EXCELLENCE: TURN UP THE HEAT!
by Don Phin
How to transform your agency from “good” to “great.”
Greatness and excellence start at the top. These initiatives are inevitably leadership driven. The question is, why should your employees buy into the process?
The announcement of these programs generally leads to grumbling, even though the intent is to improve the organization. Employee reactions tend to fall into three categories.
Some people will actually leave for a variety of reasons: because they view the program as a mechanism to get rid of the “old folks,” it wasn’t their idea, because they’ve resisted the notion of change ever since they turned 14, and so on.
A second group of employees will go along with the process, simply because they’re like sheep. In their minds, they need a job and are willing to suffer anything to hold on to it; they’re just going along for the ride. The problem is that they’ll add no more energy to your initiative than the minimum required to survive.
The third type of employee has been wondering, “What took you guys so long?” They embrace change and are driven to succeed. Given the opportunity to shine, they will add energy to the program.
You need to deal with each of these groups differently. For those resistant to change, address their fears of inadequacy, change, or of being moved around directly. The good news: When the heat of excellence is turned up, the poor employees that you’ve been hoping would quit finally do. What a relief! The real danger here is losing otherwise valuable employees for failing to address their fears up front. Help them understand that the fears associated with not going through this process are even greater. The fear of obsolescence as an organization, or in one’s career, is quite real.
Coax, encourage, and inspire the second group (the “sheep”) toward a vision greater than themselves. Coax them by requiring them to take baby steps — a gentle push, if you will. Encourage them by telling them that you expect them to succeed and know that they can do well. Inspire them with success stories of other businesses that have benefited from similar programs.
When it comes to the last group, your most important role is to be inclusive. These employees have a lot to offer that will be left on the table if you don’t invite them to contribute. Give them a forum for sharing their thoughts and strategies. Then do something with these insights. It’s also important to keep these people focused on bread-and-butter tasks while incorporating new opportunities.
Instead of viewing these programs as an alternative to employees thinking for themselves, use them to liberate creative thinking. Permit employees to deal with situations on the fly without having to run back to the quality manual. Give them the authority to say “no” to a process or decision if it violates common sense. As Buckminister Fuller stated so eloquently, “The reward we get for solving one set of problems, is yet an even greater set of problems.”
The final questions to ask are, “Where do we go from here? Now that we’ve won the Baldridge Award, now that we’re ISO Certified, how have our lives changed? Are we happier about the work that we re doing? Have we celebrated our success? Are we making additional profit for the company and for ourselves? How do we sustain this effort? How do we have even more fun getting better?”