Keep an internal gauge
Of course, to determine what opportunities the company can realistically pursue, you also have to understand how far your internal strengths can stretch by staying in touch with employees. They should be part of your growth equation all along.
D’Arcy taps into the company’s “robust internal communication regime” to keep employees aligned around growth goals. He holds companywide conference calls, for example, and records weekly calls between management directors so employees can tune in at any time. The company distributes a weekly newsletter and recently began posting a blog, as well.
“We try to use a number of different ways to be able to communicate a consistent message — not only to our employee base but also to our clients as well as to the investment community,” he says. “We put out a lot of information and then provide an awful lot of ability to provide feedback. So there are many doors and avenues open for employees to relay information.”
Often, the struggle isn’t providing the avenues but getting people to pursue them. Overcome that obstacle and encourage feedback by confirming that employee input matters.
“Not everybody wants to make a suggestion or say something critical,” D’Arcy says. “And so from a corporate perspective, one of the most difficult things is to get people comfortable challenging decisions. … Once we get that feedback, it’s incumbent on us to make sure that we relay back to the employee base that it is valued, that what they’re saying means a lot to everyone at this company.”
Top-down and bottom-up communication happens in tandem. To keep employees informed about your company’s direction, for example, an important message is articulating financial targets. While D’Arcy reiterates those goals to management directors to pass on to their teams, he’s also asking what tools and resources they need in order to meet expectations.
While it’s important to have those feedback loops built into companywide communication, getting input requires getting personal.
“One of the challenges is making sure you’re getting into the field,” D’Arcy says. “And that’s probably the funnest part of my job, is being able to meet with our team members and hearing what’s on their mind, hearing what’s working, hearing what we could do better.”
In addition to asking those general questions, drill down to get details.
“From an employee perspective, [ask], ‘What are the resources you need? What are you hearing in the field? Is there a message in the marketplace that’s not consistent with what we’re trying to relay as a company?’” D’Arcy says, citing examples of questions he asks employees. “Every aspect of where we are as a company is something that we want to hear.”
That constant loop of communication is critical for keeping your entire company focused on the growth areas you’re pursuing. At Grubb & Ellis, that means rallying the work force around a four-pronged growth strategy that involves recruiting brokers, expanding management services and investment management, and entering into high-margin complementary businesses.
Grubb & Ellis ended 2009 with $535.6 million in revenue and $5.8 billion in assets under management — all thanks to a strategic approach to growing in the right areas.
“The biggest challenge you have is you want to be aggressive from a growth perspective, but you don’t want to be reckless,” D’Arcy says. “You always want to be growing and pushing, going forward, but at the same time, you want to make sure that you’re doing it in the prudent fashion … on a measured basis with the resources of the company.”
How to reach: Grubb & Ellis Co., (800) 877-9066 or www.grubb-ellis.com
