Implement the vision
Once Achten had a good sense of his environment and received
feedback, it was time to implement the vision. Because of the time
he spent connecting with employees and seeking their ideas, it was
easy to communicate the vision to them and get buy-in.
“The win we were able to get early on was spending that upfront
time to get to know people and understand where they’re coming
from so when we get back to them and say, ‘Hey, have you looked
at this or tried this,’ they’re much more receptive to new ideas if
they know that you spent the time listening to them,” he says.
While it’s important to communicate the vision, you need to
make sure employees have the necessary tools to achieve it.
Achten provided training, such as wealth management training, to
improve employee skills in areas related to the vision. He says
training needs to be tailored to the individual. By listening to what
employees are interested in, Achten can recommend what training
is best suited for them.
Providing tools is important, but you need to hold employees
accountable for using these to achieve the vision. Every employee
at Merrill Lynch has quantitative goals that are measured by individual and overall office financial productivity and qualitative goals that are measured by client testimonials, business referrals
and the length of time the client has been with the organization.
“At the end of the day, accountability to metrics is important, but
nothing is more important than the accountability our team has to
our clients,” Achten says.
He says holding employees accountable is not just about looking
at the numbers.
“Accountability is threefold — accountability to yourself as a professional, accountability to clients as essential partners, and
accountability to your team and the larger company,” Achten says.
“Find out what motivates your employees, and do your best to tap
that motivation and turn it into strong results for the business and
the client.”
Publishing numbers is a way to hold employees accountable.
Achten publishes positive numbers from the organization’s client
satisfaction index regularly, sometimes weekly through a memo.
The organization also has a bimonthly strategy session to discuss
metrics and celebrate successes.
Celebration can also be with a group or individually. Celebrating
and sharing helps build the team, but you also need to deal with
those unsuccessful numbers.
Achten meets one-on-one with employees who do not meet their
goals to map out a plan to turn them into successes, whether it be
facilitating network opportunities with clients or sponsoring additional training.
After spending so much time developing a vision, it should be
fresh on the mind of employees. But you need to work and keep
that vision front and center so employees do not lose focus.
“If it’s not front and center, then there might be employees who
are less on the front lines and others who lose sight of it,” Achten
says. “For example, if the receptionist isn’t continuously reminded
of the mission of being the premier solution in Cincinnati, she may
let the lobby go and not look at its quality. Every employee needs
to be reminded of what we’re trying to accomplish — and the more
regularly you can do it, the better.”
Developing a vision specific to the organization’s four offices has
helped get employees on the same page. Achten says when developing a vision, especially if you are new to the organization, you
shouldn’t assume anything.
“Until you get there and get in the group and see the numbers,
hear what’s going on, feel the client experience and get in there,
don’t make assumptions,” he says. “I would encourage other leaders who are coming into something that is working but want to
take it to another level, spend some upfront time to get to know
the people.”
HOW TO REACH: Greater Cincinnati Complex for Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, (513) 579-3600 or www.ml.com
