channel, corporate message, etc., they must support the good the bad and the ugly associated with the pursuit. That means heads don’t roll when things don’t happen overnight, execs co-evangelize WITH the lower ranks, resources are realistically deployed, and staff sometimes gets compensated for building foundations (not just when sales roll in). Employees know when the attitude at the top is “I dare you to make this happen” vs. “We can make this happen,” and it makes all the difference in outcome!
I agree with the points listed above–and would like to elaborate further on #2 (“Ensure plans are aligned and coordinated across the organization”).
Accomplishing this is nearly impossible without the tools to facilitate collaboration and communication across business units at corporate HQ and stores. An example that I often use to illustrate this concept is a merchant at HQ examining category performance and a store manager examining labor percent to sales numbers.
When the merchant determines that the category needs an ad hoc promotion to boost sales and margin–and the store manager determines that labor percent to sales is creeping up beyond pre-established levels, we encounter a problem. In most cases, the merchant is using a separate sales forecasting engine than the store manager is using to create upcoming labor schedules. As a result, the promotion will not be well-staffed or well-executed.
The solution here is a single demand forecast aiding all the decisions across the business (HQ and stores) supplemented by task management tools to communicate timely, relevant and actionable information and track compliance.
How many retailers make “plans” that don’t include a reasonable allocation of trained labor that doesn’t conflict with other “plans”? Many folks who work in stores get unhappy with companies that don’t allocate reasonable amounts of time to train for, and implement, all sorts of simultaneous goals. Some managements feel that no matter how little or how much work is assigned, the whining will continue. Well run retailers know the difference between the real time allocation issues and the fakes.
I would add these points:
It’s critical that tasks are fully aligned with established organizational goals and objectives, and are critical to their achievement, otherwise you are working at cross purposes.
It’s critical that tasks take into account the ability of the organization to accomplish them. Throwing too much at an organization at one time can be very destructive, and can very quickly alienate employees. And nothing ends up getting done very well.
Finally, it’s critical that the tasks and their importance to organizational goals be clearly and repeatedly communicated. It’s important to avoid competing messages to reinforce that these tasks are truly important.
A lifetime ago (in the 80s) when my current partners and I worked for Supermarket Insights, a video series that was part of Progressive Grocer, we used to mail “how to” videos to retailers that were quite popular. I’ll never forget the comment that came back regarding one of the tapes: “Too many new ideas.”
That comment has generated lots of laughs over the years but I think especially for smaller organizations without a lot of structure there is a lot of truth to it. We’re all able to think of a lot more ideas than we can possibly execute well, so it’s important that any new initiatives are rigorously evaluated to ensure they will be worth the time, effort, and expense.
I would just scrap all those listed points and simply pay employees well for their performance. Then all the rest of those issues will fall into place. Buzz words like “vision and strategy” and “execution gap” sound good but if you don’t pay people what they are worth, nothing is going to get done right. Simply make all employees owners and put everyone on commission.
We often forget that a business is about taking action to improve the results of the business. Making plans is incidental to carrying them out. Yes, if we’re all about carrying out plans we must have plans to carry out. But in the end, if nothing happens but the creation of the plan, then the plan is flawed. You’d think that was apparent but it is not, judging by the actions and results of many companies.
The biggest hurdle for executive teams is to get frontline staff to embrace directives. Unfortunately, what happens most of the time is that a ream of paper is sent to the manager with instructions on what to execute. What’s missing is the ‘why’. Having robots working the store is never good for business. Most managers that I have had contact with (myself included) want to know why we do things. Directives are great but let’s get a little deeper and understand why we are taking this direction. Understanding why will bring managers and staff on board faster and ensure flawless execution.
I would like to suggest that there is a bit of everything discussed above involved here…and that’s the problem; there is no silver bullet to a successful implementation or improving operating efficiency.
But there is a balance to be struck between an executive that leads change, a well thought out plan that is supported by an active set of business objectives (or customer plan) and resource that is sufficiently motivated, coached, inspired and allowed to take risks.
Change is an elemental force and needs to be respected; it will either carry you along to better things at a pace you can manage or it will drown your original vision in a mire of confusion, overspending and a lack of trust–and eventually faith–by your employees.
So my view is to be careful, over communicate, put the right people in the job, let them do the job and be courageous enough to listen to the bad news and then ask what you can do to help.