For leadership teams committed to improving their performance, it can be instructive to examine practices that have contributed to the success of other companies.
In my new book Lead The Way, we peel back the curtain on several companies that all started small. Today, they’re big businesses. And they’re among the most admired companies in the world. They are considered the gold standards in their industry – and beyond. Not only for what they have accomplished as organizations. But also for the leaders they have produced and their achievements of innovation, effectiveness and continuous improvement.
And, most important, for the way in which they have achieved and now sustain their success.
From time to time throughout 2008, I’ll share with you some of these lessons. You and your team may be applying these practices in your organization, in which case this information will simply affirm the work you already are doing to sustain high levels of performance. For others, the lessons will serve as reminders that a few simple practices – implemented well – can help you and your team achieve the results you are expecting.
In each case, you’ll see that these concepts are fundamental. But as I travel throughout the country visiting with leaders, I continue to be struck by the fact that common sense is not always common practice.
What gets measured is what gets done
FedEx is an organization obsessed with customer service and focused on tracking it.
The company was founded by Fred Smith and began operating on April 17, 1973, with 14 aircraft connecting 25 U.S. cities. Today, FedEx provides time-definite shipping to more than 220 countries and territories.
A big part of the success of FedEx is built on a foundation of measuring everything with special attention paid to speed, reliability and cost. My friend Keith Martino, a former worldwide sales manager at FedEx whose team was twice recognized as the top global accounts group in the world, says the entire organization is focused on executing against Quality Service Indicators that track 12 key areas of business performance.
These indicators include specific customer service areas such as “friendliness,” “cleanliness of retail locations” and, of course “timeliness.” Each of these 12 areas is further refined to measure specific performance. The area of “timeliness,” for instance, breaks down into categories such as “same-day late” (an afternoon versus morning measurement that helps pinpoint breakdowns at the local level) and “wrong-day late” (which can help FedEx focus on problems occurring further upstream at the airline level).
It’s this measurement system that helps maintain superb levels of business performance and, as a result, extremely satisfied customers. The company continues to fine-tune its customer satisfaction measurement systems “to be sure we take into account everything customers feel is important in creating an exceptional relationship with FedEx.”
Business unit, departmental and individual plans are based on the overall corporate plan. These plans are reviewed as often as the team leaders believe they need to be – for some it’s daily, for other it’s weekly, for others it may be monthly. The plans are then formally reviewed for payout on an annual basis. Individuals that achieve their objectives receive bonuses and opportunities for advancement. Those that don’t meet objectives receive no bonuses and are graded down – a rarity at FedEx because “everyone is focused on hitting their objectives.”
“We make it very clear to everybody what they need to do every day,” says founder and chairman Fred Smith. “We manage the continuous improvement in a mathematical manner every single day. Our service gets better each year.”
Whether you are responsible for sustaining high levels of performance or increasing performance as an organization rebuilds, measurement is key.
Lesson: If it’s important, measure it.
Take action
Ask and answer these five questions:
- How do we currently define effectiveness in our organization?
- How do we measure effectiveness?
- Do we have a system in place to measure customer satisfaction?
- What about employee morale? Employee productivity?
- Are we receiving the return on our investments of time, talent and money we want?
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Copyright 2008 by Greg Bustin & Co., unless otherwise specified. All Rights Reserved.
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