To get employees to buy in
to his company’s vision,
Jeffrey Hart involves them in creating it.
Midway through the year,
Hart and his team compile
information from various
sources, including talking to
employees at Cadence
Network Inc., where he is
president and CEO, and use
that information to work on
forming the company vision.
Then, the following January,
he has lunch with his more
than 80 employees in groups
of 10 to explain the vision and
to get feedback at the provider
of expense management solutions for multisite businesses.
“We really foster open communication, and that means
they have the right to challenge me on my recommendations or decisions or at least
raise questions or concerns
about that,” he says.
Smart Business spoke with
Hart about how to create an
open environment and foster
honest communication and
feedback.
Q. How do you establish an
open environment?
I challenge people in meetings, and they challenge me,
and I think it’s really leading
by example. When they see
that somebody has stood up to
me at a meeting and we’ve had
a heated debate — because
we’re not afraid to have heated debates — and they are still
here the next day, the next
year, they know that their
opinions are valued.
It’s about leading by example. So, if you honestly want
feedback and you want people
to challenge, then there should be no fear of retribution when
they do. I have to respect their
opinion, otherwise I am violating everything I just said.
Q. How has encouraging
open communication benefited
the company?
It’s really important that
everybody understands what
the company’s objectives are
and how they are being measured. People like to get behind
the cause, and I honestly
believe people just don’t want
to punch a clock and collect a
paycheck.
I believe they really want to
have something that fulfills a
purpose in life. So, I think it
allows them to connect more
with passion and have a
general caring or feeling
about the company and
what we are trying to
achieve. It really enlists
their passion and their
emotion into the company versus just collecting
a paycheck every week.
