Our company has launched an initiative we have called "Zero Defects", which is aimed at decreasing the number of defects that occur within our organization. Among the top defects that we would like to decrease are several safety related incidents, such as vehicle accidents, injuries, spills, and fuel cross-drops.
In the past, companies have focused their attention on improving unsafe work conditions, and not necessarily focusing on eliminating unsafe work activities. In recent years, researchers have discovered that 90% of industrial accidents have been related to work activities versus only 10% that were related to the actual work conditions.
The key take away from this research is that as a company we need to analyze those work activities which are unsafe. To help us identify unsafe work activities before they cause a safety incident, we are introducing a new safety related initiative - Near Miss Reporting.
This safety initiative is based on the premise that the person who regularly performs a task is best suited to identify potential safety hazards. Think about a simple task like driving to work. I bet some of you were almost in an accident just driving to work today? These were near misses. Now think about some of the more complicated tasks that take place within our company. Tasks like driving a fuel truck, filling a propane bottle, or operating a forklift. With these tasks the probability of an incident occurring increases dramatically.
By now many of you have been introduced to our Near Miss Report. You know what it looks like and what information is contained in it. The question on your mind might be, "Why is it so important to report a near miss accident?" Nothing happened, no damage was done, and no one was hurt. Maybe you have concerns that if you turn in a Near Miss Report, you will open yourself up for a reprimand or even worse, termination.
Let me reassure you that the purpose of the Near Miss Report is not to reprimand or terminate anyone. In fact, if any team member has concerns about turning in a Near Miss Report to their manager, I would encourage them to turn the form in anonymously.
Why are we taking this so serious? Studies have shown that for every 600 near misses that take place within a company, there are at least 90 actual incidents involving equipment or property damage, 10 minor injuries involving lost work time, and sadly at least 1 major injury or death.
The information you report in the Near Miss Report will be analyzed by your manager and the company's Safety Committee. This analysis will help us identify unsafe activities and work conditions, so that potential accidents can be prevented.
Working together we can make our company safer for everyone.
Working together we can create a defect free environment.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. tony@repowell.net
Tony Christensen
www.repowell.net
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Stagnation
R.E. Powell, General Transport, and Amerifuel have initiated a project called "Zero Defects". Our desired outcome from this project is to significantly decrease the number of errors/mistakes that we cause that negatively impact our customers. During the month of August we began tracking a variety of defects that are taking place within the company. As we started tracking the defects, we noticed that each week, the number of defects reported increased over the prior week. By the end of the month we were documenting a much higher level of defects as compared to the beginning of the month.
Were we really making more mistakes as time passed by? Was our performance actually decreasing instead of increasing?
To better understand this situation, I'd like to share the following experience. During a recent trip to Mount Rainier National Park, our family hiked from the lodge at Paradise to Myrtle Falls. It was a short hike, but with three young kids and a very pregnant wife, it was challenging nonetheless. As we reached the falls, our efforts were rewarded with a breathtaking sight. Glacier fed water sparkled in the sunlight as it tumbled over large boulders. Wildflowers bloomed in all directions, as majestic Mount Rainier towered above us. A few days after our visit to Mount Rainier I was standing on the bank of a small river in Eastern Washington. The current was very weak at this part of the river and the water's stagnation, had allowed the water to become murky, smelly, and full of unsightly growth. While I stared at the river, I contrasted what I saw with what I had seen just a few days earlier at Mount Rainier.
Stagnation can have a similar negative effect on our business. When significant performance gaps exist within a business, and team members avoid dealing with these gaps, the business will develop murky, smelly stuff. You know the stuff I'm talking about. It's the stuff nobody wants to talk about. It's the stuff we try to sweep under the rug so no one sees it. The funny thing is, even though we do our best to hide this stuff, everyone usually knows it's there.
In contrast, when our teams make a conscious decision to embrace performance gaps, they have taken the first step in combating stagnation. With our Zero Defects Project, we have taken this first step, and it shouldn't be a surprise that we are uncovering some murky, smelly stuff.
During August we recorded 39 defects. This means that our performance gaps negatively impacted at least 39 customers. Remember, this is 39 defects in just 31 days. What if this performance continued for a whole year? That would mean almost 500 customers could potentially be negatively impacted by our performance gaps. Kind of mind-blowing, huh?
The second step in combating stagnation is to focus on closing the performance gaps. This is the fun part! During this step, teams embrace the fact that gaps in performance are normal, and instead of hiding the problems, they begin making the necessary changes to close the gaps. This is when performance really starts to accelerate, and just like the water cascading down Myrtle Falls; it can be a breathtaking experience.
Are you seeing significant performance gaps in your department? What are your thoughts on how we can get real traction on closing these performance gaps?
I'd love to hear your thoughts. tony@repowell.net
Tony Christensen
www.repowell.net
Were we really making more mistakes as time passed by? Was our performance actually decreasing instead of increasing?
To better understand this situation, I'd like to share the following experience. During a recent trip to Mount Rainier National Park, our family hiked from the lodge at Paradise to Myrtle Falls. It was a short hike, but with three young kids and a very pregnant wife, it was challenging nonetheless. As we reached the falls, our efforts were rewarded with a breathtaking sight. Glacier fed water sparkled in the sunlight as it tumbled over large boulders. Wildflowers bloomed in all directions, as majestic Mount Rainier towered above us. A few days after our visit to Mount Rainier I was standing on the bank of a small river in Eastern Washington. The current was very weak at this part of the river and the water's stagnation, had allowed the water to become murky, smelly, and full of unsightly growth. While I stared at the river, I contrasted what I saw with what I had seen just a few days earlier at Mount Rainier.
Stagnation can have a similar negative effect on our business. When significant performance gaps exist within a business, and team members avoid dealing with these gaps, the business will develop murky, smelly stuff. You know the stuff I'm talking about. It's the stuff nobody wants to talk about. It's the stuff we try to sweep under the rug so no one sees it. The funny thing is, even though we do our best to hide this stuff, everyone usually knows it's there.
In contrast, when our teams make a conscious decision to embrace performance gaps, they have taken the first step in combating stagnation. With our Zero Defects Project, we have taken this first step, and it shouldn't be a surprise that we are uncovering some murky, smelly stuff.
During August we recorded 39 defects. This means that our performance gaps negatively impacted at least 39 customers. Remember, this is 39 defects in just 31 days. What if this performance continued for a whole year? That would mean almost 500 customers could potentially be negatively impacted by our performance gaps. Kind of mind-blowing, huh?
The second step in combating stagnation is to focus on closing the performance gaps. This is the fun part! During this step, teams embrace the fact that gaps in performance are normal, and instead of hiding the problems, they begin making the necessary changes to close the gaps. This is when performance really starts to accelerate, and just like the water cascading down Myrtle Falls; it can be a breathtaking experience.
Are you seeing significant performance gaps in your department? What are your thoughts on how we can get real traction on closing these performance gaps?
I'd love to hear your thoughts. tony@repowell.net
Tony Christensen
www.repowell.net
Our Most Important Customer
In a recent company meeting, a conversation developed around who is our company's most important customer. Several customer names were tossed out, and by the end of the discussion, the group had come to a consensus - The most important customer is the ONE you are currently serving. (I think these team members came up with a very profound answer to their question.)
A lot of companies talk about the importance of customer service, so I've often wondered why so few companies actually have great customer service. Is great customer service really that difficult?
In a perfect world, customer service would be easy -
• We would always know the right answer to every customer question.
• Every team member would show up to work with a great attitude, ready to happily serve the next customer.
• Every customer would be a pleasure to serve.
Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world. Some days we allow personal issues to affect our attitude. Then there's that one customer that just seems to drive us crazy. In an imperfect world customer service can definitely be challenging.
Joseph Campbell, an American philosopher and professor once said "opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging."
What if we looked at customer service challenges as opportunities to grow? What would happen if we were to look at each customer as our most important? Would we be more willing to give them the service they deserve?
When we provide great customer service regardless of the customer or situation, we demonstrate our professionalism and commitment to excellence. On a personal level we find deeper powers within ourselves. On a professional level, we elevate our company's level of customer service.
Its one thing to have good customer service, and its entirely another thing to have great customer service. Our goal should be to have great customer service.
So, the next time you find yourself in a challenging customer service situation, just remember - you are serving our most important customer; give them the customer service they deserve.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. tony@repowell.net
Tony Christensen
www.repowell.net
A lot of companies talk about the importance of customer service, so I've often wondered why so few companies actually have great customer service. Is great customer service really that difficult?
In a perfect world, customer service would be easy -
• We would always know the right answer to every customer question.
• Every team member would show up to work with a great attitude, ready to happily serve the next customer.
• Every customer would be a pleasure to serve.
Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world. Some days we allow personal issues to affect our attitude. Then there's that one customer that just seems to drive us crazy. In an imperfect world customer service can definitely be challenging.
Joseph Campbell, an American philosopher and professor once said "opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging."
What if we looked at customer service challenges as opportunities to grow? What would happen if we were to look at each customer as our most important? Would we be more willing to give them the service they deserve?
When we provide great customer service regardless of the customer or situation, we demonstrate our professionalism and commitment to excellence. On a personal level we find deeper powers within ourselves. On a professional level, we elevate our company's level of customer service.
Its one thing to have good customer service, and its entirely another thing to have great customer service. Our goal should be to have great customer service.
So, the next time you find yourself in a challenging customer service situation, just remember - you are serving our most important customer; give them the customer service they deserve.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. tony@repowell.net
Tony Christensen
www.repowell.net
Our Culture
A couple of weeks ago I had a job candidate ask me the following question: "what factors led to Powell-Christensen's strong record of growth and success." I responded by saying that it was our unique culture.
Realizing, that the candidate was probably looking for a more specific answer, I mentioned to him that certain values and behaviors have been espoused by the company's founders and owners, and over the years the company has tried to hire individuals who embody these values and behaviors. I further explained that as the company has grown, we have been vigilant in preserving and promoting our unique culture.
Let me now fast forward to an experience I had last week. I was chatting with one of our newest employees, and during that conversation the employee asked me some basic questions about the company, including "what makes our company special?" I asked the new employee if anyone had reviewed our company history and core values with him. He informed me that he had been told very little about the company. My mind instantly flashed back to the interview I'd had a few days earlier, in which I had touted our company's vigilance in preserving and promoting our culture. I was very disturbed by the apparent contradiction between the two experiences.
Our history is a collection of both our achievements and failures, it tells a story of where we have been, and more importantly it provides important clues as to where we want to go in the future.
Our core values tell people what we stand for. They do not change from time to time, situation to situation, or person to person, but rather they are the underpinnings of who we are.
Together, our history and core values are the soul of our company. They are OUR CULTURE.
Regardless of how large our company becomes, we can preserve our culture and promote what has always been special about our company. But we can't be complacent, we must be Vigilant.
The company needs your help. I would like each employee to do the following:
1. Go to www.repowell.net, click on the "Who We Are" tab located on the top of the homepage, and review our History, Core Values, Awards and Recognition, and Community Participation.
2. Respond back to me with things that we can do to preserve and promote our culture, history, and core values within our company.
I will gather up and compile your responses. I will then share the full list of ideas with everyone. I will also make a promise that as a company we will utilize some of your ideas to help us do a better job of promoting and preserving our culture.
Thanks,
Tony
tony@repowell.net
Realizing, that the candidate was probably looking for a more specific answer, I mentioned to him that certain values and behaviors have been espoused by the company's founders and owners, and over the years the company has tried to hire individuals who embody these values and behaviors. I further explained that as the company has grown, we have been vigilant in preserving and promoting our unique culture.
Let me now fast forward to an experience I had last week. I was chatting with one of our newest employees, and during that conversation the employee asked me some basic questions about the company, including "what makes our company special?" I asked the new employee if anyone had reviewed our company history and core values with him. He informed me that he had been told very little about the company. My mind instantly flashed back to the interview I'd had a few days earlier, in which I had touted our company's vigilance in preserving and promoting our culture. I was very disturbed by the apparent contradiction between the two experiences.
Our history is a collection of both our achievements and failures, it tells a story of where we have been, and more importantly it provides important clues as to where we want to go in the future.
Our core values tell people what we stand for. They do not change from time to time, situation to situation, or person to person, but rather they are the underpinnings of who we are.
Together, our history and core values are the soul of our company. They are OUR CULTURE.
Regardless of how large our company becomes, we can preserve our culture and promote what has always been special about our company. But we can't be complacent, we must be Vigilant.
The company needs your help. I would like each employee to do the following:
1. Go to www.repowell.net, click on the "Who We Are" tab located on the top of the homepage, and review our History, Core Values, Awards and Recognition, and Community Participation.
2. Respond back to me with things that we can do to preserve and promote our culture, history, and core values within our company.
I will gather up and compile your responses. I will then share the full list of ideas with everyone. I will also make a promise that as a company we will utilize some of your ideas to help us do a better job of promoting and preserving our culture.
Thanks,
Tony
tony@repowell.net
What Gets Measured Get Improved
As part of our Customer Focused Strategy, we have set a goal to significantly decrease the number of mistakes and errors that we cause that negatively impact our customers. We call these mistakes and errors - Defects. We have set a goal to decrease our defects by 50% during the next 90 days.
There's an old adage that says "What gets measured gets improved". To help us in achieving our defect goal, we have established a system to measure the number of defects that occur within our company.
As part of this process, we are asking each department to "OWN" their defects. To achieve our goal, we need each department to willingly self-report any defects that take place within their department. Each department manager will then report these defects our weekly manager conference call.
Here's a rundown of the departments and the manager(s) who is responsible for reporting their results:
Grandview Admin - Susan Lopez & Todd Hurlburt
General Transport - Jeff Doss & Ron Covington
Grandview Plant - Todd Hurlburt
Yakima & Toppenish Plants - Rob Derrey
Pasco Plant - Jeff Bonnington
Walla Walla Plant - Don Olson
Dealer Business - Susan Lopez
Here's how we will be categorizing our defects:
Major Shipping Defects
- Spill Over 5 Gallons
- DOT Recordable Accident
- OSHA Recordable Injury
- Product Cross Dump
- Customer Run Out - Our Fault
- Damage to Customer's Property
- Product Delivered on Wrong Day
- Tank Overfill (95% Capacity)
Minor Shipping Defects
- Product Retain -Our Fault
- Wrong Product Delivered
- Delivered to Wrong Location
- Bill of Lading Error - Missing/Incomplete/Incorrect
- Minor Spill - Less than 5 gallons
- Minor Injury (Medical Assistance Required, but no time loss)
Major Administrative Defects
- Billing Wrong Customer Account
- Incorrectly Applying Customer Payment to Wrong Account
- EFT Wrong Customer
Minor Admin Defects
- Billing Incorrect Product
- Over/Under Charge Customer
- Customer Call Not Returned Within Reasonable Timeframe
- No Invoice Sent to Customer
We are all part of this process. As you see customer defects take place, please report them to your managers. We are confident that as we measure our performance, we are going to see our performance improve. We will keep everyone updated on our performance by reporting our progress in the weekly Team Update.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Tony@repowell.net
Tony Christensen
www.repowell.net
There's an old adage that says "What gets measured gets improved". To help us in achieving our defect goal, we have established a system to measure the number of defects that occur within our company.
As part of this process, we are asking each department to "OWN" their defects. To achieve our goal, we need each department to willingly self-report any defects that take place within their department. Each department manager will then report these defects our weekly manager conference call.
Here's a rundown of the departments and the manager(s) who is responsible for reporting their results:
Grandview Admin - Susan Lopez & Todd Hurlburt
General Transport - Jeff Doss & Ron Covington
Grandview Plant - Todd Hurlburt
Yakima & Toppenish Plants - Rob Derrey
Pasco Plant - Jeff Bonnington
Walla Walla Plant - Don Olson
Dealer Business - Susan Lopez
Here's how we will be categorizing our defects:
Major Shipping Defects
- Spill Over 5 Gallons
- DOT Recordable Accident
- OSHA Recordable Injury
- Product Cross Dump
- Customer Run Out - Our Fault
- Damage to Customer's Property
- Product Delivered on Wrong Day
- Tank Overfill (95% Capacity)
Minor Shipping Defects
- Product Retain -Our Fault
- Wrong Product Delivered
- Delivered to Wrong Location
- Bill of Lading Error - Missing/Incomplete/Incorrect
- Minor Spill - Less than 5 gallons
- Minor Injury (Medical Assistance Required, but no time loss)
Major Administrative Defects
- Billing Wrong Customer Account
- Incorrectly Applying Customer Payment to Wrong Account
- EFT Wrong Customer
Minor Admin Defects
- Billing Incorrect Product
- Over/Under Charge Customer
- Customer Call Not Returned Within Reasonable Timeframe
- No Invoice Sent to Customer
We are all part of this process. As you see customer defects take place, please report them to your managers. We are confident that as we measure our performance, we are going to see our performance improve. We will keep everyone updated on our performance by reporting our progress in the weekly Team Update.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Tony@repowell.net
Tony Christensen
www.repowell.net
Mission: Zero Defects
Over the past three months our company has been engaged in crafting and implementing a customer focused strategy. As part of this process we identified six objective distinctions which define our customer strategy. These distinctions are: Pricing, Product Variety, Knowledgeable Employees, On-Time Delivery, Zero Defects, and Cost Management Solutions.
To help us get a clearer picture of how we are currently performing on each of these six distinctions, we gathered feedback from our employees and customers via a comment website. The feedback we gathered was critical in helping us identify areas of our business that should be improved.
The feedback we received from many of you and several of our customers, highlighted the fact that we make our fair share of mistakes. These mistakes have negative effects on our customers as well as our employees. Based on this feedback, the company's management has decided that the first objective distinction that we are going to work on improving is Zero Defects.
(Please note: In reality, it would be impossible for our entire company to operate completely error free, however we know that we can dramatically improve our performance in this area, and that is our goal.)
To help us get traction on our goal of achieving Zero Defects, we have put together the following plan:
Step 1: Tracking Defects - The company will develop a system for tracking defects. This system will track accidents, incidents, and mistakes from every department within the company. This will include our sales, dispatch, billing, credit, and delivery departments.
Step 2: Establish Benchmarks - During the month of August, we will track our performance in regards to defects. Based on this data we will determine how we are performing, and establish defect goals for the months of September and October.
Step 3: Communicate Progress - We will communicate our progress on this plan in our weekly Team Update newsletter.
Step 4: Reward and Recognize - We want to reward and recognize those team members and departments that help us in reaching our Zero Defect goals. (If you have any ideas on this, please share them with your manager or with me.)
Every department within the company will be involved with this project, and your active engagement in the process is critical.
How can you be engaged in this process? Here's a few thoughts:
• If you have ideas on what you and/or your department can do to decrease the number of defects/mistakes experienced by our customers, please share your ideas with your manager.
• Make sure that you know what defects your team is tracking, and stay updated on your department's performance.
• As mistakes/defects happen, analyze them. Find out why the defect took place, and be proactive in finding ways to minimize the possibility of that defect in the future.
Remember - It's one thing to be good at what you do, and it's an entirely different thing to be the best. Our Mission is to be the best distributor of fuel, lubricants and propane.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Tony@repowell.net
Tony Christensen
www.repowell.net
To help us get a clearer picture of how we are currently performing on each of these six distinctions, we gathered feedback from our employees and customers via a comment website. The feedback we gathered was critical in helping us identify areas of our business that should be improved.
The feedback we received from many of you and several of our customers, highlighted the fact that we make our fair share of mistakes. These mistakes have negative effects on our customers as well as our employees. Based on this feedback, the company's management has decided that the first objective distinction that we are going to work on improving is Zero Defects.
(Please note: In reality, it would be impossible for our entire company to operate completely error free, however we know that we can dramatically improve our performance in this area, and that is our goal.)
To help us get traction on our goal of achieving Zero Defects, we have put together the following plan:
Step 1: Tracking Defects - The company will develop a system for tracking defects. This system will track accidents, incidents, and mistakes from every department within the company. This will include our sales, dispatch, billing, credit, and delivery departments.
Step 2: Establish Benchmarks - During the month of August, we will track our performance in regards to defects. Based on this data we will determine how we are performing, and establish defect goals for the months of September and October.
Step 3: Communicate Progress - We will communicate our progress on this plan in our weekly Team Update newsletter.
Step 4: Reward and Recognize - We want to reward and recognize those team members and departments that help us in reaching our Zero Defect goals. (If you have any ideas on this, please share them with your manager or with me.)
Every department within the company will be involved with this project, and your active engagement in the process is critical.
How can you be engaged in this process? Here's a few thoughts:
• If you have ideas on what you and/or your department can do to decrease the number of defects/mistakes experienced by our customers, please share your ideas with your manager.
• Make sure that you know what defects your team is tracking, and stay updated on your department's performance.
• As mistakes/defects happen, analyze them. Find out why the defect took place, and be proactive in finding ways to minimize the possibility of that defect in the future.
Remember - It's one thing to be good at what you do, and it's an entirely different thing to be the best. Our Mission is to be the best distributor of fuel, lubricants and propane.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Tony@repowell.net
Tony Christensen
www.repowell.net
Our Customer Focus Strategy
Our Customer Focus Strategy
Recently, our management team worked together with a strategy consulting company called Peer Place to clearly define the key elements of our Customer Strategy. Peer Place called these elements our Objective Distinctions.
Based on the work we did with PeerPlace, we identified the following six Objective Distinctions:
• Pricing
• Zero Defects
• On-Time Delivery
• Knowledgeable Employees
• Product Variety
• Cost Management
Our management team believes that each of the above elements is critical to our long-term customer strategy. In an effort to find out how well we are currently performing on each of these Objective Distinctions, we utilized a customer and employee comment site to gather feedback. Here's a summary of what you and our customers told us.
Pricing
R.E. Powell and General Transport have done an excellent job of securing multiple suppliers and supply points. In addition, the company has built a strong distribution network. These capabilities have given R.E. Powell the ability to be very competitive with its prices. With this said, many of you feel that our prices are not always in line with our competitors. Sometimes we charge too much or too little when compared to the competition's pricing.
Zero Defects
According to many of our employees and customers, we make our fair share of mistakes. Many of you feel that we are doing about as good a job as most of our competitors, but you are not satisfied with being average. You want to be the best, so we definitely have room for improvement.
On-Time Delivery
Many of our employees were very passionate about this objective distinction. Over the past few years our team has put a lot of effort into making sure that we get the product to the customer on-time. I just looked at our On-Time % Charts for 2008, 2009, and 2010. In 2008, our company's on-time % was below 90%. During the first half of 2010 we averaged above 97%. This is fantastic. This is a tribute to our wonderful team of drivers, dispatchers, plant managers, and front office personnel. Great Job Team!
Knowledgeable Employees
Many of you feel that we have very knowledgeable employees. What a surprise? I have to agree with you all, we do have a good, strong base of intelligent, knowledgeable employees. Some of you mentioned that you would like management to be proactive in providing you with additional training and resources that will enable you to better serve our customers. Management appreciates your desires to increase your level of customer service.
Product Variety
We carry a lot of products, but many of our customers and employees did not really know how large of a product variety we currently carry. Some of you think we carry more products then we should. Based on your feedback, we don't need to distribute more products, but focus on being better at distributing the products we are already offer. We also need to do a better job of training all our employees on the products we currently carry.
Cost Management
When we speak of Cost Management we mean the ability to consistently provide our customers with innovative, industry leading costs saving solutions. This is a newer concept for us, but based on the feedback we gathered, the marketplace is hungry for someone to provide these solutions. The feedback we gathered told us that many of our employees and customers see this as an area that we can truly differentiate ourselves from the competition.
So, what do you think? Do these six Objective Distinctions adequately describe the key elements of our customer strategy?
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Tony@repowell.net
Tony Christensen
www.repowell.net
Recently, our management team worked together with a strategy consulting company called Peer Place to clearly define the key elements of our Customer Strategy. Peer Place called these elements our Objective Distinctions.
Based on the work we did with PeerPlace, we identified the following six Objective Distinctions:
• Pricing
• Zero Defects
• On-Time Delivery
• Knowledgeable Employees
• Product Variety
• Cost Management
Our management team believes that each of the above elements is critical to our long-term customer strategy. In an effort to find out how well we are currently performing on each of these Objective Distinctions, we utilized a customer and employee comment site to gather feedback. Here's a summary of what you and our customers told us.
Pricing
R.E. Powell and General Transport have done an excellent job of securing multiple suppliers and supply points. In addition, the company has built a strong distribution network. These capabilities have given R.E. Powell the ability to be very competitive with its prices. With this said, many of you feel that our prices are not always in line with our competitors. Sometimes we charge too much or too little when compared to the competition's pricing.
Zero Defects
According to many of our employees and customers, we make our fair share of mistakes. Many of you feel that we are doing about as good a job as most of our competitors, but you are not satisfied with being average. You want to be the best, so we definitely have room for improvement.
On-Time Delivery
Many of our employees were very passionate about this objective distinction. Over the past few years our team has put a lot of effort into making sure that we get the product to the customer on-time. I just looked at our On-Time % Charts for 2008, 2009, and 2010. In 2008, our company's on-time % was below 90%. During the first half of 2010 we averaged above 97%. This is fantastic. This is a tribute to our wonderful team of drivers, dispatchers, plant managers, and front office personnel. Great Job Team!
Knowledgeable Employees
Many of you feel that we have very knowledgeable employees. What a surprise? I have to agree with you all, we do have a good, strong base of intelligent, knowledgeable employees. Some of you mentioned that you would like management to be proactive in providing you with additional training and resources that will enable you to better serve our customers. Management appreciates your desires to increase your level of customer service.
Product Variety
We carry a lot of products, but many of our customers and employees did not really know how large of a product variety we currently carry. Some of you think we carry more products then we should. Based on your feedback, we don't need to distribute more products, but focus on being better at distributing the products we are already offer. We also need to do a better job of training all our employees on the products we currently carry.
Cost Management
When we speak of Cost Management we mean the ability to consistently provide our customers with innovative, industry leading costs saving solutions. This is a newer concept for us, but based on the feedback we gathered, the marketplace is hungry for someone to provide these solutions. The feedback we gathered told us that many of our employees and customers see this as an area that we can truly differentiate ourselves from the competition.
So, what do you think? Do these six Objective Distinctions adequately describe the key elements of our customer strategy?
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Tony@repowell.net
Tony Christensen
www.repowell.net
Starting the Transformation
Our company has started on a journey to create an environment characterized by candid feedback, employee engagement, and value creation. As promised in last week's blog, here's a review of how we are progressing with this transformation.
Step 1: Develop a process for regularly measuring employee engagement.
In May, we asked each employee to complete what we called a "Well-Being Survey". Then, in June, we set up an employee comment website, and we asked each employee to log in to the site and vote/comment on a variety of topics. One of the purposes for the survey and employee comment site was to measure our company's level of employee engagement. Our participation rate on both the survey and website was approximately 40%.
Moving forward, we plan on using employee surveys, comment websites, and other tools to check-in with all of you and see how engaged you feel.
Step 2: Implement a process to solidify and communicate the "objective distinctions" of our customer strategy. Involve managers, employees and customers in the process of constructing this process.
Over the past two months, our company has participated in a strategy planning project with a consulting company called PeerPlace. The first step in this process was for our company's management team to meet with PeerPlace and define the distinct elements of our customer strategy. PeerPlace called these elements our "Objective Distinctions". (In my next blog, I will elaborate more on the Objective Distinctions of our customer srategy.)
Step two of this process was to compare how we stacked up on these Objective Distinctions versus one of our major competitors. To visually represent this comparison, PeerPlace helped us create a visual display of our strategy and the competitor's strategy. We called this visual display our Strategy Map.
Step three was to launch a website where we could capture both employee and customer feedback on our strategy. On this website employees and customers were given an opportunity to vote/comment on how they felt we were performing on each of our "objective distinctions".
Step four was for the management team to gather and analyze the feedback from the website. Based on this feedback the management team made adjustments to the Strategy Map, and created a Future Strategy Map, which represented how we wanted our company to look in the future.
At our next management team meeting, the team plans on identifying and prioritizing the strategic initiatives that will allow the company to achieve its Future Strategy Map.
Step 3: Develop a system to objectively measure progress on each of the strategic initiatives. Post this for everyone to see the monthly progress.
Once the company's management team completes Step 2, the team plans on determining how it will measure and report the company's progress on each of the strategic initiatives. We want everyone on the R.E. Powell and General Transport teams to be able to track our progress, so let us know if you have any ideas on how we should report our progress to all of you.
Step 4: Implement structured meetings to provide management, team members, and customers with a forum to provide and receive candid feedback.
To ensure that we continue to receive valuable feedback, the company has institutionalized certain meetings in an effort to develop feedback loops between managers, employees, and customers. These meetings include:
Weekly 1:1 Meeting
Each manager is expected to meet at least once a week with each team member that reports directly to them. This meeting is used to do a quick check-in. It provides the manager with an opportunity to check the status of certain projects, initiatives, or tasks that the employee has been asked to accomplish. This meeting also provides the employee with an opportunity to gain clarification on any open issues, and provides a forum for the employee to share valuable feedback with his or her manager.
Weekly Department Meeting
Each department/team in the company should be holding weekly department meetings. These meetings should be no longer than 15-30 minutes. The first half of the meeting is reserved for team members to report on key metrics or projects that they are responsible for. The second half of the meeting is reserved for team members to discuss challenges, problems, or opportunities that they feel the team should be aware of.
Monthly Department Meeting
The monthly meeting should last 1 - 2 hours and should provide the team with an opportunity to review the past month's performance, and most importantly to do a review of the team's strategic initiatives. This meeting can also provide some time for some training and problem solving.
Quarterly Customer Review
In 2009, the sales team implemented the use of quarterly customer reviews. The information gathered during the customer quarterly reviews is compiled by the Territory Manager and sent to the Director of Sales as well as the respective Plant Manager/Department Manager. The feedback gathered from these meetings is shared with the rest of the company's management team during the weekly and monthly meetings.
Step 5: Twice annually, complete anonymous, web-based, 360 reviews for each manager.
The company is looking into an economical way to accomplish this step.
Our company has started on an exciting journey. Our end goal is to create a more dynamic company which is characterized by candid feedback, employee engagement, and value creation. Those team members that fully engage themselves in this journey will undoubtedly get much more out of the experience. So buckle your seat belt, and enjoy the ride. Or you could also say "To Infinity and Beyond".
PS: The first person to email me back with the character and movie that I got "To Inifinity and Beyond" from, will receive a Chevron Gift Card.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Tony@repowell.net
Tony Christensen
www.repowell.net
Step 1: Develop a process for regularly measuring employee engagement.
In May, we asked each employee to complete what we called a "Well-Being Survey". Then, in June, we set up an employee comment website, and we asked each employee to log in to the site and vote/comment on a variety of topics. One of the purposes for the survey and employee comment site was to measure our company's level of employee engagement. Our participation rate on both the survey and website was approximately 40%.
Moving forward, we plan on using employee surveys, comment websites, and other tools to check-in with all of you and see how engaged you feel.
Step 2: Implement a process to solidify and communicate the "objective distinctions" of our customer strategy. Involve managers, employees and customers in the process of constructing this process.
Over the past two months, our company has participated in a strategy planning project with a consulting company called PeerPlace. The first step in this process was for our company's management team to meet with PeerPlace and define the distinct elements of our customer strategy. PeerPlace called these elements our "Objective Distinctions". (In my next blog, I will elaborate more on the Objective Distinctions of our customer srategy.)
Step two of this process was to compare how we stacked up on these Objective Distinctions versus one of our major competitors. To visually represent this comparison, PeerPlace helped us create a visual display of our strategy and the competitor's strategy. We called this visual display our Strategy Map.
Step three was to launch a website where we could capture both employee and customer feedback on our strategy. On this website employees and customers were given an opportunity to vote/comment on how they felt we were performing on each of our "objective distinctions".
Step four was for the management team to gather and analyze the feedback from the website. Based on this feedback the management team made adjustments to the Strategy Map, and created a Future Strategy Map, which represented how we wanted our company to look in the future.
At our next management team meeting, the team plans on identifying and prioritizing the strategic initiatives that will allow the company to achieve its Future Strategy Map.
Step 3: Develop a system to objectively measure progress on each of the strategic initiatives. Post this for everyone to see the monthly progress.
Once the company's management team completes Step 2, the team plans on determining how it will measure and report the company's progress on each of the strategic initiatives. We want everyone on the R.E. Powell and General Transport teams to be able to track our progress, so let us know if you have any ideas on how we should report our progress to all of you.
Step 4: Implement structured meetings to provide management, team members, and customers with a forum to provide and receive candid feedback.
To ensure that we continue to receive valuable feedback, the company has institutionalized certain meetings in an effort to develop feedback loops between managers, employees, and customers. These meetings include:
Weekly 1:1 Meeting
Each manager is expected to meet at least once a week with each team member that reports directly to them. This meeting is used to do a quick check-in. It provides the manager with an opportunity to check the status of certain projects, initiatives, or tasks that the employee has been asked to accomplish. This meeting also provides the employee with an opportunity to gain clarification on any open issues, and provides a forum for the employee to share valuable feedback with his or her manager.
Weekly Department Meeting
Each department/team in the company should be holding weekly department meetings. These meetings should be no longer than 15-30 minutes. The first half of the meeting is reserved for team members to report on key metrics or projects that they are responsible for. The second half of the meeting is reserved for team members to discuss challenges, problems, or opportunities that they feel the team should be aware of.
Monthly Department Meeting
The monthly meeting should last 1 - 2 hours and should provide the team with an opportunity to review the past month's performance, and most importantly to do a review of the team's strategic initiatives. This meeting can also provide some time for some training and problem solving.
Quarterly Customer Review
In 2009, the sales team implemented the use of quarterly customer reviews. The information gathered during the customer quarterly reviews is compiled by the Territory Manager and sent to the Director of Sales as well as the respective Plant Manager/Department Manager. The feedback gathered from these meetings is shared with the rest of the company's management team during the weekly and monthly meetings.
Step 5: Twice annually, complete anonymous, web-based, 360 reviews for each manager.
The company is looking into an economical way to accomplish this step.
Our company has started on an exciting journey. Our end goal is to create a more dynamic company which is characterized by candid feedback, employee engagement, and value creation. Those team members that fully engage themselves in this journey will undoubtedly get much more out of the experience. So buckle your seat belt, and enjoy the ride. Or you could also say "To Infinity and Beyond".
PS: The first person to email me back with the character and movie that I got "To Inifinity and Beyond" from, will receive a Chevron Gift Card.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Tony@repowell.net
Tony Christensen
www.repowell.net
Employee Engagement III - Creating Something Better
A few months ago, we made a mistake when we were delivering fuel to one of our customers. I called the customer to apologize for the mistake, but I got his voicemail. I really wanted to apologize to the customer in person so I tried calling him a second time. Once again, I got his voicemail, so I left another message. I also sent a couple of emails to the customer.
The weeks went by, and I never heard back from the customer. I became increasingly concerned that the customer was really upset with us. In my mind I had visions of this customer leaving us and switching to the competition. I actually became afraid to call the customer because I had convinced myself that the customer didn't want to talk to me.
I finally got my courage up and tried calling the customer again. This time he answered his phone. He apologized for not returning my calls. He mentioned that he had been extremely busy, but was really glad that I had called. Over the next several minutes we had a great conversation. He mentioned that his business was expanding rapidly, and he wanted to know if we could help him with handling more of his business. I couldn't believe it. All the stories I had made up in my mind regarding this customer weren't true. Not only was the customer not upset with us, he wanted to give us more business. It was amazing how a little feedback from the customer changed my entire outlook.
Jim Moats, the founder of PeerPlace has said:
"when and where the quantity or quality of feedback isn't adequate the mind makes up a story that allows it to cope with what we don't know. Stories are powerful motivators because we need drama. We find drama through our role in the stories we live in and stories primarily take place within the relationships found in our most intimate groups, the ones we build identity through, like our business team.
Accurate feedback tells me if I'm part of a strong group or not, if I'm earning my place in the group or not, if my influence is valued or not. Without feedback we make up stories. With regular feedback we connect through reality.
Feedback fills a critical need: it offers the opportunity to accelerate learning and adjustment. We are all addicted to feedback - without it we create drama through stories."
Dynamic companies are typically characterized by rich feedback environments, which leads to increased levels of collaboration amongst employees and customers. This in turn leads to experimentation, adjustment and action. Within this environment, employees find their voices, and their active engagement ignites the company's growth.
How does a company create an environment characterized by candid feedback, employee engagement, and value creation? Let me suggest five steps that can assist a company in this transformation:
1. Develop a process for regularly measuring employee engagement.
2. Implement a process to solidify and communicate the "objective distinctions" of the company's customer strategy. Involve managers, employees and customers in the process of constructing this.
3. Develop a system to objectively measure progress on each of these. Post this for everyone to see the monthly progress.
4. Implement structured meetings to provide management, team members, and customers with a forum to provide and receive candid feedback.
5. Twice annually, complete anonymous, web based, 360 reviews for each manager.
You may not know this, but our company has already started executing on the above steps. In my next blog, we will review our progress.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. tony@repowell.net
Tony Christensen
The weeks went by, and I never heard back from the customer. I became increasingly concerned that the customer was really upset with us. In my mind I had visions of this customer leaving us and switching to the competition. I actually became afraid to call the customer because I had convinced myself that the customer didn't want to talk to me.
I finally got my courage up and tried calling the customer again. This time he answered his phone. He apologized for not returning my calls. He mentioned that he had been extremely busy, but was really glad that I had called. Over the next several minutes we had a great conversation. He mentioned that his business was expanding rapidly, and he wanted to know if we could help him with handling more of his business. I couldn't believe it. All the stories I had made up in my mind regarding this customer weren't true. Not only was the customer not upset with us, he wanted to give us more business. It was amazing how a little feedback from the customer changed my entire outlook.
Jim Moats, the founder of PeerPlace has said:
"when and where the quantity or quality of feedback isn't adequate the mind makes up a story that allows it to cope with what we don't know. Stories are powerful motivators because we need drama. We find drama through our role in the stories we live in and stories primarily take place within the relationships found in our most intimate groups, the ones we build identity through, like our business team.
Accurate feedback tells me if I'm part of a strong group or not, if I'm earning my place in the group or not, if my influence is valued or not. Without feedback we make up stories. With regular feedback we connect through reality.
Feedback fills a critical need: it offers the opportunity to accelerate learning and adjustment. We are all addicted to feedback - without it we create drama through stories."
Dynamic companies are typically characterized by rich feedback environments, which leads to increased levels of collaboration amongst employees and customers. This in turn leads to experimentation, adjustment and action. Within this environment, employees find their voices, and their active engagement ignites the company's growth.
How does a company create an environment characterized by candid feedback, employee engagement, and value creation? Let me suggest five steps that can assist a company in this transformation:
1. Develop a process for regularly measuring employee engagement.
2. Implement a process to solidify and communicate the "objective distinctions" of the company's customer strategy. Involve managers, employees and customers in the process of constructing this.
3. Develop a system to objectively measure progress on each of these. Post this for everyone to see the monthly progress.
4. Implement structured meetings to provide management, team members, and customers with a forum to provide and receive candid feedback.
5. Twice annually, complete anonymous, web based, 360 reviews for each manager.
You may not know this, but our company has already started executing on the above steps. In my next blog, we will review our progress.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. tony@repowell.net
Tony Christensen
Employee Engagement II
I ended my last blog by asking the following two questions "Are you actively engaged?" and "How much is employee disengagement costing our company?" Several of you actually responded back to my question, and I want you to know that I really appreciated your feedback. From the responses I received, I could tell that our company has many actively engaged employees, but that we still have room for improvement.
I recently watched an episode of "Undercover Boss." In this show, chief executives of large companies anonymously slip into the rank and file of their companies. While working alongside their employees, these executives see the effects their decisions have on others, where the problems lie within their organization and get an up-close look at both the good and the bad.
The runaway success of Undercover Boss leads me to believe that many Americans feel they can relate to the employees in this show. Many of this show's viewers are probably disengaged employees, and the truth is every company has some level of disengagement.
So, what does disengagement within a company look like? Let me know if the following description sounds familiar:
Managers and owners think employees just don't care. Employees think their manager and the owners don't care about them. Distrust develops and apathy develops amongst many team members. Feedback is lacking, and if it is present, it is typically negative. The company doesn't create value for its employees and this lack of disengagement leads to a lack of overall performance, and low value creation within the organization.
So, why does disengagement take place within a company?
Disengaged employees aren't born that way. They are usually created by ineffective, badly trained management. Many managers themselves do not know what it takes to succeed in a particular role nor do they have an incentive to care. More often than not, the focus and emphasis of managers and the the human resource department is on "putting out fires." Some managers feel as though the bulk of their workday is spent dealing with employees who are negative, completely disengaged and should be terminated because they shouldn't have been hired in the first place.
Do you want to work in an environment that is full of disengagement, or do you want something better? Can we as a team create an environment with a high level of employee engagement? Can we create an environment where feedback is received and appreciated, and where a high percentage of employees are focused on creating value for the company and the customer?
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Email me at Tony@repowell.net
Tony Christensen
www.repowell.net
I recently watched an episode of "Undercover Boss." In this show, chief executives of large companies anonymously slip into the rank and file of their companies. While working alongside their employees, these executives see the effects their decisions have on others, where the problems lie within their organization and get an up-close look at both the good and the bad.
The runaway success of Undercover Boss leads me to believe that many Americans feel they can relate to the employees in this show. Many of this show's viewers are probably disengaged employees, and the truth is every company has some level of disengagement.
So, what does disengagement within a company look like? Let me know if the following description sounds familiar:
Managers and owners think employees just don't care. Employees think their manager and the owners don't care about them. Distrust develops and apathy develops amongst many team members. Feedback is lacking, and if it is present, it is typically negative. The company doesn't create value for its employees and this lack of disengagement leads to a lack of overall performance, and low value creation within the organization.
So, why does disengagement take place within a company?
Disengaged employees aren't born that way. They are usually created by ineffective, badly trained management. Many managers themselves do not know what it takes to succeed in a particular role nor do they have an incentive to care. More often than not, the focus and emphasis of managers and the the human resource department is on "putting out fires." Some managers feel as though the bulk of their workday is spent dealing with employees who are negative, completely disengaged and should be terminated because they shouldn't have been hired in the first place.
Do you want to work in an environment that is full of disengagement, or do you want something better? Can we as a team create an environment with a high level of employee engagement? Can we create an environment where feedback is received and appreciated, and where a high percentage of employees are focused on creating value for the company and the customer?
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Email me at Tony@repowell.net
Tony Christensen
www.repowell.net
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