Top ten things: Businesses should do in 2002

Captain E. J. Smith said years before the Titanic's maiden voyage, "I cannot imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that." Success in 2002 will hinge on being decisive, nimble and willing to make constant course corrections. What worked last year maybe the very thing that might cause your organization to sink this year. The following top-ten list provides some solid advice for keeping your business afloat and prosperous in 2002:

1. Conduct a vampire extermination expedition. The beginning of the year is the best time to analyze your organization's work processes. Determine what is wasteful and what is productive. Eliminate things that keep people from performing at their best. Exterminate the "vampires" sucking money and resources from the bottom-line. You are better off bringing in an expert from outside the organization to do this. Outsiders bring an unbiased approach and a different perspective to your business.

2. Build a high-retention workplace. High retention begins the first day on the job. Put extra effort in your employee orientation programs and build a bond with new hires. A major factor causing workers to stay beyond 90 days depends largely on how they were treated the first two-days on the job. Managers should meet with new workers during the first week and conduct a new hire survey approximately 3o days after they have been on board.

3. Don't work for a jerk. Those of you who watch the television show ER recently saw Dr. Peter Benton quit his job. The reason he quit his boss was a jerk. The fact is that good people will quit bad bosses. A survey conducted by Chart Your Course International showed 35 percent of the respondents had quit their last job because of their immediate supervisor. La Rosa's Pizza Company is a national chain of 53 outlets consisting of 3000 employees. At La Rosa's, employees are allowed to evaluate their bosses using a bottom-up Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) twice a year. After the CSI is completed the CEO has the managers come to a meeting to discuss and resolve issues affecting employees.

4. Create an appreciation program. Reward and recognition programs are fine, but what people really want is appreciation. In a survey I conducted for my book, Here Today, Here Tomorrow, I asked, "What causes you the greatest dissatisfaction at work?" The answer with the most responses was a lack of appreciation. Setting up a program to make people feel appreciated is not difficult. A well-administered program builds camaraderie, values, and makes people feel good about themselves and their jobs.

5. Some dogs don't like bones. A good organization is one that creates a motivating work environment. Be careful not to assume what motivates your people. In one organization I worked with, management was absolutely certain employees would select cash as its preferred form of recognition. As it turned Out, money didn't matter, but parking did. While executives and certain top employees could park in the lot next to the building, most employees had to park several blocks away. With this information in hand, we built a very effective reward program allowing select employees to use the executive parking lot.

6. "I need to take a break to call my baby-sitter." Most organizations don't realize the impact of family-friendly benefits have on productivity and retention. First Tennessee National Corp. started taking family issues seriously and made them top priority. They reshaped the rules under which their employees lived, added many new family-friendly benefits, and sent managers through three days of training. Employees stayed twice as long and the bank kept seven percent more of its customers. Aetna Life & Casualty Co. reduced resignations of new mothers by 50 percent by extending its unpaid parental leave policy to six months, saving the company $1 million a year in training, recruiting, and hiring expenses.

7. Put a parachute on your back. Can you imagine parachuting out of an airplane with no training? Many times, the first expense eliminated during a bad economy is training and development. Organizations that invest in training will come out far ahead than those that don't. In a study of more than 3,100 U.S. workplaces, the National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce (EQW) found that on average, a 10 percent increase in workforce education level led to an 8.6 percent gain in total productivity. On the other hand, a 10 percent increase in new equipment expenditures only increased productivity by 3.4 percent.

8. Use bottom-up involvement for high performance. Studies show that having workers involved at all levels has a major impact on improving productivity, morale and motivation. A good example is Guardian Industries, an 800-person glass plant in Indiana. They decided to start listening to their employees to find out their opinion on how to staff the plant's 24-hour work shifts. The employees decided instead of working rotating day and evening shifts, they would rather work permanent 12-hour shifts. The result--turnover fell by 50 percent.

9. Take a laxative for "mental constipation." Many organizations suffer from what one could call mental constipation or the 'We've never done it that way before" syndrome. Rubbermaid is one of the most innovative companies in the world. They generate hundreds of new products a year--almost one new product a day. Products from the most recent years contribute to 33 percent of their sales. They keep ideas coming in by sending their workers to off-the-wall places, like museums to study the Egyptians to get new product ideas. All people, no matter their position, should be encouraged to look for new ideas to improve profits and productivity.

10. "Don't answer the phone--it might be a customer." People in the U.S. have lowered their standards and accept lousy customer service as the norm. Many businesses have blindly placed impenetrable voice mail and automated phone systems in the way of good customer service. The reason for all this "voice-mail hell" is organizations ignorantly think it is less expensive than paying a person to answer the phone--they are wrong. What it does create is a huge demilitarized zone between the organization and its customers. Furthermore, creating the appearance of a cold and indifferent organization alienates and frustrates customers, driving them and their money in search of a more approachable source of satisfaction. Nothing beats an old-fashioned, friendly human being on the other end of a telephone.

Gregory P. Smith is President of the management consulting firm, Chart Your Course International, located in Canyers, Ga. He shows businesses how to build productive and profitable work environments that attract, keep, and motivate their workforce. He is also the author of the book, Here Today, Here Tomorrow: Transforming Your Work force from High-Turnover to High-Retention. Phone him at 770-860-9464.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Quality Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group