Engage at all levels
Once the program was created, Roses spent a lot of time with his people talking about the training, even on his lunch hour.
Whether it’s a working lunch, a brown-bag lunch or a power lunch, many leaders use the time from noon to 1 p.m. to gather a team and work on a particular issue affecting the company. But to really make this time count, you have to use the opportunity to speak to your people and engage them in a conversation. This is especially important when you’re looking to implement something like a new training program.
“I explain to them what’s going on,” Roses says. “It gives me an opportunity to communicate the vision and the culture of what I expect out there. It’s
m
aking sure it’s getting to the field because they heard it directly from me.”
Roses also brings along a person whose primary responsibility is to take notes on whatever is discussed during the meeting.
“I take someone with me that is the scribe,” Roses says. “Not the spy, the scribe. They are writing everything down as to who is making what recommendation and so on.”
It enables Roses to know what was discussed and follow-up for more information or respond to questions that might have come up at the lunch.
You can’t rely entirely on meetings in the boardroom or surveys to give you all the feedback you need to implement new programs. You need to get out and talk to your people in multiple settings.
“When you’re in a large organization, there is a bureaucracy, and that bureaucracy tends to create barriers in communication,” Roses says. “The message doesn’t get to where it needs to get to. So by modeling the behavior of listening to those people, my hope and my intent was those people who are leaders below me would also do the same thing. They would take the time to listen to those people that report to them and get their deal as to how we can do things better and then bring those ideas back up and champion them. It’s one thing to have an idea and put it on a piece of paper and not do anything about it. The next challenge is to get people to champion a cause.”
The meetings helped reinforce Roses’ idea that the training is meant to benefit everybody and bring the entire organization closer together. It’s not just for senior leaders or people who have dreams of flying up the corporate ladder.
“It’s important to remember that how people are treated is how they are going to turn around and not only treat the external client but how they are going to feel about the company,” Roses says. “If they feel good about the company, they are champions there and that’s what is going to help the company grow. They are all basically salespeople for your organization.
“It’s about pushing that culture out there. Those people that are out on the front lines, they are the face of the company. They are the ones that provide the service. They are either going to be rude and mop the floor in front of someone’s feet or they are going to say, ‘Good morning Mrs. Smith or Mr. Jones,’ and they are going to ask if they can help them with their bags. They are going to be the ones to show them that they respect that this is their home and their property and they care about it.”
If you show your people that you value them, they are much more likely to value your ideas.
“It’s getting leadership to realize that not only can we learn from our subordinates, but what we have to do is empower our subordinates to bring opportunities to us,” Roses says.
“It would help us move the needle a lot quicker to satisfy our clients. When you’re so far removed from the client, it’s very difficult to get your finger on the pulse. … You try to identify those people that are successful at promoting the culture, and as you identify those people, those are the ones who get promoted and are provided opportunities for growth.”