THE MAP

Editors: Gail Finger, MS

Finger Consulting

gail@fingerconsulting.com

www.fingerconsulting.com

Laurie Breitner, MBA

Breitner & Associates

laurie@breitnerandassociates.com

www.breitnerandassociates.com

A free quarterly newsletter providing businesses with timely, accurate, inspiring information to guide them on their road to success

December 2002

The Map, a newsletter of useful information in quick-read format for business people seeking ways to improve their bottom line, is a joint publication of Gail Finger of Finger Consulting and Laurie Breitner of Breitner & Associates. Drawing on decades of experience, these business owners and their guest authors target their message to other business owners and leaders.

The goal of The Map is to provide information that will help you to:

· Become more competitive and profitable

· Work more effectively and successfully

· Create harmony and energy in your organization

· Manage significant change

To learn more, please email:

Laurie@BreitnerandAssociates.com

Or

Gail@FingerConsulting.com

If you would like to be notified when new editions are published, please e-mail either Laurie or Gail with “SUBSCRIBE” in the subject line. If you would like your name removed from our mailing list, simply e-mail Laurie or Gail with “REMOVE” in the subject line.

The Map includes information appropriate for a general audience. However, use of these opinions is no substitute for legal, accounting, investment and other professional services tailored to your specific organizational needs.

Help Wanted:

Motivation Coordinator

By Gail Finger

Have you ever wondered why your employees aren’t more motivated? Do you find that too many sick days are being used? Is productivity down, even though you have enough employees to get the work done? Read more.

Put This Genie to Work for You

By Laurie Breitner

Are you looking for a way to increase productivity, cut costs or increase customer retention? There’s a magic lamp on your shelf – you just have to put it to use! Read more

Real Issues/Straight Answers

By Gail Finger & Laurie Breitner

What’s keeping you awake at night? Are you looking for answers to the issues facing your organization? See what’s on our reader’s minds. We’ll answer questions of general interest to our readers in subsequent issues. If you are starved for ideas, we’ll give you “food for thought.” Read More

Nestlé’s “Secret” Ingredient

By Daniel C. Boyle

Are you a non-believer? Sixteen years ago, skepticism greeted a plan to establish an employee recognition program. Learn about the 100 Club program that outlasted early naysayers and became one of Nestlé’s secret ingredients for a satisfied workforce.” Read More.

Help Wanted

Motivation Coordinator

By Gail Finger

Have you ever wondered why your employees aren’t more motivated? Is productivity down? Maybe you don’t have enough “motivation coordinators” in your organization! Sound silly? Before passing judgment, read on.

This fall, I gave a brief presentation in Springfield, MA entitled Motivating Your Employees. In an interactive session, participants shared what motivates them and what shuts them down. Here is what the attendees - 35 business owners, managers, consultants and human resource professionals - listed. Even business owners and consultants were employees at some point in their lives, so they spoke from personal experience!

Motivators	Shut Downs
Recognition (bonuses, training, verbal, public acknowledgement)	Managers/leaders with a “do what I say, not what I do” attitude
Knowing how one’s contribution fits into the big picture	Managers/leaders failing to follow through on commitments
Good benefits	Unclear expectations
Achievable goals	Unpaid overtime
Job Security	Personality conflicts
Career growth opportunities and promotions	Lack of direction or too much direction from management
Being appreciated	Punishing mistakes
Money	Being yelled at
Good leaders/managers	Lack of acknowledgement for job well done
Praise	Late paychecks
Having the right tools to get the job done	Missed deadlines
Incentives	Poor tools
Attractive & clean work environment	Non-challenging work
	No privacy
	Too much negative talk and non-constructive criticism
	Unequal treatment or work distribution

Seminar participants all agreed that if there were more motivating going on, employees would be more productive, use fewer sick days and morale would be higher. It would improve the bottom line!

When asked who was responsible for making sure that there was more motivating and less de-motivating going on, the resounding answer was, “the leaders and managers!”

This makes perfect sense. In the many exit interviews I have conducted for client companies, the number one reason employees gave for leaving was “My manager.”

Having leaders and managers who can motivate employees will have a positive effect on the bottom line. Having even a single leader or manager who is not motivating employees will hurt your organization. So, what should you do?

Take a good look at your current leaders and managers. Do you have motivators or de-motivators?

If you are concerned that a manager or leader in your company is a “de-motivator”, it is imperative that you assess whether they are management material. Here are some simple ways to evaluate your current leaders and managers:

· 360° feedback

· Employee satisfaction surveys

· Cultural assessments

· Personality and work style evaluations

· Confidential interviews with managers and a range of employees

If you determine that some of your managers do have potential, but just need to acquire better “people” skills, invest in their development! If you don’t, you are setting your business up to be mediocre at best and to fail at worst. Management development programs return dividends ten times over in increased productivity, lower turnover, and better attendance!

Many companies promote technical experts to management positions because it’s the only available career growth step. Not everyone is suited to a supervisory role. Often such individuals are unhappy, yet loath to admit it. Who wants to complain about a promotion? The team suffers, the individual is unsuccessful, and the organization loses. It’s better for everyone to make a move, and quickly. Get buy-in from decision makers on feasible options then have a candid talk with the employee. Here are some possibilities:

· Would a lead technical role with no reports work?

· Might career counseling provide valuable ideas?

· Is it time to consider outplacement?

Be sure that every leader and manager in your organization has the aptitude and skills necessary to be a “motivation coordinator”. It is a critical success factor you cannot afford to ignore.

Gail Finger, MS assists client companies in becoming more competitive and profitable by focusing on the most important asset of any business: its people. Finger Consulting helps the executives, teams and leaders to realize and then to apply their full potential in the workplace using state-of-the-art motivational and assessment tools. www.fingerconsulting.com.

Put This Genie to Work for You

By Laurie Breitner

Looking for a way to increase productivity, cut costs or increase customer retention? There’s a magic lamp on your shelf – you just have to put it to use! Employee recognition programs have worked wonders for many companies, and they can do the same for you... Not sure how to proceed? A well-planned and executed employee recogntionrecognition program can get results. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Determine program goals

Do you want to reduce unplanned absences by 30%, reduce reported safety violations by 40%, or increase the number of employee suggestions by 25%? What specifically does your organization want to accomplish? Having a clear goal in mind will inform how you measure success, which departments to target and how program success will impact your bottom line.

Develop your budget

Some companies are so eager to start their employee recogntionrecognition program, thatprogram, they fail to do the numbers! Here are a few questions to get that ball rolling:

• Who would be eligible and what percentage of those participants would likely earn recognition?
• How much money would a successful program save? How much additional revenue would it generate?
• What portion of your estimated savings/sales increase would you invest in your program?
• How much would it cost to administer and communicate your program?

Select rewards

The key here is to determine what type of recognition will get your employees’ attention - without breaking the bank! Rewards should fit with your company culture and reflect the tastes of your target groups. Examples include:

• Movie passes
• Restaurant gift certificates
• Apparel (with the logo of your recognition program, of course!)

• Day off
• Extra long lunch break
• Pizza for the team

Remember, if rewards include tangible items, they should be inexpensive. High-ticket items often cause controversy and can be viewed as compensation rather than recognition.

Plan communication

It’s amazing how many companies design great recognition programs and then keep them secret! Pick ways to communicate that reach all all of your employees don’tyour employees. If e-mail isn’t available to everyone, find other ways to get your message out. Those you don’t reach will feel unrecognized for their contributions. Using two or three forms of communication will help ensure you get results. Consider e-mail, newsletters, bulletin boards, notice with paycheck and all employee meetings.

Work out the logistics

Ah, the logistics…the details that so many find distasteful. If you don’t love them yourself, delegate this to someone who thrives on details. You’ll be glad you did, because details matter! Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Who will be eligible to participate
• How rewards will be delivered – at what intervals? In what venue?
• Are there tax implicationsofimplications for planned rewards?

· How progress will be tracked and reported for each participant in the program

· How program results will be measured

Remember to have fun!

Employee recognition programs can have dramatic positive results when done well and are absolutely worth the effort. Employee recognition is one part of a culture of success that includes sincere employee appreciation. Invent ways to keep your program fresh and interesting and plan to keep it around for the long haul.

Examples of Goals, Measures and Impacts

Goal	Measure	Bottom Line Impact
Reduce unplanned absences and tardiness by __%	Attendance records	Improved productivity Increased machine utilization Improved customer service
Improve employee morale as measured by survey by __%	Employee satisfaction survey Observation by management or other	Improved productivity Increase employee retention Improved customer retention
Decrease reported safety violation and accidents by __%	OSHA log of reportable accidents Increased participation in safety training Observation by management	Reduced Worker's Comp. Premiums Reduced machine down time Improved productivity
Increase employee retention by __%	Average length of employment Turnover numbers	Decreased training costs Increased customer retention Decreased cost of hiring

Laurie Breitner, MBA, helps businesses on the road to success through strategic planning, organizational development, project management, operational improvement and technical and process documentation. For 11years, Breitner & Associates has helped business owners and senior managers effectively manage significant change. www.breitnerandassociates.com

Issue:

I’m a senior manager in a manufacturing company with 100 employees. We’re having difficulty with accountability. Many employees don't do what needs to be done unless someone is pushing them or supervising them very closely – even on the senior team! Our efforts to motivate employees - contests, prizes and recognition for a job well done - are just not working. What more can we do?

Answers:

Laurie: You’re not alone. This issue faces many organizations regardless of size or industry. What can you do? Get to the root of the problem or problems and involve your whole organization in the solution.

• Listen to your employees. Try employee surveys (to identify possible problems), focus groups and candid discussions with key influencers to get to the root of issues.

· Involve everyone in finding solutions. Ask for suggestions for improvement and take action on the suggestions.

· Communicate changes in every way possible to every employee.

• Empower your employees to be part of the solution, not perpetuate the problem. People won’t resist programs they helped to develop!
• Stay committed for the long haul. It takes time to effect change.

Gail: Unfortunately, this is a common problem. In my experience, the most common reasons for accountability problems are:

• Unclear or undocumented processes and procedures
• Questionable management effectiveness
• Ambiguous or misplaced motivation programs

These three factors are closely linked, and typically, one will affect another. It is important to assess the reasons for the problem before choosing fixes. Gather data via interviews and surveys. Once you have identified the issues, and are looking for ideas, try this:

• Look at the group in your organization that is most successful.
• Compare its management practices, processes and procedures and motivation strategies to less successful ones.
• Proliferate strategies that work.

If you do not see any successful groups in your organization, then it is truly time to bring in a consultant who can help you conduct a comprehensive organizational assessment to get at the root of the problem.

If you have an issue troubling you, e-mail either Gail or Laurie. We’ll answer one or two questions in each issue.

Naturally, your identity will remain confidential. Our responses will be general, as we will not have all the facts. Use of these opinions is no substitute professional services tailored to your specific organizational needs. Always consult a competent professional for answers to specific questions.

Nestlé’s “Secret” Ingredient

By Daniel C. Boyle

Sixteen years ago, I was asked to design, develop and implement an employee recognition program in a Nestle Chocolate operation in Fulton, N.Y. When I arrived for the start of a three-day design session, I was introduced to the newly hired general manager. “When is this program going to end?” was the first thing he asked. Flabbergasted, I replied, “When you tell employees – ‘Thanks, we really appreciate you’ – it is impossible to retract those words. This program may evolve into another form, but it should never end.” “I’ve been involved with lots of programs,” countered the GM. “They all have a starting point and they all end. I’m serious about wanting to know when this will end.

Without a doubt, this was the most exasperating discussion I ever had while trying to introduce my 100 Club employee recognition program. Unlike other programs specifically targeting attendance, safety, quality and cost savings - many of which do have ending dates – programs designed to recognize employees for their contributions to an organization’s success should not begin if the intent is a short-term quick fix. As Pete Surrette, president of a Massachusetts Paperworkers Union local, told the White House Conference on Productivity, “If you’re thinking about stopping - don’t start it in the first place. A company might not be able to withstand the bad feelings that will result.”

Surrette knew first-hand the benefits a company could get from employee recognition because the molded pulp manufacturing plant where he worked had saved $5.2 million using the 100 Club - in the program’s first 18 months. Fortunately, Nestlé’s GM Harry Jewett must have seen potential value in the 100 Club. At the end of the implementation session, he announced, “I’m going to take this one day at a time. Let’s see where it leads.”

The 100 Club was jointly introduced by management and labor to the 1,500 employees at the Fulton location. Best envisioned as an umbrella covering the workplace, the 100 Club explicitly recognized employees for doing what they’re supposed to do – come to work on time, pay close attention to safety and actively contribute to the success of their work group – the day-to-day activities that Nestle relied upon. As Nestle learned, the 100 Club is effective in encouraging every imaginable activity, whether performed as an individual, a member of a team or the organization collectively. For their contribution, Nestle employees earned points. The first 100 points earned “bought” membership in the 100 Club with its distinctive blue jacket; subsequent points could be turned in for inexpensive gifts.

Seasoned by years of union/management negotiations, employees first found the approach hard to believe. Eventually, everyone understood the 100 Club was recognition, not a financial incentive scheme. Its pure intent was to say, “Thanks a lot. We really appreciate your efforts.” With sincerely, explicitly expressed appreciation came improved morale and increased profits.

The 100 Club employee recognition system, the life span of which initially troubled GM Harry Jewett, has lasted five times longer than Jewett’s own tenure. The Fulton plant is closing at the end of 2002 - victim to the lack of viable means to expand and modernize equipment. It’s a testament to the value of the 100 Club program that it withstood the cost cutting that preceded the decision to shut down. As one employee remarked, “I worked here 23 years, and up to the end I knew the company appreciated my hard work.”

Daniel C. Boyle, an early guru of employee motivation, is the creator of the 100 Club, which uses a novel and successful approach - recognizing employees for average performance. He is the author of Secrets of a Successful Employee Recognition Program. Team 100, Dan’s next generation program, developed on the shop floor, builds on the principles of the 100 Club. www.ThankU.us.