Communicate honestly
To form the type of environment where you can rely on yourstaff to succeed and where they know they can share ideas,you need to constantly emphasize and encourage an open-doorpolicy by communicating honestly.
“Just being vigilant about it and demonstrating transparencyof all important corporate issues to the entire company,” hesays. “We have what we call an all-hands meeting, which is acompanywide meeting we hold twice a year, that this point is
constantly emphasized. We share all important issues, currentfinancial status, important projects.
“It’s all employees. We don’t share the details behind the financial information, but we will share information like importantprojects, the value of the projects, the status of orders that areunder execution, how we are performing relative to the budget.So, we give a general snapshot in time of the performance of thecompany, and we have a variable bonus program that is directly linked to the financial results of the company, as well.”
Based on an advertised formula, employees can see the company’s year-end results and somewhat accurately calculatewhat the variable bonus will be for each category of individualin the organization.
Being honest about the results and giving employees enoughinformation to figure out their bonus can also help build astronger culture.
“Everybody is working for a common good, for a commongoal, for the success of the organization,” he says. “Everyone isfocused on doing the best they can for their particular projectand knowing that, at the end of the year, it will all come together as being a more positive result for the overall organization.”
While communicating honestly can lead to a healthy corporate culture, you need to be careful not to give away too muchinformation.
“You can’t tell the whole story because I have a certain visionfor the organization,” he says. “My vision is usually dynamic,but it moves a good couple years out, and it doesn’t happen allovernight. Personnel obviously makes up an i
mp
ortant factorin structuring an organization for the future, and you can’tshare all those personnel decisions that will ultimately happendown the road. You have to convince the organization, as bestas possible, with as much information that you are willing tomake readily available, that they accept your vision, they hopefully will embrace your vision, but they won’t understand allthe decisions that are being made until all the pieces are put inplace.”
Dzierzawski stresses those future personnel moves are something he is very careful not to give away too soon.
“It’s structuring an organization and bringing people upthrough the organization to ultimately fill positions that arekey for the long-term success of the organization,” he says.“What that sometimes means is that individuals that are currently in certain positions, ultimately, are going to be shiftedsomewhere else. You can’t be so open with the entire organization about these personnel moves that are going to happenseveral months, if not a year or a couple years down the road.You still want the organization to be operating in as harmonious of a manner as possible and all the individuals to befocused, fully dedicated to their position and their associatedresponsibilities.”
You have to be very focused on communication, and thatincludes thinking about what you communicate.
“You have to consider every e-mail that you send,” he says.
“Are the right people being copied on it? Should you be discussing it with somebody else before you send the e-mail?For example, e-mail in general, as much of a business toolthat it has to improve productivity, at times it can be anti-productive, as well. I don’t know how many examples there arewhere the guys in the neighboring offices, instead of goingand sitting down face to face and discussing something, theysend an e-mail instead. So the personal touch, if you’re notcareful with it, can be removed by the power of e-mail, and itcauses a problem.”
You have to avoid becoming a slave to e-mail and other ways technology helps you communicate efficiently. ForDzierzawski, it’s a double-edge sword. He travels a lot to haveface-to-face communication with people, but that means he isaway from the office.
“The BlackBerry is key to keeping abreast of importantinformation that you need to know about,” he says. “But thereis no compromise for face-to-face dialogue and the need forthat in order to establish the proper relationship to build on.”
HOW TO REACH: SMS Demag LLC, (412) 231-1200 or www.sms-demag.us
