DISCUSSION TOPIC

Mapping Employee Collaboration - 2/3/09

TOPIC SUMMARY:

A mapping technique, called social-network analysis, is increasingly being used by corporations to understand how their workers communicate with each other. Under the rather simple method, employees are each asked who they turn to for help. A map is then drawn revealing dark patches around employees who work closely with others and lighter areas where there’s little interaction.

According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, companies are using such mapping techniques to understand weak points in internal networking activities. It also promises to help identify “unheralded stars” as it has been shown that the best collaborators in organizations aren’t discovered in performance reviews.

The article states that collaboration efficiency has become more important as workers are spread across the globe.

Discussion questions:  What are the best ways for managers to encourage employees to collaborate with each other? What do you think of the potential for mapping techniques around social-network analysis for organizations?

My post: 

My experience shows that “mapping” of employee behaviors is extremely limiting in drawing conclusions about employee communication tendencies.  The real issues lie in two areas:

First, a cohesive company vision or lack thereof determines the important behaviors of leaders and therefore impacts employee behaviors.  A scattered vision creates scattered leaders, which creates employees with erratic communication habits.

Second, and more importantly, people are who they are.  If an employee is naturally collaborative, they will create the networks and means to communicate that they need – whether or not the company puts in programs and systems to facilitate that behavior.  Likewise, an employee who is unsocial or quiet will not take advantage of company systems. 

Tools like “social-network analysis” are brilliant sounding products that consultants can sell to companies that lack a cohesive vision and/or fail to hire employees who naturally collaborate.

Mike Osorio, your Dare to be Contagious! ^TM strategist

www.OsorioGroup.com

————————————————-
Go to the full discussion at RetailWire.com:
http://www.retailwire.com/Discussions/Sngl_Discussion.cfm/13525

————————————————-

Thank you for visiting my blog!  Please subscribe using the RSS button and comment on my postings.  Comments are the life-blood of any blog and I appreciate yours!

5 “easy” steps to a winning corporate culture

DISCUSSION TOPIC:  Five Steps to Build a Winning Corporate Culture

TOPIC SUMMARY:

In a recent article in Convenience Store Decisions magazine (http://www.csdecisions.com/article/3218/five-steps-to-build-a-winning-corporate-culture.html), Gary Bradt discusses his views on creating a winning company culture:

Some leadership teams attempt to create culture by acting as wordsmiths, spending untold hours carefully crafting vision, mission and values statements. That’s unfortunate, because in the end culture is not created by words plastered on the wall or carried around on laminated cards, but rather culture is defined by actions on the ground.

A winning company culture is simple and emphasizes three areas: serving the customer, growing the business, and developing employees. A losing culture is confusing and complex, places customer needs behind those of the company, and emphasizes personal gain over team achievement.

The author goes on to describe a “simple” 5 step process for creating a winning culture.

Discussion questions: Do you agree with the premise that creating a winning culture is simple? Do you think most company leaders are able to define what their organization is all about without outside help?

My post:

This is an incredibly critical topic and I am not surprised by the outpouring of opinions.  Culture building is never easy, although the process the author describes is certainly straight-forward.  The visioning process is necessary, in that it forces leaders to pause long enough to articulate the company story and their own stories; a process which uncovers core values that eventually turn into vision/mission statements and the rest.  Until the leaders go through this process, many stumble through their interactions with each other and subordinates never realizing the impact their actions have on the culture.

The visioning process must involve all leadership levels and as many key front line employees as possible so everyone feels a part of the process.  Understanding the story of the company, the values represented by that story, and how each employee’s actions impact the story are all critical elements.  Once complete, the success of the process long term depends on how leaders’ behaviors do or do not link to the vision/mission, and how people who violate the values are handled.

Finally, the visioning process is never truly finished, as our retail world is ever-changing and companies must constantly evaluate how their story fits in with the changing individual customer and employee stories.

It’s a hard process, but energizing and exciting!

Mike Osorio, your Dare to be Contagious! ^TM strategist

http://www.osoriogroup.com/

————————————————-
GO TO THE FULL DISCUSSION AT RETAILWIRE.COM:
http://www.retailwire.com/Discussions/Sngl_Discussion.cfm/12815  

————————————————-

Thank you for visiting my blog!  Please subscribe using the RSS button and comment on my postings.  Comments are the life-blood of any blog and I appreciate yours!

Creating a ‘Wow’ Shopping Experience

————————————————-
RETAILWIRE DISCUSSION TOPIC:
Creating a ‘Wow’ Shopping Experience – 1/18/08
————————————————-

TOPIC SUMMARY:

While rare at retail, a “WOW” shopping experience generates four times the word-of-mouth than a problem experience, according a survey from Verde Group and Wharton.

The survey showed that customers receiving an especially positive experience are likely to tell seven other people on average about the experience while those receiving a negative experience told 1.5 people.

But it also showed that such experiences are fairly rare – only 51 percent of women admitted to having a “WOW” experience in their entire shopping history, and only 39 percent of men did.

 Discussion Questions:

Is it practical to train or inspire sales associates to create “WOW” shopping experiences? What are some retailers known for top customer service doing to help create incidents of “extraordinary service”?

My post:

It is not only practical to train and inspire sales associates to enable “WOW” shopping experiences, it is essential.  Note that I said “enable” vs. “create”.  It is folly to assume we can create these experiences.  The creation process is mutual, between the associate and the customer and is defined by both individuals and the situation. 

Keys to enabling WOW experiences: 

1. Have a WOW culture.   A company culture that is all about a vision of wowed customers and wowed associates.  Yes, the associates need to be wowed too.  Wowed to be a part of a company so in tune with why they would choose to work there, and wowed to be a part of a company so determined to provide wonderful product to their beloved customers in positively memorable ways.
2. Make it easy.  Examine every customer touch point and every associate touch point.  Seek out, identify, and remove without ceremony anything standing between your associates’ and your customers’ WOW experiences.  Things like unnecessary reports, policies & procedures, unclear marketing or merchandising, etc., all create barriers.  Knock them down!
3. Recognize, reward, recognize, reward.  Look for ways to recognize and reward associates and customers for exhibiting desired behaviors.  And not just the big ones – the best recognition comes daily for the small “ordinary miracles” referenced in the article.  When you find them, reward them – usually a sincere and specific “thank you” does the trick – for both associates and customers.

 Why isn’t this already happening for most retailers?  The choice has not been made to focus on #1.  The choice has been to focus on short term financial results, to the detriment of not only customer experiences, but talent development, product development, marketing, store design and more.  My hope is that retailers are using the current business climate to reassess what they have been focusing on and realize that they must focus first on their people and their customer and then the long term, sustainable growth and profits will follow.  Mike Osorio, your Dare to be Contagious! strategist

————————————————-
GO TO THE FULL STORY AND DISCUSSION:
http://www.retailwire.com/Discussions/Sngl_Discussion.cfm/12696

————————————————-

Satisfied Workers Generate Greater Returns

————————————————-
RETAILWIRE DISCUSSION TOPIC:
Satisfied Workers Generate Greater Returns
————————————————-

TOPIC SUMMARY:

In a recent article at Knowledge@Wharton, the author discusses a study correlating employee satisfaction to company performance.  Discussion:  Do you believe there is a direct correlation between employee satisfaction and company performance? Have retailers learned to value intangibles such as employee satisfaction in achieving company performance goals or does the emphasis remain solely on traditional accounting measures?

My post:

Mary Baum got it right by emphasizing employee engagement vs. employee satisfaction.  Only a truly engaged employee does the extra things necessary for exceptional customer experiences that build lasting customer relationships.  The obstacles in the way of leaders working toward engaged employees include the focus on short-term financials, the simplistic idea of “happy” employees, over-extended, under-trained front line supervision, and detached senior executives. The solutions are not easy, but start with a long term view (ala Google) and a CEO and top lieutenants that live and breathe every day their unshakable vision of customer and employee engagement.

————————————————-
GO TO THE FULL STORY AND DISCUSSION:
http://www.retailwire.com/Discussions/Sngl_Discussion.cfm/12685

————————————————-

Dare to be Contagious! ™ blog launches!

Happy New Year’s Eve! 

As we transition to 2008, I am launching my blog, “Dare to be Contagious! ™

As you may know, after 25 years as a successful retail executive I recently left my role as SVP/GM for Harry & David Stores to launch my own venture, “Osorio Group.”  If this is your first time “meeting” me, check the “about” page for a bit more on my biography.

Osorio Group will be an umbrella firm covering my public speaking, consulting, and coaching services.  My site, www.osoriogroup.com, launches this coming Saturday, January 5^th, 2008.  I invite you to check out the site and let me know what you think!  I look forward to your feedback and hopefully your referrals too!

So what’s this blog all about?  Dare to be Contagious! ™ is the tagline and philosophy for my new venture.  It refers to my belief that knowledge is only powerful when it is shared with others to enrich, enlighten, and enhance their lives.

I am a “lifelong learner”.  I love to devour information gleaned from articles, books, presentations and most importantly, conversations.  The internet has, of course, dramatically increased the resources available to me.  I have always sought to bring new thinking, ideas, tips and techniques to my workplaces.  I believe that the companies I worked for and the bosses, peers, and subordinates I worked with benefitted from this knowledge transfer in terms of increased sales & profits, improved processes, products & services, and the significant and ongoing development of talent.

My new venture will allow me to continue transferring knowledge through speaking engagements, consulting, and coaching.  Plus, I will have two free email products which will allow me to communicate to an opted-in audience on a regular basis.  In the future, I also plan on having teleseminars and other web-based products to reach even more people.

I am certainly following my own advice to “be contagious” with my knowledge.  But even these methods will not completely fulfill my mission to pass on knowledge and passion.  Therefore, I have launched this blog as a means to communicate freely whenever the need strikes me.

The blog will include postings on retail:  trends, branding, consumer behavior, leadership, talent development, and more.  I will also post on other areas I am passionate about:  food, wine, travel, music, art, etc.

I hope you will find the blog interesting and that it provides value among all your sources of information, learning, and entertainment.  Please post your comments (freely and often!) by clicking on the “comments” link below each post. 

 See you in 2008!