After 120 Flights, Time for Some R & R and Thoughts From a JSG Partner

It’s been a very busy year so far. I’ve informally counted at least 120 flights to work with leaders who’re trying to make the best of it in a down economy. Here’s where most of our focus has been.
• Improving operating and financial performance by getting the most from the people. Leaders are asking: If we’re paying our people full market value, how do we get high levels commitment from them so we improve quality, service, costs and speed? One of our clients has dramatically improved on-time-delivery and quality, both of which were costing them customers and revenues. Another has reduced accidents by more than 80% already this year. Their investments are paying off.
• Making lean transformations sustainable. Many lean (six sigma) transformations today hit a wall because companies pursue lean only from the technical side of things. Big mistake. Successful lean transformations require equal dollops of technical and cultural fixes–both the hard and the soft. It’s the reason people trek to Toyota to find the holy grail, but still can’t find a way to hit Toyota’s six sigma quality levels. It’s not the tools, measures and techniques, though they help. It’s the culture–the people.
• Re-inventing the communication function to get more results and value. This is what human resources did years ago. Big revolution as communication departments recruit more business people and outsource the digital technocrats. The new focus: remove communication breakdowns that cause the business to under perform. It requires an outcome versus output focus–new to many communication people. It’s a simple concept that pays off in spades.

Time for a Time Out

So a little time out! For ten days this month, my wife Anne, Tucket (our goldendoodle–pictured here) and I will be on Nantucket enjoying much needed R&R, some sailing, beach and town-walking, lots of photography, a pile of reading (heavily weighted toward fiction, including Pat Conroy’s new South of Broad which I’ve already started), great food and wine. And some thought to an outline of my next book, which I owe a publisher in October.

Meanwhile, you’re in for a treat. One of my favorite consultants and Jim Shaffer Group partners, Ken Boughrum offers his thoughts in this Leadership Report.

You can go to our website (www.jimshaffergroup.com) for more information about Ken, but in short, Ken and I worked together when we were partners at Towers Perrin. Ken is a human resource development and leadership guru.

Standard Work and Continental Airlines

 But one more thing before the R&R.

The term “standard work” refers to tasks that define the best way to get a job done in the amount of time available while ensuring the job is always done right the first time. Think of it as a rigorous, acceptable way to do a job. Great companies standard critical processes in a way that doesn’t snuff out creativity and innovation.

Continental Airlines has had three serious and widely publicized incidents that indicate poorly managed standard work.

In February, its regional flying partner Colgan Airways crashed near Buffalo killing 50 people. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) cited inadequate pilot training. Landing an airplane should be standard work for a commercial airline pilot. According to the NTSB, the pilots were distracted, the plane stalled and the pilot used precisely the opposite maneuver that he should have to extricate the plane from the stall.

In June, two unaccompanied minors on two separate Continental Express planes were taken to the wrong destinations. A ten year-old girl was taken from Boston to Newark instead of to her Cleveland destination. An eight year-old girl was taken from Houston to Fayetteville, Ark., instead of to her Charlotte destination. The eight year-old’s mother said she had “never seen so much incompetence in all my life.” The airline says there is a standard process for flying unaccompanied minors from one point to another. But, that standard process wasn’t followed.

More recently another Continental regional partner held passengers overnight in Rochester, Minnesota with cramped seats, stale air, a single smelly restroom, two crying babies, one offer of drinks and no food. Of course, everyone is blaming everyone else for the lack of common sense and standard work that wasn’t followed. Having standard processes is a only a start. Execution is the other 95%.

Standard work communicates how tasks should be done. Leaders need to make sure standard work processes are in place and people are accountable for following them. This is the management side of leadership.

It appears that some of the progress Gordon Bethune made during his excellent turnaround of Continental is eroding now that he’s gone.

A firm handshake
By Ken Boughrum, Jim Shaffer Group Partner “Always remember,” my father said, “when you meet someone, look them in the eye and give them a firm handshake.”

A firm handshake is an apt metaphor for the action leaders should be exhibiting in this business downturn. While some are more implicit than explicit, all organizations establish a quid pro quo with new employees like, “We have a set of expectations of you and this is what you’ll get in return.”

As the recession grinds on, it is increasingly difficult for companies to honor the original employment promise they made to employees while times were good. Indeed, the metaphorical employment handshake is becoming more and more limp in this shaky economy.

Leaders are rightly focused on mission-critical priorities; e.g., retaining customers, streamlining operations, raising capital, increasing productivity while reducing resources, and so on. However, employees are understandably worried about job and income security. By one estimate, 70% of the US workforce is living paycheck to paycheck. As their investments shrink and the rate of unemployment rises, the prospect of job loss is even more stressful.

We will need to be in solid recovery before most organizations can recalibrate their employment promise and employees renew their loyalty. In the meantime, here are three ideas to keep a leader’s handshake firm in these tumultuous times: (And don’t forget to look them in the eye.)

• Be honest – provide context for significant changes. Tell people what you think about the change, and tell them in real time. Being authentic keeps people loyal.
• Be visible – don’t hide behind your email; get out of your office and into conversation. Being in dialogue keeps people loyal.
• Be empathetic – demonstrate to people that you get it; convey to them you are aware of what they are thinking and feeling. Being in tune keeps people loyal.

Jim Shaffer