Keep employees on track
Gallagher knows he’s being successful, culturally speaking, if he travels to other locations and new employees tell him they’ve had an overwhelming response of people wanting to help them.
“As long as I can travel around and find out that people are listening to the message of how we want to operate and that that is, in fact, how we’re operating, even in very difficult times, it resonates with folks,” he says.
Because culture is intangible, it’s not always easy to know if employees are aligned. You just have to pay attention to all of the clues.
“Sometimes you ask them. You watch their behaviors,” Gallagher says. “Those that don’t get it, don’t like it, don’t believe in it tend to get pushed out. It’s like being in an organization in college; when so-and-so just didn’t seem to fit, they tend to stop coming. And that’s actually OK.”
But if people don’t weed themselves out, they can drag down the company. Have an evaluation process in place to fuel a performance-driven culture and monitor commitment to your values.
“People love to get a fair review and know that they have a good opportunity,” he says. “That’s probably my biggest piece of advice is make sure your people get good reviews, make sure they’re honest and open and direct and beneficial.”
Let the employee initiate the conversation with a self-evaluation of their progress toward the goals you set together last year. Review everyone against their role in helping achieve business objectives as well as the values they exhibited in the process.
“Was their attitude good? Were they a good teammate? Did they exhibit the qualities that we say are part of our culture?” Gallagher asks. “If you get somebody that [didn’t exhibit the right qualities, you] say, ‘You did a great job; you’re just a pain in the ass in the office.’
“You say, ‘Look, you’re cranky all the time. It just doesn’t work around here. These are my levels of expectation. I need to see improvement in the next quarter. I don’t want you to be here unhappy. If you’re unhappy, go someplace else.’”
That straightforward coaching approach to improve those who are willing keeps employees on track with your culture. If they see that it’s important enough for you to monitor and correct, they’ll know it’s important enough to do.
“People don’t leave jobs that often for pay. The truth is people leave businesses because they don’t feel cared about,” Gallagher says. “So if you’ve got good people on the bus, care about them, mentor them, promote them and then pay them. Give them a chance to have participation in the success of the company. Describe the mission over and over and over again and why it’s going to be fun to accomplish it.”
How to reach: Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., (630) 773-3800 or www.ajg.com