 Focus--Learn--Engage
The Missing Link in Daily Operations? There is a missing link in frontline daily activities for initiating and continuing learning. Critical for maintaining creativity as well as engagement for any group with common goals or objectives. Also critical in frontline daily operations for most every enterprise, especially in the services sectors of most every industry. What's missing for the past half century? As simple as leading activities for re-asking, on the frontlines of daily operations, the critical questions as to "How are we doing?" with associates, customers, and even partners (internal and external). Simply, the missing link is leading a group in re-asking, mostly non-verbally, the critical questions for "How are we dong?" Leading associates to let the daily activities themselves provide customer feedback. Associates receive feedback from colleagues and supervisors but must also participate in asking the all-important questions (mostly non-verbally) for “How are we doing?” Officially we describe it as a secondary group asking process for daily operations. A frontline process, set of actions, for "leading asking" which includes activities for the all-important non-verbal aspects of learning, communication, thought, and emotion. This asking maintains a customer focus and dialogue not only with customers but also fellow team members and collaborating teams (both internal and external) as well. It answers for everyone and involves them in the number one question they need and want to know--"How are we doing?" An integral part of of the missing link is a critical and often missing feedback for associates--that from their own daily activities. Associates receive feedback from their colleagues (horizontal) and supervisors (vertical) but peak performers must also learn to get internal feedback from their own personal and group daily activities. Without internal feedback no one can sustain focus, learning, and commitment. As a learned skill, those people that have it are peak performers and contributors in your group. According to numerous surveys, about one third of your group's people have this skill/quality. It is a mystery exactly where they learn to self-motivate themselves through internal feedback as it is not on any curriculums but it is clear this skill is difficult to manage and comes through leadership--family, teachers, leaders, mentors, or peers.
An integral part of the entrepreneurial ethic in the early 1900's and was used to maintain a customer dialogue in enterprises large and small. Many organizations whose founders had great business models and operational execution also used this link to become world-renowned as "people" companies and were able to maintain a high degree of customer focus over extended periods of time and growth. Some of these founders, all from different industries, were Walt Disney (Entertainment), Sam Walton (Retail), Ray Kroc (Hospitality), and Thomas J. Watson (Technology). This feedback from their own daily activities is a learned skill and necessary for peak performance or for an associate to be "engaged". The Gallup Organization found in research on employee engagement that less than one third of employees are currently engaged. So the potential for improvement is enormous not to mention the retention of those employees currently engaged. The secondary group asking process addresses six principles we believe are necessary to win and maintain the hearts and minds of associates as well as customers and partners.
Presently your enterprise on the frontlines probably verbally asks and even gets non-verbal feedback from customers. The shortcomings here are that verbal may be as little as five percent of total learning/communications and while feedback supports learning, by itself it cannot either initiate or maintain learning/ownership. So what's missing are actions or secondary process to allow everyone on the frontlines to participate in asking the questions. This not only supports managerial activities but also allows for ownership, dialogue, focus, learning and richer experiences. Leading asking as a process also involves everyone in the sharing/assessing of feedback, demonstrating intentions, and many other soft skills which can only be partially managed with traditional top-down programs. What Happened to the Missing Link? The entrepreneurial ethic waned as industrial growth through the 1900's required vertical organizations to manage production and capital (monetary and human), This was accelerated by the end of WWII when the "iron curtain" sealed off many nations and of the free world much lay in ruins with a huge demand for products to rebuild from the United States. Virtually all the asking processes went to the top of the organization to be used by senior management to determine "what" needed to be done for the future of the organization. There was little concern in a hierarchical organization to involve frontline daily operations in the "how" of production or customers. Workers needed only to follow instructions to maximize speed and efficiency. This model continued especially in production for three decades until quality problems and overwhelming international competition forced the adoption of TQM (Total Quality Management) in the 1980's. Reformation was led by those such as Deming who convinced hierarchical organizations that they needed to institute leadership and pride in workmanship to solve quality issues and involve those in daily operations in the goals and problems of the enterprise. In short, TQM gave the frontlines the tools they needed such as cost controls and forecasting to be able to ask the all-important question "How are we doing?" Bringing the asking process through actions to everyone providing products for the customer. These experiences allowed participation, control of destiny, focus, commitments, and learning to turn the tide.
TQL (Total Quality Leadership) for Services? The legacy of TQM remains as managers of production still use the skills and tools to ask the questions needed to determine "how" they need to achieve the results they need. We have a need today in a service oriented economy to make this same link in providing services. Managing services with the transference of tools for production creates a foundation of discipline but is short-term when it comes to the dynamics of entrepreneurial ethics. The significant difference being that services puts a greater emphasis on relationships and the softer skills it takes to lead as well as manage them. Frontline managers have increasing demands to manage programs, policies, and procedures for a burgeoning number of products and services while simultaneously accountable for leading the development and morale of their associates. Add to this the pressures of increased competition and a uncertain economy and now maybe more than ever models are needed for customer retention and recruitment. More than sharing customer feedback, managers need processes, or sets of actions, to lead asking (inquiry, challenging, reflection, questioning) for everyone for the purpose of complimenting and continuing the existing managerial activities--not changing them. Senior management asks to manage "what" needs to be done such as missions, goals, or objectives. Frontline managers can compliment the "how" to get these done by leading motivation through activities for workplace beliefs and experiences in daily operations. These create a sense of purpose and participation for not only associates but customers and partners as well! Pride of workmanship is still important but now with the emphasis on services the need to institute leadership and a "sense of ownership" must be led to provide follow-through for the long-term. Asking accomplishes this because it is a truism that "when you ask the question you then own the answer." Also asking is basic in human nature for continuing learning, demonstrating intentions, and directing our interests/focus. While feedback (answers) support learning, it is asking, mostly non-verbal, that both initiates and continues learning.
© George Reavis - george@thankingcustomers.com |
Why Feedback and Training are Not Enough Discover the missing link in daily operations for leading associates’ involvement to retain customers.
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