On Walking the Talk
Recently I was talking with a retailer in his store, and as we were walking nearby the floor, we came to a rack housing sportswear. Some of the sweaters on the rack were dangling from the hangers. He called over to ask a sales join together to straighten the rack, and we moved on through the store.
On Walking the Talk
I somehow remembered this incident as I was with an additional one manager, this time the normal boss of an upscale hotel. We were talking at one end of the hotel lobby, and as his eyes spotted a table with parts of a newspaper and a candy wrapper on it, obviously left by a guest, he excused himself. He walked across the lobby, picked up the newspapers and candy wrapper, disposed of them, and came back to resume our conversation.
I was struck by the variation in management styles of these two executives. The store owner must have felt that as long as the sales join together was just standing there, she should take care of this small job. Something she is paid to do, right? The hotel manager, though responsible on a much larger scale for revenue, staff, and quadrilateral footage than the store owner, saw it as his job to pick up the trash in the lobby.
The message each boss sent out by his actions could not have been more different. The store owner is comfortable operating on a rather hierachial basis. The hotel boss sees small variation in his job and that of his staff. But this message should be clear: if you want your staff to instinctively do things without being told, you need to let them see that you yourself instinctively do these things. Your employees are more likely to learn from what you do; not from what you say. Leadership By Example. That's the way to ensure there is no "my job vs. Your job" mentality in your company. Just "our job."
Today there is a lot of talk about laborer performance; how habitancy don't want to work, are absent a lot, won't do their job, have no loyalty; all the time want more money. It's true, these problems certainly exist. But many of these job performance problems could be headed off by more concentration from management.
So in these two articles, let's talk about some of the things we can do to ensure our company are the best they can be; accomplish at the top level; have the company's interest at heart; are satisfied in their jobs.
Start here: Hire For Attitude, Attitude, Attitude. This is where all things begins. You can teach your staff new skills; you can't teach attitude. In the hiring interview, spend enough time in subjective conversation with habitancy to view their attitude, their manner, their philosophy. To find out more about this aspect, you may want to pose hypothetical situations and ask candidates to impart how they would deal with them.
Southwest Airlines hired for Attitude in employing their current Area Marketing boss in New Orleans. It did not matter to Southwest that this man had in effect zero former airline sense (she was in the jewelry business), and had never even set foot in New Orleans before exciting here from Dallas to take this position. She has successfully performed this job now for seven years, helping growth Southwest's firm and visibility in this area.
Let's talk about a very important word: Respect. How your employees feel they are valued. The Ritz Carlton hotel group has as its motto: "We are ladies and gentlemen, serving ladies and gentlemen." The religious doctrine in this uncomplicated sentence implies a relationship of equals; that the firm will treat the employees with the same respect that it treats the guests. The Ritz Carlton understands this uncomplicated truth: your employees will treat your customers the same way they are treated.
Make Your Expectations Clear.
Be clear about what an employee's duties are; make sure they understand their job description.
Be clear about your standards for appearance (if you have a dress code, etc.). It is entirely inexpensive to expect employees to show up for work dressed expertly and appropriately groomed. Of course, that may differ, depending on whether you operate an outdoor plant nursery or a designer apparel store.
Be clear about corporate culture. Part of the Nordstrom company's training for employees is instilling the corporate culture in all employees, letting them know what is anticipated of them. Their employees learn to do whatever it takes to make a customer happy. They are trained that Nordstrom believes habitancy in their store are guests and therefore deserve the best service. When employees are trained in to this culture, they can yield the sales results they must accomplish for success. The firm will trust them with a lot of operational relaxation in performing their job. However, if the laborer has trouble buying in to this culture, it is safe to say he will not be happy or prosperous at Nordstrom.
Be clear about the level of customer assistance the firm expects everybody to provide. Is this level a high degree of assistance (such as Nordstrom) or is assistance not emphasized in your firm in favor of something you are good known for, like the bottom price, etc.
Give Employees allowable Tools To Work With. It is your job to supply training to help your habitancy in their performance, to help them permanently improve their skills. Make sure this training reinforces your own exact expectations. This is not just computer register training (which, unfortunately, is what passes today as the only training). Encourage them to attend acceptable seminars at firm expense, such as those on customer service, communications skills, sales techniques, time management. Keep a firm library of magazines, training books, tapes, & videos. Let them know that you are aware of whatever they do to growth their knowledge. Construct some sort of recompense law for employees who take advantage of resources you offer.
Set up a quarterly schedule for discussing market trends or showing new merchandise. Make sure they understand technical terms (would they know how to correctly retort a customer's question, such as "why is there sure a huge price variation in the middle of this cashmere sweater and this wool sweater?").
Share Some Decision-Making. As management, you have to make many decisions every day. Share some of this decision-making with your associates. Involve them in this process, and in effect involve them in those decisions that affect them. Ask employees if there are any firm policies or procedures that hinder their job performance or their ability to deliver good customer service. If so, study these policies and do whatever you can to turn or eliminate them. Then let your employees know what performance you are taking (before you take it) in response to their concerns.
There is an additional one very important calculate to involve your company in the decision-making process. Because those who have had a voice in manufacture policy will see that the policy gets implemented. It's a surefire way to make sure the policy is followed and there are no complaints about it!
You can tell employees all day long about how important they are to the company...but having them share in policy-making is a way to prove it, to show they are valued. Of course, the responsibility of policy manufacture is management's, but decisions have a good opening of being right after first getting feedback from those on the front line. The key word here is share.
We all can become bored in our jobs if we feel there is nothing new to learn, no new challenges to conquer, no way to advance our minds, no new contributions to make. Yes, your employees may have to accomplish the same duties day in, day out, but an enlightened management, one that "walks the talk "(like you) can find ways to help employees become good at these same duties each day and therefore keep them concerned and growing.
Copyright 2006, Liz Tahir
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