FEELINGS Drive the Real Bottom-Line in Organizations!

"Formula = How to Get Customers and Employees toEXPERIENTIAL PROCESSES involved in achieving
Love Your Business"organizational success, no matter what business or
Why are so many businesses and organizationsindustry; it's all about relationships and people. It's about
struggling? Why are many employees more disloyalhiring the right people, trusting them, and managing
today than ever before? How can managers andthem like owners.
leaders continue to produce more, with fewerValues, Faith Based Management
resources, with more organizational changes, and withPerhaps because of the media attention to the
an encroaching global market? How can managersEnron's, Arthur Anderson's, and other corporate
maintain high performance while organizational chaosscandals, we see an emergence of more discussions
and dysfunction abounds?in management circles on values, ethics, and even
E-Mail Amusement or Management Reality Check?faith-at-work programs. We also see CEO's and
Recently I received one of those chain e-mailsManagers who wish to impose their "goodness" on
captioned "idiot sightings" that would appear humoroustheir employees; for example, CEO of Prince Industries,
if it weren't so true. It read like this:Mark Miller says he believes in "helping his employees
At a good-bye luncheon for an old and dear coworkereven when they may not be open to his help."
who was leaving the company due to "downsizing,"Intent vs. Impact. As we look at the performance
our manager commented cheerfully, " this is fun. Weformula, would the impact of such good intentions have
should do this more often." Not a word was spoken.the same potential negative impact as the idiot
We all just looked at each other with that deer in thequotation?
headlights stare. (Fortune 500 Company)Companies that Get It! Understanding & Managing the
Given my 30+ years' experience in corporations, IPerformance Formula
suspect that at another luncheon the leadership teamI consistently have a delightful experience when I visit
of the same company was addressing lack ofmy local Starbucks because every clerk shows me
employee commitment, employee morale, missedthat they LOVE their jobs; in fact, I even asked one of
goals, employee absenteeism, and employee turnover!them about that the other day and he forthrightly said
If you think this manager is an isolated incident, herehe LOVED his customers and his job. At another visit
are more examples from my past while working myto the same Starbucks, I asked the Manager how he
way to the top of several organization(s); namely,hired people; his response, "I hire for the right attitude; I
health care, automotive manufacturing, education,know that I can train them on the skills to perform the
robotics, paper packaging and financial services: -Ajob." Notice how many companies are branding
CFO berating his entire staff, on average once perthemselves around customers feeling the love of their
week ...... "I can get anyone off the streets to do aproducts and services?
better job than anyone I currently have on staff!" -AHere are a few more examples of corporate
VP Marketing asking his Assistant to falsify receiptschampions of performance success - bottom-line
for him in order to gain company expenseprofitability:
reimbursement. -A CEO shouting, "I don't have to be a• Southwest Airlines....Connie Barrett "Queen
good manager, I am the leader of this organization."of Hearts".....hiring the right people and creating
How do you think employees in these organizationsownership and accountability. • Synovus
deal with outside customers? Unbelievably, theseFinancial.....Jimmy Blanchard offbeat style called servant
same companies support "programs of the year" andleadership • GSD&M (third largest advertising
programs of the month" to address customer serviceagency in the US)....Roy Spence • Quad
issues and employee retention programs!Graphics.....Harry V. Quadracci (believed in management
How and Why People Perform? What's the Formula?of trusting his people) • SAS Institute...Jim
Those involved in mastering the heart and soul ofGoodnight...."Software companies the size of SAS
human performance have learned from greathave to replace more than 1,000 people a year; SAS
research and authors such as Allison Rossette andloses fewer than 100, a difference that saves the
Dana Gaines Robinson, performance experts, that thecompany between $60-80M annually." Jeffrey Pfeffer,
formula for human performance is really simple:Stanford University
Skills + Knowledge + FEELINGS = Performance (GoodOrganizations are no different than family............
or Bad)...........They mirror the behaviors of functional and
Wow! Now, take a look at the examples above anddysfunctional family interaction. We must focus on the
ones from your own experience. What's the missinginteractions and behaviors emanating from leadership
link? The obvious answer: FEELINGS, yet manyand how those interactions and behaviors manifest
organizations spend millions of dollars training skills andthemselves throughout the organization.
knowledge; in fact, hire employees based upon skillsIt's not about motivation; it's not about all singing the
and knowledge. Success Magazine says most peoplecompany song; it's not about cooperation vs.
fail in business not because of capability but becauseachievement. It's about people coming together around
of a lack of people skills!a common cause, understanding clearly the direction
What impact does CHANGE within an organizationfor achievement, have clear delineation of roles and
have on an individual's performance, departmentresponsibility, everyone understanding, honoring and
performance, company performance? From the idiotrespecting their uniqueness and strengths and the
example above, how long would it take that manager'sdiversity of others, aligning their values with those of
department to re-establish peak performance, if ever?the organization and holding people accountable.
It is really very simple but requires a deepThis can be SIMPLE but definitely a well defined set of
understanding of the SIMPLE, STEP-BY-STEPprocesses!