Our key results are clearly defined and are understood throughout our organization.
- 13% said, "Yes, Completely"
- 13% said, "Not entirely, we can improve here"
- 74% said, "Not at all"
People at every level can link what they do on a daily basis with the key results.
- TRUE
- FALSE
Our own research shows that only 24% of people can link what they do on a daily basis to the key results of the organization. When people are busy working, but cannot make the tie to advancing the cause of the organization forward, they become less invested and less enthused with fulfilling the purpose of the organization. One major study showed that only 51% of employees said their co-workers often feel motivated or are mostly motivated at work. Our findings show that amazingly 74% percent of business executives feel that the key results their organization needs to achieve are not clearly understood throughout the organization and, therefore, not being actively pursued.
Our research also revealed one alarming statistic. When asked how they would rank their workforce in terms of the level of ownership people take for achieving organizational results, executives reported that only 10% would fall into the category of "Buy-in and invested." 84% were seen as in either a "Comply and concede" or "Exempt and excuse" mode relative to their ownership for achieving organizational results.
Learn about the levels of ownership
We have captured the essence of employee engagement in what we call the Levels of Ownership Model, which shows the four different levels that describe the degree of ownership people demonstrate for any organizational
initiative or effort.
At the lowest level, where people disagree with and are uninvolved in the initiative or change effort, you find no ownership at all. People at this level resist the change effort and resent the fact that they are being asked to do it. They have committed neither their minds nor their hearts to the endeavor.
At the next level up, Exempt/Excuse, people are essentially saying, "I don't Own It." They agree intellectually but remain uninvolved emotionally. Either they will hold themselves exempt because they're "Too busy," or they'll make excuses because they "Can't get to it." People at this level of ownership will not move forward even though they may find the organizational initiative a good idea. At this level, they believe the need to change, learn a new skill or improve may apply to everyone else, but not to them. They will offer any number of excuses for why they are, in their own minds, exempt from the undertaking.
Moving up to the next level, Comply/Concede, you see people intellectually disagreeing with some aspect of the initiative but nevertheless emotionally investing themselves in taking action on it due to loyalty, duty, professionalism, or other considerations. You've no doubt seen that level of ownership. It's not necessarily bad, and realistically, it's all you really need in certain situations. Quite often people who simply comply with requests and concede to move forward do produce solid results. On the other hand, people at this level can be aligned with a direction and still lack what it's really going to take to get the result, particularly when it requires the kind of consistent personal effort needed to successfully execute.
In the initial stages of implementation, you will find that many people, perhaps the majority, will reside at this Comply/Concede level of ownership. They exhibit the necessary actions, but with wavering commitment. At the first sign of backsliding on management's part, they can quite easily revert to the old way of doing things. Because they feel some uncertainty about the direction in which they are headed, they may fairly easily disengage from it.
Getting people to engage and Buy-In/Invest personally is one of management's key tasks and greatest challenges. You can increase the level of employee engagement by expending every effort to get people ready for the change or initiative by persuading and convincing them of the merits of the business case and by getting them involved in the process. Each step of the enrollment process should be designed to facilitate these two criteria: agreement and involvement. When you do it this way, you simultaneously prepare people for the change and enroll them in the process of the change itself.
At the lowest level, where people disagree with and are uninvolved in the initiative or change effort, you find no ownership at all. People at this level resist the change effort and resent the fact that they are being asked to do it. They have committed neither their minds nor their hearts to the endeavor.
At the next level up, Exempt/Excuse, people are essentially saying, "I don't Own It." They agree intellectually but remain uninvolved emotionally. Either they will hold themselves exempt because they're "Too busy," or they'll make excuses because they "Can't get to it." People at this level of ownership will not move forward even though they may find the organizational initiative a good idea. At this level, they believe the need to change, learn a new skill or improve may apply to everyone else, but not to them. They will offer any number of excuses for why they are, in their own minds, exempt from the undertaking.
Moving up to the next level, Comply/Concede, you see people intellectually disagreeing with some aspect of the initiative but nevertheless emotionally investing themselves in taking action on it due to loyalty, duty, professionalism, or other considerations. You've no doubt seen that level of ownership. It's not necessarily bad, and realistically, it's all you really need in certain situations. Quite often people who simply comply with requests and concede to move forward do produce solid results. On the other hand, people at this level can be aligned with a direction and still lack what it's really going to take to get the result, particularly when it requires the kind of consistent personal effort needed to successfully execute.
In the initial stages of implementation, you will find that many people, perhaps the majority, will reside at this Comply/Concede level of ownership. They exhibit the necessary actions, but with wavering commitment. At the first sign of backsliding on management's part, they can quite easily revert to the old way of doing things. Because they feel some uncertainty about the direction in which they are headed, they may fairly easily disengage from it.
When it comes to engaging the workforce and creating true ownership for achieving our key results, the majority of people are at....
At the top of the diagram, Buy-In/Invest, you see the highest level of ownership and willingness to participate in
the change. This occurs when people intellectually agree with a course of action and emotionally commit themselves to it. Both their minds and hearts are engaged, and they are thoroughly invested and vigorously involved. They find it easy to "Sign up" and readily see the advantages that the company will gain with the new direction or initiative.
- 10% said, "Buy-in and Invest"
- 44% said, "Comply and Concede"
- 40% said, "Exempt and Excuse"
- 6% said, "Resist and Resent"
Getting people to engage and Buy-In/Invest personally is one of management's key tasks and greatest challenges. You can increase the level of employee engagement by expending every effort to get people ready for the change or initiative by persuading and convincing them of the merits of the business case and by getting them involved in the process. Each step of the enrollment process should be designed to facilitate these two criteria: agreement and involvement. When you do it this way, you simultaneously prepare people for the change and enroll them in the process of the change itself.
Personal engagement begins by clarifying the results you need to achieve as a team or organization and then making the case for "Why" they should sign up, buy in and invest in getting it done.
The best measure of employee engagement is the level of "Inventiveness" that people demonstrate in their daily work. By engaging the heart and creating a deep sense of personal accountability for the success of the team or organization, you engage the most vital part of a person's conviction to get things done. By engaging the mind, you ignite their most creative thinking, as they devise solutions that may never have occurred to you or them. The power of gaining people's hearts and minds in getting things done may seem obvious, but the price you pay when they only apply their hands and feet to a task, while not so obvious, is nonetheless real. People who invest their hearts and minds take accountability and go beyond the basic requirements of their jobs and work to make things happen in a way that may even surpass your wildest expectations.
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John Gardynik, President RX America, discusses how the Accountability Training® impacts Employee Engagement and Retention (View John's bio).
Here are some examples and case studies of organizations that used the Partners In Leadership Training to gain employee engagement and produce outstanding results:
Search all client stories:
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The Story: The Sandy City grocery store, a part of one of the nation's largest grocery retailers, was the most profitable stores in the Western Division. This division implemented the Culture Track™ Training throughout all its stores. When it was announced that the first Super Big Box store in the state was moving into the area, just a mile from this store, you can imagine the discussion that ensued.
The leadership team immediately began working to determine the best course of action to minimize the impact of this competitors store opening. Even though this seemed like a stressful situation, the store director noticed that there was something different about the leadership team and the way they were handling this issue. In fact, this store director called other store directors in the area and asked them what was going on with the leadership team?
Not long after, the store director was sent to the Self Track™ Training Workshop. While participating in the class, he and the other store directors realized that this is what was different about the leadership group - they were living the Accountability Training® principles. Soon after the class, the store director was called to the divisional office to meet with the executive group about the Big Box store that was coming in. They discussed new merchandising plans, new fixtures and even new uniforms; then, they asked the store director what he wanted to do. The store director made a bold move. He asked to save the money that would be spent on new equipment, and instead use the money to train every single associate in the Self Track Training: from department heads, to courtesy clerks and everyone in between. They had 10 months before competition was slated to open.
The executives agreed. They delivered the training to every associate in the store. By applying the Accountability Training® principles and practices, the associates focused on what they could control. They realized that they couldn't stop the Big Box store from coming, but they could put their effort into creating an environment where no one would have a reason to go elsewhere. The associates started taking accountability for store conditions, customer service, and joint accountability for creating a positive shopping experience and people began to notice.
It was estimated that the Big Box store would take $60,000 - $100,000 in weekly sales from the Sandy City store. Previous traditional Big Box openings in other states had hurt the division's stores in the past. This was a Super Big Box with groceries as well as general merchandise and posed an even greater threat. The time finally came for the Big Box to open. It opened on a Wednesday and the impact on the Sandy City store was much less than anticipated: the store only lost $16,000 in sales that first week. The next week, the first full week of the Big Box opening, the store only lost $18,500. In the past, it took one year to recapture lost sales competition opens up. In this case, within 4 months, the Sandy City store was back to positive sales. After that, they were unstoppable. There are many similar stories emerging all over this company as the Self Track Training is taking root within the organization.
One Organization Gets Supercharged to Fight a Competitive Threat and Wins!...
The Results: Mitigated impact on sales from a competitor's store opening and gained positive sales in just four months.
The Story: The Sandy City grocery store, a part of one of the nation's largest grocery retailers, was the most profitable stores in the Western Division. This division implemented the Culture Track™ Training throughout all its stores. When it was announced that the first Super Big Box store in the state was moving into the area, just a mile from this store, you can imagine the discussion that ensued.
The leadership team immediately began working to determine the best course of action to minimize the impact of this competitors store opening. Even though this seemed like a stressful situation, the store director noticed that there was something different about the leadership team and the way they were handling this issue. In fact, this store director called other store directors in the area and asked them what was going on with the leadership team?
Not long after, the store director was sent to the Self Track™ Training Workshop. While participating in the class, he and the other store directors realized that this is what was different about the leadership group - they were living the Accountability Training® principles. Soon after the class, the store director was called to the divisional office to meet with the executive group about the Big Box store that was coming in. They discussed new merchandising plans, new fixtures and even new uniforms; then, they asked the store director what he wanted to do. The store director made a bold move. He asked to save the money that would be spent on new equipment, and instead use the money to train every single associate in the Self Track Training: from department heads, to courtesy clerks and everyone in between. They had 10 months before competition was slated to open.
The executives agreed. They delivered the training to every associate in the store. By applying the Accountability Training® principles and practices, the associates focused on what they could control. They realized that they couldn't stop the Big Box store from coming, but they could put their effort into creating an environment where no one would have a reason to go elsewhere. The associates started taking accountability for store conditions, customer service, and joint accountability for creating a positive shopping experience and people began to notice.
It was estimated that the Big Box store would take $60,000 - $100,000 in weekly sales from the Sandy City store. Previous traditional Big Box openings in other states had hurt the division's stores in the past. This was a Super Big Box with groceries as well as general merchandise and posed an even greater threat. The time finally came for the Big Box to open. It opened on a Wednesday and the impact on the Sandy City store was much less than anticipated: the store only lost $16,000 in sales that first week. The next week, the first full week of the Big Box opening, the store only lost $18,500. In the past, it took one year to recapture lost sales competition opens up. In this case, within 4 months, the Sandy City store was back to positive sales. After that, they were unstoppable. There are many similar stories emerging all over this company as the Self Track Training is taking root within the organization.
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From "worst to first," Employee Engagement is Measureable at the American Heart Association...
The Story: The American Heart Association is one of the most recognized, largest and longest standing non-profit organizations in the United States. The Associations Western Affiliate, which includes 14 states, utilized the Culture Track™ Training to achieve their key results of employee engagement and revenue. In one year, they went from 8th of 9 affiliates to first in revenue generation-from worst to first in one year! In employee engagement, they went from 6th to first.
From "worst to first," Employee Engagement is Measureable at the American Heart Association...
The Results: From nearly last to first in revenue generation and employee engagement.
The Story: The American Heart Association is one of the most recognized, largest and longest standing non-profit organizations in the United States. The Associations Western Affiliate, which includes 14 states, utilized the Culture Track™ Training to achieve their key results of employee engagement and revenue. In one year, they went from 8th of 9 affiliates to first in revenue generation-from worst to first in one year! In employee engagement, they went from 6th to first.
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The Story: Utilizing the Culture Track™ Training Overlake Hospital achieved the top honor by being voted "Favorite Health Care Company" in the Pacific Northwest. From the write-up, "The best caregivers are contented ones. One staffer sums it up, 'Patients notice that we look happy.' Employee's say that they feel valued and listened to in frequent meeting sessions with CEO Craig Hendrickson, where they're asked to share stories about their daily lives at the hospital. Knowing that they're cared about is important, and inspires them to pass that feeling on to their patients." The Culture Track Training helped Overlake, a non-profit regional hospital in Bellevue, Washington (many of Microsoft's long-time leadership have grown up with Overlake as their hospital of choice); achieve full employee engagement at every level of the organization. The shift in their culture was also accompanied by improved patient satisfaction, reduced turnover and employee satisfaction. CEO Craig Henderson calls the training a "... powerful, thoughtful, and straightforward approach to this complex subject of how to develop A Culture Of Accountability..."
Overlake Hospital becomes "Favorite Health Care Company"...
The Result: Favorite Health Care Company in the Pacific Northwest
The Story: Utilizing the Culture Track™ Training Overlake Hospital achieved the top honor by being voted "Favorite Health Care Company" in the Pacific Northwest. From the write-up, "The best caregivers are contented ones. One staffer sums it up, 'Patients notice that we look happy.' Employee's say that they feel valued and listened to in frequent meeting sessions with CEO Craig Hendrickson, where they're asked to share stories about their daily lives at the hospital. Knowing that they're cared about is important, and inspires them to pass that feeling on to their patients." The Culture Track Training helped Overlake, a non-profit regional hospital in Bellevue, Washington (many of Microsoft's long-time leadership have grown up with Overlake as their hospital of choice); achieve full employee engagement at every level of the organization. The shift in their culture was also accompanied by improved patient satisfaction, reduced turnover and employee satisfaction. CEO Craig Henderson calls the training a "... powerful, thoughtful, and straightforward approach to this complex subject of how to develop A Culture Of Accountability..."
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The Story: One of our clients Hyatt, a major international hotel chain that had invited us to assist in their effort to foster accountability at all levels of their organization by implementing the Self Track,™ offers a good example. When one hotel employee asked a guest about the quality of his stay at the hotel, the guest replied that everything was fine but that he needed to attend an important dinner that evening and had forgotten to bring his dinner jacket with him. The employee took it upon himself to contact the restaurant's night manager at home before the manager came in to work and asked if he could bring along his own dinner jacket, since the manager and the guest were about the same size. The night manager showed up with not one but two jackets for the guest to choose from. The guest, thrilled by this act of service above and beyond the call of duty, made a point of praising this behavior to the hotel's general manager before he checked out and has probably told this story on more than one occasion to amaze his friends and colleagues about the results people can get when they are fully invested. That's what always happens as a result of a "hearts and minds" effort: you get the kinds of results that people just can't stop talking about.
Making the right choice for customer satisfaction...
The Result: A guest is thrilled with the level of service.
The Story: One of our clients Hyatt, a major international hotel chain that had invited us to assist in their effort to foster accountability at all levels of their organization by implementing the Self Track,™ offers a good example. When one hotel employee asked a guest about the quality of his stay at the hotel, the guest replied that everything was fine but that he needed to attend an important dinner that evening and had forgotten to bring his dinner jacket with him. The employee took it upon himself to contact the restaurant's night manager at home before the manager came in to work and asked if he could bring along his own dinner jacket, since the manager and the guest were about the same size. The night manager showed up with not one but two jackets for the guest to choose from. The guest, thrilled by this act of service above and beyond the call of duty, made a point of praising this behavior to the hotel's general manager before he checked out and has probably told this story on more than one occasion to amaze his friends and colleagues about the results people can get when they are fully invested. That's what always happens as a result of a "hearts and minds" effort: you get the kinds of results that people just can't stop talking about.
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The Story: A leading Global restaurant brand, one of Fortune magazine's Most Admired Food Services Companies, experienced the positive impact on their R2 (their desired results-see The Results Pyramid®) when they used the Self Track™ and succeeded in getting people to focus on taking the right desired actions which led to hitting their plan on sales, beating their plan on profits, and blowing away their turnover goals.
With the entire restaurant category mired in the deadening effects of a slogging economy, the management team had fallen into the classic trap of trying to improve results by focusing solely on what people do. While that seems to work in some cases, it never works when what you need is a fundamental shift in culture in order to produce R2 (their desired results-see the "Does Our Organization Have Clear R2? Assessment"). The leadership team recognized that the harder they pushed on actions, the worse it got. The work environment had become a "culture of activity" saddled with lots of measures, lists, and graphs.
People were beginning to feel badgered by management as the focus on compliance increased and the threat of losing their jobs hung constantly over their heads. At one point, results deteriorated so much that management, in an effort to motivate compliance with the nonnegotiables, established a more prescriptive approach to reporting, goal setting, and communicating through a creative merit system.
Management soon recognized that their "management by edict" approach, the most commonly used leadership practice in any business anytime new results are needed, was producing a "culture of activity" rather than the results they were looking for. People were working by checklist and mandate, falling short of implementing the true intent of these practices and lacking the personal ownership they really needed to get it right in the restaurants.
The chain's management faced a tremendous challenge. They needed to get everyone throughout their worldwide chain of restaurants engaged in not just implementing activities that were presented to them, but in taking ownership for creatively and intelligently replicating the best practices without mandate or force. They had made activity the objective, when what they really wanted was better results within the unique customer environment of each restaurant.
At this point, they enlisted Partners In Leadership to help them learn what they needed to do as leaders to enroll people in the culture-change effort and create an environment that led to a more collaborative development of A2 actions that were more results-based than activities-based, creating ownership and accountability for making sure people did the right things at the right times in the restaurants.
The result? In an industry in which companies had been hit hard by the recession, this global food services chain began to realize their R2 objective, hitting their plan on sales, beating their plan on profits, and blowing away their turnover goals. Wall Street rewarded their efforts with a healthy increase in stock price.
From a culture of "activity" and "going through the motions" to a culture of "results"...
The Results: Hitting plan on sales, beating plan on profits, and blowing away turnover goals with Wall Street rewarding their efforts with a healthy increase in stock price.
The Story: A leading Global restaurant brand, one of Fortune magazine's Most Admired Food Services Companies, experienced the positive impact on their R2 (their desired results-see The Results Pyramid®) when they used the Self Track™ and succeeded in getting people to focus on taking the right desired actions which led to hitting their plan on sales, beating their plan on profits, and blowing away their turnover goals.
With the entire restaurant category mired in the deadening effects of a slogging economy, the management team had fallen into the classic trap of trying to improve results by focusing solely on what people do. While that seems to work in some cases, it never works when what you need is a fundamental shift in culture in order to produce R2 (their desired results-see the "Does Our Organization Have Clear R2? Assessment"). The leadership team recognized that the harder they pushed on actions, the worse it got. The work environment had become a "culture of activity" saddled with lots of measures, lists, and graphs.
People were beginning to feel badgered by management as the focus on compliance increased and the threat of losing their jobs hung constantly over their heads. At one point, results deteriorated so much that management, in an effort to motivate compliance with the nonnegotiables, established a more prescriptive approach to reporting, goal setting, and communicating through a creative merit system.
Management soon recognized that their "management by edict" approach, the most commonly used leadership practice in any business anytime new results are needed, was producing a "culture of activity" rather than the results they were looking for. People were working by checklist and mandate, falling short of implementing the true intent of these practices and lacking the personal ownership they really needed to get it right in the restaurants.
The chain's management faced a tremendous challenge. They needed to get everyone throughout their worldwide chain of restaurants engaged in not just implementing activities that were presented to them, but in taking ownership for creatively and intelligently replicating the best practices without mandate or force. They had made activity the objective, when what they really wanted was better results within the unique customer environment of each restaurant.
At this point, they enlisted Partners In Leadership to help them learn what they needed to do as leaders to enroll people in the culture-change effort and create an environment that led to a more collaborative development of A2 actions that were more results-based than activities-based, creating ownership and accountability for making sure people did the right things at the right times in the restaurants.
The result? In an industry in which companies had been hit hard by the recession, this global food services chain began to realize their R2 objective, hitting their plan on sales, beating their plan on profits, and blowing away their turnover goals. Wall Street rewarded their efforts with a healthy increase in stock price.
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The Story: Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, at the time a leading medical device manufacturer (subsequently they have been acquired by Guidant) found success in dramatically increasing employee engagement with the Culture Track™ Training as they tackled their toughest issue, product quality. Utilizing the training through management and then to the front-line assembly workers, the organization logged significant improvement. Steve Johnson, then VP of manufacturing says: "You may remember that when you first began working with our Manufacturing organization, product quality was a significant challenge for us, and getting everyone to realize that we were deeply committed to its improvement was preventing our progress. The ideas you shared with us, and how we used them to rally support for our quality improvement objectives has resulted in truly remarkable results. In September, our customer complaint level was at the lowest level in our history, approximately one fifth of what it was three years ago when you began working with us. Today, we see that we may be able to achieve a ten-fold reduction in complaints over a seven-year period if our progress continues at its present rate. No one would have believed this was possible when we first began. Only when everyone feels accountable for quality can this type of improvement be realized."
Here is the story. Front-line assembly workers held the belief that the Senior Team was not committed to quality. When asked why, they said, "well, every time someone turns the light on, which stops the line and says that a product is out of spec, a supervisor will come over and say 'ship it'. Obviously, then what the team is committed to is production not quality." What the supervisor didn't do was interpret what he was seeing in terms of the product being out of spec, and what he was seeing was that the product was not out of spec in terms of something that would affect its safety or ability in any way. What was out of spec was something to do with what they called "goodness issues." For example, color or something like that so, with that in mind, the supervisor would say "ship it", knowing, of course that they had a production schedule to meet and that the product would meet customer requirements. What the organization decided to do in order to shift the belief was to scrap anything that was out of spec, rewrite the spec so that they could then rebuild to the specific spec that was required by their customers. When they began to do that, and the light went off, and the Supervisor came over and said "scrap it" they took it out of production, re-wrote the spec, and then stuck to the spec. Within six months, the re-assessment revealed that every person on the line stated that they believed that the Senior Team was committed to quality and that the right decisions were being made on the customer's behalf. The result, a five-fold reduction in customer complaints.
Everyone Is Committed to Quality...
The Results: Fivefold reduction in customer complaints.
The Story: Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, at the time a leading medical device manufacturer (subsequently they have been acquired by Guidant) found success in dramatically increasing employee engagement with the Culture Track™ Training as they tackled their toughest issue, product quality. Utilizing the training through management and then to the front-line assembly workers, the organization logged significant improvement. Steve Johnson, then VP of manufacturing says: "You may remember that when you first began working with our Manufacturing organization, product quality was a significant challenge for us, and getting everyone to realize that we were deeply committed to its improvement was preventing our progress. The ideas you shared with us, and how we used them to rally support for our quality improvement objectives has resulted in truly remarkable results. In September, our customer complaint level was at the lowest level in our history, approximately one fifth of what it was three years ago when you began working with us. Today, we see that we may be able to achieve a ten-fold reduction in complaints over a seven-year period if our progress continues at its present rate. No one would have believed this was possible when we first began. Only when everyone feels accountable for quality can this type of improvement be realized."
Here is the story. Front-line assembly workers held the belief that the Senior Team was not committed to quality. When asked why, they said, "well, every time someone turns the light on, which stops the line and says that a product is out of spec, a supervisor will come over and say 'ship it'. Obviously, then what the team is committed to is production not quality." What the supervisor didn't do was interpret what he was seeing in terms of the product being out of spec, and what he was seeing was that the product was not out of spec in terms of something that would affect its safety or ability in any way. What was out of spec was something to do with what they called "goodness issues." For example, color or something like that so, with that in mind, the supervisor would say "ship it", knowing, of course that they had a production schedule to meet and that the product would meet customer requirements. What the organization decided to do in order to shift the belief was to scrap anything that was out of spec, rewrite the spec so that they could then rebuild to the specific spec that was required by their customers. When they began to do that, and the light went off, and the Supervisor came over and said "scrap it" they took it out of production, re-wrote the spec, and then stuck to the spec. Within six months, the re-assessment revealed that every person on the line stated that they believed that the Senior Team was committed to quality and that the right decisions were being made on the customer's behalf. The result, a five-fold reduction in customer complaints.
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The Story: Ranked one of the top 50 largest banks in our nation by The Wall Street Journal, Commerce Bancshares invested in the Self Track™ Training. The 140- year old financial institution realized they weren't in Kansas anymore; they were in 350 locations with over 6,000 employees. "All of our managers have been through the training and we are now beginning a rollout of the training to front-line supervisors. In addition, all of our employees have been exposed to the (Self Track Training) terminology and their managers are helping them to link their activities to the company's key results." As a result of implementing The Self Track, Commerce Bancshares, Inc. engaged tellers on the front line and increased teller referrals 145% while increasing booked sales from those same referrals by 155% over the previous year. Stories abounded about employee initiatives that generated bottom line results. One of their executive said "This is one of the best investments we've made in training for our managers." Were sure Harry S. Truman would agree. In another example of employee engagement on the front lines, Truman who worked at the National Bank of Commerce from April 24, 1903 to May 15, 1905 received his review at the end of his first year at the bank from his supervisor, A. D. Flintom. He wrote this of the young clerk: "He is a willing worker, almost always here and tries hard to please everybody. We never had a boy in the vault like him before. He watches everything very closely and by his watchfulness, detects many errors which a careless boy would let slip through. His appearance is good and his habits and character are of the best." Truman demonstrated the level of ownership consistent with the culture today at Commerce BancShares.
Sara E. Foster, SVP and Director of Human Resources confirmed that "The common language - especially 'Staying Above The Line' and always asking 'What else can I do?' us heard throughout the organization. Managers are reporting a real difference in the way employees are taking ownership for achieving results and not letting obstacles stand in the way of finding solutions to everyday challenges."
Invested In Accountability Training...
The Results: 140-year old financial institution increased teller referrals 145% while increasing booked sales from those same referrals by 155%
The Story: Ranked one of the top 50 largest banks in our nation by The Wall Street Journal, Commerce Bancshares invested in the Self Track™ Training. The 140- year old financial institution realized they weren't in Kansas anymore; they were in 350 locations with over 6,000 employees. "All of our managers have been through the training and we are now beginning a rollout of the training to front-line supervisors. In addition, all of our employees have been exposed to the (Self Track Training) terminology and their managers are helping them to link their activities to the company's key results." As a result of implementing The Self Track, Commerce Bancshares, Inc. engaged tellers on the front line and increased teller referrals 145% while increasing booked sales from those same referrals by 155% over the previous year. Stories abounded about employee initiatives that generated bottom line results. One of their executive said "This is one of the best investments we've made in training for our managers." Were sure Harry S. Truman would agree. In another example of employee engagement on the front lines, Truman who worked at the National Bank of Commerce from April 24, 1903 to May 15, 1905 received his review at the end of his first year at the bank from his supervisor, A. D. Flintom. He wrote this of the young clerk: "He is a willing worker, almost always here and tries hard to please everybody. We never had a boy in the vault like him before. He watches everything very closely and by his watchfulness, detects many errors which a careless boy would let slip through. His appearance is good and his habits and character are of the best." Truman demonstrated the level of ownership consistent with the culture today at Commerce BancShares.
Sara E. Foster, SVP and Director of Human Resources confirmed that "The common language - especially 'Staying Above The Line' and always asking 'What else can I do?' us heard throughout the organization. Managers are reporting a real difference in the way employees are taking ownership for achieving results and not letting obstacles stand in the way of finding solutions to everyday challenges."
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The Story: Teradata is the world's largest company solely focused on creating enterprise agility through database software and data warehouse appliances and champion of Partners In Leadership Accountability Training.® Jim Steward, Chief Learning Officer of Teradata said, "The Teradata MBA program has instilled A Culture Of Accountability both for new hires who must complete the six-part program, and for our sales managers who support, facilitate and reinforce this program by regularly engaging with each new associate." They are the winner of two awards in the 2011 Bersin & Associates Learning Leaders Program, an awards program for employee learning and talent management.
It all started when the Teradata Corporation, a company founded in a garage in Los Angeles, brought in the Self Track™ Training. Teradata strove to fill a niche in the computer database market unserved by larger companies such as IBM. After the first two years of hard effort, they finally sold the first Teradata computer to a Fortune 500 company headquartered on the East Coast. That accomplishment prompted quite a celebration among Teradata's fifty-two employees, who had worked together as a veritable family for two long years. Now, after all that effort, the company had turned the corner and was about to ship its first product.
On the Saturday morning scheduled for shipment of the computer, all the employees and their families gathered at the Teradata facility, a renovated warehouse that had replaced the garage in which the company had begun its operations, to give it a rousing send-off. Streamers and signs hung from the rafters and the eaves of the warehouse roof. Everyone sported T-shirts with the words The Big One screened on the front and back. Even the American Van Lines driver who had contracted to deliver the shipment got caught up in the festivities as he climbed into the cab of his eighteen-wheeler. As the contract driver pulled out of the parking lot with The Big One in tow, the Teradata families formed a parade route to cheer his departure. Moved by the moment, the driver waved back, shouting that he would not let them down. Indeed, the driver felt he had joined the Teradata team, even if only for this one haul, and he felt a strong sense of ownership and pride over the role he was playing in Teradata's first major achievement.
Almost eight hours into his trip, the American Van Lines driver pulled into his first weigh station only to discover that his load was five hundred pounds over the legal limit. He knew the overweight problem would require additional paper processing and approvals that could create a full day's delay and prevent Teradata from meeting the promised delivery date. At this point, you can imagine how easy it would have been for this driver to fall Below The Line,® blaming the company for the overweight problem. After all, it wasn't his fault. You can also imagine how easy it would have been for the driver to check into a motel to await further instructions. However, the driver stayed Above The Line® by choosing to own the situation. Only he could save the delivery date. Recognizing the reality of his situation and owning the circumstances, he quickly moved to Solve It.® In minutes he turned the truck around and drove to the nearest truck stop where he dismantled the truck's front bumper, removed its extra water containers and spare chairs, and then hid all the apparatus in a nearby ditch under some brush. He recalled thinking of the risk of losing the hidden items; after all, he would be held accountable by the company that owned the rig, but such thoughts quickly evaporated. He accepted the risk knowing it was the only way to get the shipment delivered on schedule. When he returned to the weigh station, the truck checked in fifty pounds under weight. With a sigh of relief and a great deal of pride and satisfaction in his accomplishment, he drove on to the East Coast where he delivered The Big One on time. He had done it!
After hearing about the driver's experience, the people at Teradata celebrated his See It, Own It, Solve It, Do It® attitude by, among other things, incorporating his story into the company's new employee orientation program as a parable to reinforce the power of working Above The Line.
What Else Can I Do? Saves The Day...
The Results: On-time delivery of their first crucial product.
The Story: Teradata is the world's largest company solely focused on creating enterprise agility through database software and data warehouse appliances and champion of Partners In Leadership Accountability Training.® Jim Steward, Chief Learning Officer of Teradata said, "The Teradata MBA program has instilled A Culture Of Accountability both for new hires who must complete the six-part program, and for our sales managers who support, facilitate and reinforce this program by regularly engaging with each new associate." They are the winner of two awards in the 2011 Bersin & Associates Learning Leaders Program, an awards program for employee learning and talent management.
It all started when the Teradata Corporation, a company founded in a garage in Los Angeles, brought in the Self Track™ Training. Teradata strove to fill a niche in the computer database market unserved by larger companies such as IBM. After the first two years of hard effort, they finally sold the first Teradata computer to a Fortune 500 company headquartered on the East Coast. That accomplishment prompted quite a celebration among Teradata's fifty-two employees, who had worked together as a veritable family for two long years. Now, after all that effort, the company had turned the corner and was about to ship its first product.
On the Saturday morning scheduled for shipment of the computer, all the employees and their families gathered at the Teradata facility, a renovated warehouse that had replaced the garage in which the company had begun its operations, to give it a rousing send-off. Streamers and signs hung from the rafters and the eaves of the warehouse roof. Everyone sported T-shirts with the words The Big One screened on the front and back. Even the American Van Lines driver who had contracted to deliver the shipment got caught up in the festivities as he climbed into the cab of his eighteen-wheeler. As the contract driver pulled out of the parking lot with The Big One in tow, the Teradata families formed a parade route to cheer his departure. Moved by the moment, the driver waved back, shouting that he would not let them down. Indeed, the driver felt he had joined the Teradata team, even if only for this one haul, and he felt a strong sense of ownership and pride over the role he was playing in Teradata's first major achievement.
Almost eight hours into his trip, the American Van Lines driver pulled into his first weigh station only to discover that his load was five hundred pounds over the legal limit. He knew the overweight problem would require additional paper processing and approvals that could create a full day's delay and prevent Teradata from meeting the promised delivery date. At this point, you can imagine how easy it would have been for this driver to fall Below The Line,® blaming the company for the overweight problem. After all, it wasn't his fault. You can also imagine how easy it would have been for the driver to check into a motel to await further instructions. However, the driver stayed Above The Line® by choosing to own the situation. Only he could save the delivery date. Recognizing the reality of his situation and owning the circumstances, he quickly moved to Solve It.® In minutes he turned the truck around and drove to the nearest truck stop where he dismantled the truck's front bumper, removed its extra water containers and spare chairs, and then hid all the apparatus in a nearby ditch under some brush. He recalled thinking of the risk of losing the hidden items; after all, he would be held accountable by the company that owned the rig, but such thoughts quickly evaporated. He accepted the risk knowing it was the only way to get the shipment delivered on schedule. When he returned to the weigh station, the truck checked in fifty pounds under weight. With a sigh of relief and a great deal of pride and satisfaction in his accomplishment, he drove on to the East Coast where he delivered The Big One on time. He had done it!
After hearing about the driver's experience, the people at Teradata celebrated his See It, Own It, Solve It, Do It® attitude by, among other things, incorporating his story into the company's new employee orientation program as a parable to reinforce the power of working Above The Line.
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The Story: In 2008, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Bureau of Health Care Safety reported that 66% of serious reportable events were from patient falls during their stay in the hospital. Using the Self Track™ Training to create accountability for key organizational results, the leadership team at this hospital ranked patient safety high on their list of priorities. The fall-reduction program focused on quickly identifying those patients who were at high risk of falling down at this 639 bed hospital. The at-risk population of patients were identified to other hospital workers by placing red socks on their feet. Everyone knew that the patient was wearing red socks; they were a "high risk of falling" patient.
Early one morning, an employee in Accounts Receivable was on their way into the hospital and noticed that there was a patient standing outside in a gown and red socks. Having attended The Oz Principle® Accountability Training®, and knowing that one of the key organizational results was patient safety, this employee approached the patient, and asked, "I see that you have red socks on. Are you at high risk for falls?" The patient responded, "Yes, I am." The employee pursued their concern, "Well, what are you doing out here all by yourself?" The patient explained, "I needed a break and some fresh air. I've been in the hospital for a couple of weeks and I needed to get out for a minute." Taking ownership for safety, the employee said, "you really shouldn't be out here by yourself. Can I help you get back into the hospital?" They patient cooperated and took a seat while the employee found a nurse to help move him back to his room. With this heightened sense of engagement and personal accountability for key organizational results, the hospital has seen serious reportable events go down significantly and employee engagement go up dramatically.
Engagement At This Hospital Is Not Falling...
The Results: Serious reportable events (SRE's) go down when engagement goes up
The Story: In 2008, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Bureau of Health Care Safety reported that 66% of serious reportable events were from patient falls during their stay in the hospital. Using the Self Track™ Training to create accountability for key organizational results, the leadership team at this hospital ranked patient safety high on their list of priorities. The fall-reduction program focused on quickly identifying those patients who were at high risk of falling down at this 639 bed hospital. The at-risk population of patients were identified to other hospital workers by placing red socks on their feet. Everyone knew that the patient was wearing red socks; they were a "high risk of falling" patient.
Early one morning, an employee in Accounts Receivable was on their way into the hospital and noticed that there was a patient standing outside in a gown and red socks. Having attended The Oz Principle® Accountability Training®, and knowing that one of the key organizational results was patient safety, this employee approached the patient, and asked, "I see that you have red socks on. Are you at high risk for falls?" The patient responded, "Yes, I am." The employee pursued their concern, "Well, what are you doing out here all by yourself?" The patient explained, "I needed a break and some fresh air. I've been in the hospital for a couple of weeks and I needed to get out for a minute." Taking ownership for safety, the employee said, "you really shouldn't be out here by yourself. Can I help you get back into the hospital?" They patient cooperated and took a seat while the employee found a nurse to help move him back to his room. With this heightened sense of engagement and personal accountability for key organizational results, the hospital has seen serious reportable events go down significantly and employee engagement go up dramatically.
