Q. How do you break
that barrier of mistrust?
First, we share all of
our financial information
— our goals and our
budgets. Every week, we
have a huddle with all of
our people. If people
can’t be here, we videotape it and post it on our
Web site. We have measurable goals we’re trying
to achieve every month,
quarter and year-to-date, so we
go over where we are against
those goals and talk about the
reasons why.
We have quarterly meetings
very religiously and schedule
them out a year in advance. We
have everybody come in for a
nice dinner and a presentation
at a conference center at a local
hotel.
We talk about our business —
where we are, where we’re
going and how we plan to get
there. We tell people about any
critical decisions that are being
made — why we’re making
them, how we believe the
decisions are going to affect
the business and how it’s
going to affect them.
We also have a bonus program
everybody participates in, based
on the achievement of those
goals. If we exceed those goals,
everybody has the opportunity
to earn a bonus, and we treat
everybody equitably. That gives
people a stake in the outcome.
Q. How can other leaders get
buy-in from their employees?
Be open and honest with your
employees and share your information with them. That doesn’t
mean you have to share everything, like nobody here knows
how much I make; you don’t get
down to that level of detail.
You do show people what
your company’s sales are, your margins, your operating expenses, your taxes and your income.
You set goals for what you want
to achieve, and then you allow
them to participate if you
exceed those goals. It kind of
sounds simplistic, but most
business owners don’t do it.
A lot of them just want the
employees to come in and do
the work. The senior ownership
—- they run the business, keep
the financial statements and
don’t share the information with
any of the employees. The
employees don’t know what’s
going on in the business. The
owner is afraid to disclose the
actual activity, and that results
in a lot of mistrust.
When you have the courage to
share that information and really let people know what’s happening and let them be involved
with it, it’s amazing how much
more productivity you gain.
You’ve got to be willing to take
that leap. You can’t half do it;
you have to do it or not do it.
Q. What results have you
seen from implementing
open-book management?
Last year, we had record
sales, record margins and
record earnings, and as part of
playing the great game of business, we passed out bonus
checks to our employees.
When people start getting those
checks, it becomes very real.
When they see the increased
value in their ESOP account
and the value they they’re gaining by having an ownership
interest in the business, they get
excited about that. You get a lot
less turnover, your retention
rate goes up, and you have a
great core group of people to
work with.
HOW TO REACH: Quick Solutions Inc., (614) 825-8000 or www.quicksolutions.com
