Five tactics for turning it all around... fast
As you look back over 2007, you're feeling a vague sense of discontent. Business is sluggish. Several key employees have left. And with new competitors springing up every day, you need to be at the top of your industry. Oh, things are not terrible-not yet-but they could be a lot better. You need to turn things around, and you know you need to make some big changes in the upcoming year. Problem is, you're not sure what they are.
Here's a suggestion: Make 2008 the year you focus on leadership. Not leaders, mind you - leadership.
You need a long-term fix, not a magic bullet or a trendy program du jour or a charismatic leader. You need a culture built on good, solid, time-tested leadership principles. Organizations should institute proven across-the-board behaviors that don't depend on particular individuals. In my book, I reveal some tried and true "best practices"- also known as evidence-based leadership-that enable companies of all types to create results that last.
These practices are not complicated. They're simple, commonsense tactics that leaders can get their hands around and start doing right away. And you don't have to adopt every directive in my book to enjoy significant results. In fact, implement these five "biggies" and you'll see dramatic changes by the end of 2008:
Get rid of low performers. Now. Let's say your employee Carol consistently comes in late, gets "headaches" every other (non-payday) Friday, and spends more time cheerily chatting up coworkers than she does working. Others will notice-and middle performers get pulled down the low performer level.
Too many of us give low performers a pass. The remedy involves implementing a structured series of high-middle-low performer conversations. It's easier not to confront low performers, but until you move them either up or out, your company will never advance beyond short-term gains. Make this year the year you quit looking the other way.
Accentuate the positive. The next time you're having lunch in a restaurant, listen in on the conversations at nearby tables. Chances are, you'll hear people griping about their jobs. Everyone does it, but if they realized how harmful it is to their company, perhaps they'd think twice. The solution is to hone the fine art of managing up, which means positioning your people, products, or company in a positive light.
Help employees understand what can happen when negativity is allowed to breed-good people quit and customers leave-and they'll be more likely to stop doing it.
Make a real connection with employees... every day. I am a big proponent of what I call "rounding for outcomes. In the business world, a CEO, VP, or department manager makes the rounds daily to check on the status of his employees. Basically, you take an hour a day to touch base with employees, make a personal connection, recognize success, find out what's going well, and determine what improvements can be made. Rounding is the heart and soul of building an emotional bank account with your employees, because it shows them day in and day out that you care.
Say thanks, and put it in writing. I am a big advocate of sending thank-you notes to employees who do an excellent job. But that doesn't mean just sending the occasional note when someone goes far above the call of duty. It means literally mandating a specific number of thank-you notes for leaders to send to the people they supervise.
The best thank-you notes are specific, handwritten if possible and sent to the employee's home.
Don't just recruit great employees. Rerecruit them. We all know employee turnover is expensive. But did you know that more than 25 percent of employees who leave positions do so in the first 90 days of employment? To retain a new team member, the leader needs to build a relationship. Studer Group has found that scheduling two one-on-one meetings, the first at 30 days and the second at 90 days, has an enormous impact on retention that directly turns into savings for your organization.
Quint Studer is president Studer Group, a leadership consulting firm. He is the author of "Results That Last: Hardwiring Behaviors That Will Take Your Company to the Top," available in bookstores nationwide.
