Newsletter 50

The human level of company culture is the most powerful lever to improve performance. The fulcrum is the quality of the employee's experience. This determines the level of motivation

In newsletter #50 (http://www.meridiangrp.net/articles/Newsletter50.html) I discussed managing the three distinct operational areas of a company's culture—Equipment, Systems, and Competition. This newsletter looks at the most powerful half of company culture, the distinctively human areas—Communications and Experience.

George W. had just been transferred to his company's largest plant. As plant manager he knew that if he was to turn this plant around and move it from bottom quartile performance to top-flight, he must get the immediate attention of his department managers.

At his first management team meeting, after introductions, he said, "First I want to know of any injuries in the last week, and any layoffs or transfers. After that I want to hear the production numbers." His management team was silent. They were ready to give him the production side but were not prepared for people questions. George caught them out deliberately.

George was a sophisticated manager. In his previous position he had moved the plant from middle-of-the-road performance to unchallengeable leadership in the corporation. As he said "I did that through people!" He was determined to repeat this at his new location. He knew that if he captured the hearts and minds of employees, they would willingly deliver improved performance.

George focused on the people side because he knew the powerful leverage of a motivated and engaged workforce. He knew from experience that most workplaces overemphasize the production side of the business and underemphasize the people side. These unbalanced work cultures, when rebalanced, show astounding performance increases: a doubling of performance is not uncommon. Understanding the human side of a workplace is not like analyzing the operations areas.

Communication is something we usually manage by how we talk, how we create teams, and how we lead decisions. As I noted in the two previous newsletters, talking about communications may bog you down in words. It is usually simpler to communicate about something operational, such as, "How should we improve the business systems that affect and involve everybody?" As Elisa Doolittle sings in the musical My Fair Lady; "Don't talk to me about love, Show me, Now!"

Experience is distinctively different. Unlike the first four levels of the culture, Equipment, Systems, Competition, and Communications, you cannot influence Experience directly. Experience is internal, immediate, and highly concrete.

I may do something which I hope will build trust between us, but only you know from your immediate feelings if you trust me. Similarly I might try to motivate you, but only you will feel (if you are fortunate) the excitement and energy of motivation. And these feelings, your experiences, are not something you do or consciously decide. Our experience is what it is.

Experiences may flow from our external actions or words, but they are purely personal, internal and unquestionably certain—you know what you have experienced. This is one reason why managing the human side of the workplace is both challenging and fascinating. You cannot order or direct people's experience. Success here comes from properly setting the stage; by carefully considering how you and your leadership team do what you do, that by example, tells the story of, "How we do things here".

It wasn't long after George got the attention of his management team that he engaged them in several discussions on what kind of a workplace they would like to build; one that would be good for them, good for employees, and good for productivity. George asked each manager in his team to describe what qualities they would like to have more of in the workplace. (For more on this see The Formal Culture Change Process at http://www.companyculture.com/change/formal.htm )

While his managers were not used to such discussions it didn't take them long to agree. They all wanted the same thing: a workplace where they felt safe to openly express their thoughts and ideas, where they participated in developing plans, and shared more openly with each other their work experiences—particularly their thoughts and feelings about each other and how they worked together as a management team. They agreed that if they built a high level of trust and openness, all their other concerns could be addressed.

Their list of other concerns was quite long: clearer areas of authority and responsibility, better communications between divisions and up and down the line of authority, stronger teamwork and consensus decision-making, and a long wish-list of items in the purely operational areas. They said that this laundry list was achievable once they established the right overall atmosphere; a work life and work experience that was open, trusting, satisfying, and motivating.

If there is a door into the room of Experience, the sign on the door might be "Relationships". If there are good relationships between people in a workplace, there is probably a high level of trust, caring, involvement, satisfaction, and motivation. You can improve relationships indirectly through better teamwork and consensus decision-making. But you can also improve relationships directly by simply getting to know people better.

Many years ago Meridian Group developed a process we call the Cultural Interview. It is probably the single most powerful tool I know for improving a company's culture. The interview strengthens relationships, which are the foundation for improved communications, which lead to better decisions and performance. To do the interview you sit quietly and privately with an employee and get to know each other better by sharing backgrounds, interests, workplace experiences, and hopes. For more on this relationship-building process see The Cultural Interview, http://www.meridiangrp.net/articles/interview.html

George introduced this interview process to his managers, first by interviewing each of them and then encouraging them to do the same with each other and with their individual work teams. It wasn't long before the whole workforce was engaged in the interview process.

It's easy to think about the workforce as a fixed item, as a number of people who can each do a certain amount of work. But people are not like that. A person's productivity depends on how they feel about their task. An engaged, motivated person will take responsibility for their job, and solve the problems related to it.

Experienced managers know that a motivated workforce, one that is thoroughly engaged with the task at hand, will create a work place of unparalleled productivity. The truth is that we have no understanding of the limit of human potential at work. After 30 years of working in this area I've yet to see a workplace that has come anywhere close to a limit in its potential performance—at least a limit that was imposed by the employees. Under George's leadership, his previous plant had doubled its productivity. He was well on the way to achieving similar results at his new location.

If you would like to discuss your own work situation, or would like me to give a presentation at your workplace, please email me, Barry Phegan, Ph.D., barry@meridiangrp.net

Barry Phegan

1. Visit the informational website www.companyculture.com.

2. Buy the book Developing Your Company Culture; a 187 page toolkit of practical information and examples. Click on http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0964220504



	Site Map \| FAQ \| Search A Better Workplace — Meridian Group's Newsletter, Number 51, 12-15-05 _________________________________________
	"If I Have Big Enough Lever, and a Fulcrum, I Can Move the World"* The human level of company culture is the most powerful lever to improve performance. The fulcrum is the quality of the employee's experience. This determines the level of motivation In newsletter #50 (http://www.meridiangrp.net/articles/Newsletter50.html) I discussed managing the three distinct operational areas of a company's culture—Equipment, Systems, and Competition. This newsletter looks at the most powerful half of company culture, the distinctively human areas—Communications and Experience. Capturing the Heart and Soul George W. had just been transferred to his company's largest plant. As plant manager he knew that if he was to turn this plant around and move it from bottom quartile performance to top-flight, he must get the immediate attention of his department managers. At his first management team meeting, after introductions, he said, "First I want to know of any injuries in the last week, and any layoffs or transfers. After that I want to hear the production numbers." His management team was silent. They were ready to give him the production side but were not prepared for people questions. George caught them out deliberately. George was a sophisticated manager. In his previous position he had moved the plant from middle-of-the-road performance to unchallengeable leadership in the corporation. As he said "I did that through people!" He was determined to repeat this at his new location. He knew that if he captured the hearts and minds of employees, they would willingly deliver improved performance. George focused on the people side because he knew the powerful leverage of a motivated and engaged workforce. He knew from experience that most workplaces overemphasize the production side of the business and underemphasize the people side. These unbalanced work cultures, when rebalanced, show astounding performance increases: a doubling of performance is not uncommon. Understanding the human side of a workplace is not like analyzing the operations areas. The Human Side of Culture Has Two Parts. Communication—which includes areas such as: language, meaning, listening, dialogue, understanding, relationships, teamwork, consensus, win-win. Experience—which includes areas such as: feelings, trust, fear, caring, values, involvement, satisfaction, motivation. Communication is something we usually manage by how we talk, how we create teams, and how we lead decisions. As I noted in the two previous newsletters, talking about communications may bog you down in words. It is usually simpler to communicate about something operational, such as, "How should we improve the business systems that affect and involve everybody?" As Elisa Doolittle sings in the musical My Fair Lady; "Don't talk to me about love, Show me, Now!" Experience is distinctively different. Unlike the first four levels of the culture, Equipment, Systems, Competition, and Communications, you cannot influence Experience directly. Experience is internal, immediate, and highly concrete. I may do something which I hope will build trust between us, but only you know from your immediate feelings if you trust me. Similarly I might try to motivate you, but only you will feel (if you are fortunate) the excitement and energy of motivation. And these feelings, your experiences, are not something you do or consciously decide. Our experience is what it is. Experiences may flow from our external actions or words, but they are purely personal, internal and unquestionably certain—you know what you have experienced. This is one reason why managing the human side of the workplace is both challenging and fascinating. You cannot order or direct people's experience. Success here comes from properly setting the stage; by carefully considering how you and your leadership team do what you do, that by example, tells the story of, "How we do things here". Choosing Your Stage It wasn't long after George got the attention of his management team that he engaged them in several discussions on what kind of a workplace they would like to build; one that would be good for them, good for employees, and good for productivity. George asked each manager in his team to describe what qualities they would like to have more of in the workplace. (For more on this see The Formal Culture Change Process at http://www.companyculture.com/change/formal.htm ) While his managers were not used to such discussions it didn't take them long to agree. They all wanted the same thing: a workplace where they felt safe to openly express their thoughts and ideas, where they participated in developing plans, and shared more openly with each other their work experiences—particularly their thoughts and feelings about each other and how they worked together as a management team. They agreed that if they built a high level of trust and openness, all their other concerns could be addressed. Their list of other concerns was quite long: clearer areas of authority and responsibility, better communications between divisions and up and down the line of authority, stronger teamwork and consensus decision-making, and a long wish-list of items in the purely operational areas. They said that this laundry list was achievable once they established the right overall atmosphere; a work life and work experience that was open, trusting, satisfying, and motivating. You Can Improve Relationships Directly If there is a door into the room of Experience, the sign on the door might be "Relationships". If there are good relationships between people in a workplace, there is probably a high level of trust, caring, involvement, satisfaction, and motivation. You can improve relationships indirectly through better teamwork and consensus decision-making. But you can also improve relationships directly by simply getting to know people better. Many years ago Meridian Group developed a process we call the Cultural Interview. It is probably the single most powerful tool I know for improving a company's culture. The interview strengthens relationships, which are the foundation for improved communications, which lead to better decisions and performance. To do the interview you sit quietly and privately with an employee and get to know each other better by sharing backgrounds, interests, workplace experiences, and hopes. For more on this relationship-building process see The Cultural Interview, http://www.meridiangrp.net/articles/interview.html George introduced this interview process to his managers, first by interviewing each of them and then encouraging them to do the same with each other and with their individual work teams. It wasn't long before the whole workforce was engaged in the interview process. Productivity Has No Known Limits It's easy to think about the workforce as a fixed item, as a number of people who can each do a certain amount of work. But people are not like that. A person's productivity depends on how they feel about their task. An engaged, motivated person will take responsibility for their job, and solve the problems related to it. Experienced managers know that a motivated workforce, one that is thoroughly engaged with the task at hand, will create a work place of unparalleled productivity. The truth is that we have no understanding of the limit of human potential at work. After 30 years of working in this area I've yet to see a workplace that has come anywhere close to a limit in its potential performance—at least a limit that was imposed by the employees. Under George's leadership, his previous plant had doubled its productivity. He was well on the way to achieving similar results at his new location. With the right lever you can move the world. * Attributed to Archimedes _________________________________________ Need Help? If you would like to discuss your own work situation, or would like me to give a presentation at your workplace, please email me, Barry Phegan, Ph.D., barry@meridiangrp.net Barry Phegan For New Tools to Improve Your Workplace: 1. Visit the informational website www.companyculture.com. 2. Buy the book Developing Your Company Culture; a 187 page toolkit of practical information and examples. Click on http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0964220504 .



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