Talk to people
For those first two to three months, Chambers spent a lot of time traveling and visiting sites and talking to employees.
He would talk to a cross section of about 10 to 15 people, keeping it small enough so there could be meaningful dialogue. At every meeting, Chambers heard the same thing over and over.
“It was pretty clear that we hadn’t described a clear path to our future,” he says. “Almost immediately, whether it was discussions with our associates or whether it was out talking to our customers, we needed to very quickly come to a conclusion on what it is we were all about.”
You have to be honest and answer as many questions that you can. In Chambers’ case, it was difficult because he was still learning the ropes.
“On a very high level, since I was still learning, I shared with the organization and our suppliers why the corporation made the decision to put these two businesses together,” he says. “Philosophically, what was the driver in driving this together from Snap-on’s perspective.”
Chances are, you won’t have any problems with getting honest feedback, which Chambers found out firsthand. But you still have to create an atmosphere conducive to open conversation.
“It’s about the environment you create,” he says. “Before the meeting, I asked them to think about things that they wanted me to talk about so they could submit questions to me in advance so they are anonymous.
“I think the fact that it can be anonymous, that is a very nonthreatening environment. It’s relatively small, and they’re not asking me questions. I’m asking them questions, so you somewhat provoke the conversation.”
Sometimes you are going to get questions or comments about something on such a specific level that you won’t be able to answer accurately, but you still have to address it.
“I have to table the issue and say, ‘OK, I don’t know the answer to that, but I am going to follow up on it and you should get a response to this issue,’“ he says. “That’s typically the toughest for me is that sometimes the questions are (so) very focused on their particular work that they do that its beyond my scope.”
When he was asked about why the two organizations came together, the answer was on such a high level that he had to break it down. You have to simplify ideas and answers for front-line employees because they may not be able to understand the big-picture idea just as you have trouble relating to their day-to-day job.
“To make it more clear, you have to have a fairly good understanding of the organization and how we create value,” he says. “After you understand how we created value and how the organization operates, I think the best way to create clarity is to utilize real-life examples. The group of people you are speaking to, there is probably an event or a circumstance that has happened recently that you could use as a learning experience. You talk about that experience and how that might have been implemented.”
Chambers’ meetings with customers were somewhat similar to those with employees, but he did look for slightly different information.
“We’ll have a discussion about our performance, and that’s usually what I talk about is how are we performing as an organization and meeting (their) needs,” he says. “Where internally, I’ll specifically want to talk about the things that are going well and then the most critical things we need to change.”
When you put yourself out there after a major change like an acquisition or merger, you have to be prepared for anything from both customers and employees. You can be put on the spot at any time, and a minor slip-up can turn into a major problem.
“You are very vulnerable,” he says. “That’s part of getting good feedback is put yourself in a position where you are vulnerable.”
While you want to be asked questions, you want to ask them, as well. Just lecturing to people can cause them to tune you out.
“Communication is two ways, and you can deliver an idea, but you also have to listen in return that it can be repeated,” he says. “You do that with questions.
“After you deliver an idea, you can formulate questions to gauge the comprehension or clarity or the fact that it made sense.”