Q. How do you stay
accessible while keeping
employees focused?
An open-door policy is
healthy, but sometimes I’d
like to close it. Sometimes I
do feel I’m a little too accessible, and I do have to balance that.
My staff has learned to stay
focused when they come to
me with issues. If they come
to me and feel that they just
want to communicate, I’ll
keep them on track.
I don’t want employees to
live the drama. I want them
to stick to the facts. What
that provides them is an
environment of confidence
that they can come in, get to
the point, get to the resolution of an issue or know that
we’re going to expand on it
in a proper forum.
To keep them on track, I
vocalize it, it’s clear, and I’ve
shared that with them. There
is nothing wrong with me
being direct about this.
They understand that I’m
busy and they’re busy. If they
get off track, I remind them
they’re getting off track.
Q. How has technology
helped you communicate?
One of the things we have
in place is a software program that gathers all of the
data entered on a daily basis
that reflects all of the moving
parts in their businesses.
What I have is a program that
is basically a ticker, and it
gives me all of the key performance indicators by franchisee. Our business model
relies on the management of
these key performance indicators.
What I do is I monitor these
performance indicators, and I
take every opportunity I can
to reach out to a franchisee
to discuss the successes and
challenges related to those
key performance indicators.
When I contact them, I’m not
speaking in generalities. I’m
speaking specifically to their
data, to their numbers and
performance, and they clearly
can see that I understand
where they’re at.
So I can speak to the core
fundamentals of our business model as it relates to
their specific business.
Going back to respect and
credibility, that has created a
different level of respect for
the franchisees. They have a
different respect for us, they
know that we know what is
going on in their world, and
that we support them
accordingly.
That opens up communication and tears down barriers.
HOW TO REACH: Closets by Design Inc., (888) 500-9215 or www.closetsbydesign.com
