Keep employees informed
Pagano’s position changes have upped the ante for his outward communication. He has learned that the more employees he has and the further they’re spread, the more important it is to keep everyone on the same page however he can. And that comes down to not only gathering input from everyone but also delivering your own message.
“If you’re listening, then, at some point, you’re expected to respond,” he says. “That’s where you need to have a message, and you need to make sure that message gets back to everyone.”
The first way to respond is simply to do something about the issues employees bring to you. But not every problem they bring up is always worth the whole team’s effort. If the supervisor who mentions the challenge seems to be alone in facing it, it may be a department-specific problem as opposed to a company issue.
“If, all of a sudden, half the room is saying, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah,’ and they’re all starting to jump on board, then you can highlight that as one that really needs attention sooner than later,” Pagano says.
The problems with the largest shared volume become priorities. When a pain point is shared by several departments, it usually means they can’t handle it on their own. So the first step is often forming a multidepartmental task force to tackle it from every angle.
“We take some people from X, Y and Z departments and say, ‘OK, here’s the issue. Now, you guys are the experts,’” Pagano says. “‘No one department can fix it by itself. So you guys work it out and let me know if there are more resources or more expertise that you need to resolve that issue.’”
He has learned the bigger the segment of the company he’s leading, the bigger the challenges they face and, often, the longer it takes to resolve them. When it takes more than a couple of meetings to brainstorm and implement solutions, that just means you have to communicate what’s happening that much more thoroughly and frequently.
Pagano takes notes of the issues that evoke the biggest reactions in meetings and then verifies those with the next level of managers and directors. Sometimes, he discovers that one of the departments is already taking action against the problem.
“Now, it’s just a means of communicating that gap,” Pagano says. “Maybe what I’m not doing is making them aware that we know the issue. We have a plan. We have timelines and benchmarks set to resolve the issue.
“It is always the bottom up that initiates it, but there’s as much responsibility coming from the top down after you recognize it — even after you start working on it — to continue to communicate what you’re doing.”
Pagano relies on several methods for doing that. There’s the internal Web site, newsletters, online video and, of course, meetings. Twice a year, he travels to each location — or at least the bigger locations, in which case the smaller locations are invited to attend — for a series of breakfast meetings.
“Give people a chance to hear from the leaders and ask questions,” he says. “That’s the best way to do it if you can: in person.”
Making those rounds is increasingly difficult as the company expands. But it’s also increasingly important.
“The easiest mistake to make is not to put yourself in a position where you’re in contact with the rank and file,” he says. “I think a lot of leaders are on the 20th floor. They never leave it, nor do they ever invite anybody up to it. It’s a pretty isolated ivory tower.”
So Pagano gets in front of employees every chance he gets. But he also realizes that he can’t be everywhere at once. So to fill the gaps, he also relies on his direct reports to carry the message when he can’t be there.
“At some point, it’s not physically possible for one person to cover that much ground. But what is possible is to have the subordinates doing the outreach, as well,” he says. “So, at the end of the day, it’s not one person leading an organization. It’s one person leading a group of people, who are leading another group, who are leading another group.”
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