Information is one of the best
tools for getting through a difficult situation, says Terry
Andrus.
To illustrate his point, the
president of CompleteRx Ltd.
tells the story of an airline pilot
who realized that his landing
gear was not coming down as
he made his approach to land
the plane. The situation could
have incited panic among the
passengers, but the pilot got on
the loudspeaker and told passengers exactly what he was going to do every step of the
way. And when he needed to
make an emergency landing,
the passengers were ready.
Andrus says the same tactic
can be applied to business. As
long as people know what is
happening and don’t feel that
you’re keeping things from
them, they are going to follow
you if they believe in what you
are doing.
By being open with his 500 employees and keeping them informed every step of the way,
Andrus led the provider of
pharmacy management services
to 2007 revenue of $114.7 million.
Smart Business spoke with
Andrus about how to keep
everyone on the same page.
Talk to your employees. Understand what your people need
and be in touch with them
and let them know that you
are accessible. In the corporate office, I’ll spend probably
20 percent of my day going by
and visiting with each of the
employees finding out what’s
ticking with them.
It doesn’t necessarily have to
be business, just listening to
them and letting them know
that I’m accessible.
Consider having a lottery
system for a lunch with the
CEO where you bring lunch in
and tell them about yourself so
it’s not some secret. Things
about you personally, not professional accomplishments, so
they get a feel of who you are.
Have them tell you things
about them, where they grew
up, where they went to school,
what’s their favorite sport.
Once you’ve broken the ice,
allow each one of them to ask
one burning question and
answer it openly and honestly.
If you don’t have a good answer
for it, tell them, ‘It’s a problem
we’re trying to solve right now.’
Ask them if they have a suggestion, and if it’s a good one,
use it.
Respond to feedback. We actually
make changes based on our
employees and what they say.
If you do a survey and you
don’t do anything about what
you find out, then you shouldn’t
have done the survey in the
first place. It’s just lip service.
Give them an update on
what’s going on. Let them have
free rein to ask any question
they want. Sometimes, that
can get fun. Once they feel
comfortable asking questions,
the questions just flow.
We make it really comfortable for them to ask questions.
It’s not monitored in any way.
They can ask me anything.