Auld Lang Syne

I’m not trying to rush the end of the year, but I had an awesome month!  Well, not a calendar month, but a period of 30 days.  It started with a birthday party.  There was a surprise birthday party for a former co-worker, Al, who has remained a good colleague.  The party was out of town, but worth the three-hour drive.  At the party I connected with two others, Sue and Jim, whom I'd not seen in a very long time.  How wonderful to catch up on what we were doing personally and professionally, and to share our successes.  Despite the geographical distances, we vowed to stay in touch – it’s easy since were all on LinkedIn.  

It didn't stop there.  There was a younger colleague, David, who had worked for Al.  I didn't know him well, but now he is an entrepreneur who I may be able to support with some business.  I also scheduled a lunch date with a retired colleague, Gus, who lives in my neck of the woods.

It didn't stop there either.  Sue told me Stan (who couldn't make the party) was working on a project in DC.  Well we connected and had dinner and great conversation.  And he told me he's in touch with Dennis, who worked in the same division I did.  So I was able to virtually touch base with him as well.

While my life since my corporate job has been good, I realized how much I missed these people.  Although we all worked in different parts of the company and in some cases in different geographic locations, we were a cohesive group.  We rocked it!

But it didn't stop there either.  Right before the party I heard from Larry, another long time friend and business colleague who lives in Florida and is relocating near me.  He was reaching out to network, and we were able to meet.  We'd been very much involved in our professional organization, SHRM. 

Speaking of SHRM, you can imagine my delight when I discovered that UC Santa Barbara's extension was using The Big Book of HR in one of its courses.  How did they find the book?  Well the instructor was another SHRM colleague who learned about it through LinkedIn. 

This story continues with our presentation at the SHRM chapter of a dear friend, Marna.  Again it was worth the drive not only to meet new professionals, but to spend time with her.  That was followed by lunch with Sue (not the one from the party) and concludes with dinner with Janet and her spouse, who were visiting DC.

Our lives are enriched by the people around us, not just personally, but professionally.  Colleagues become friends.  They support us in so many ways, personally, professionally, and in our business endeavors.  As business leaders (no matter how large or small your firm) you can never forget that people matter.  We can grow our networks on LinkedIn or Facebook, but there is nothing like sharing good conversation with good people who've had an impact on your life.  Grow your circle of good friends and colleagues.  Call, write, ping, or otherwise reconnect with people you’ve not seen or talked with for a while. Resolve to network in 2014 - personally and virtually.

Opening Night

For years, we have been enjoying musicals and dramas at a community theatre in suburban Washington, DC.  As season ticket holders, we were notified that while they had been highly successful as a community theatre, their board had decided to take the risk and become a professional theatre company.  Over the next few months we learned a little about proposed changes including ticket prices going up (but not by much!) and that they planned to add a bar in the lobby. We wondered what else might change and would we enjoy the experience.

September 27, 2013 was Opening Night for the newly named NextStop Theatre Company in Herndon, VA.  On the day the performance, I received an email telling me that on Opening Night, there would be some exciting additions to the evening including a “red carpet,” photographers, and a champagne reception following the play.   To understand why this was significant you have to picture that this theatre is in an industrial strip mall and in fact, until they changed the name, was called The Industrial Strength Theatre—so a red carpet seemed a bit out of context, but it was there and it was red and standing in the center was a professional photographer who shot photos as we walked in. While it wasn’t quite as exciting as the night I attended the Academy Awards in Los Angeles and was on the red carpet with Oprah, it was still a lot of fun to be part of something that had the potential to change the theatre experience!

The opening night play was really good—excellent performances from four people who played multiple parts.   It was smart, funny, and highly professional and afterwards we joined the rest of the audience on the stage for cake and champagne to celebrate. 

I’ve always believed that change is good and this experience really brought it home for me.  In our daily lives we face changes every day and how we approach and process change can make all the difference in the world.  This small theatre company took a huge risk when they decided to change to a professional theatre company and everything that entails.  After the performance the new Artistic Director shared that there was a lot of push back from board members and other contributors; however, after seeing the success on Saturday, I bet those folks will be taking full credit for the accomplishment! 

Helping our employees get through change is a big part of leadership.  Sometimes, the changes required by business pressures aren’t ones we would have made, nevertheless we have to get on board and support them and work to help our employees see the value in the change.  And, probably just as important, when you get to the other side of the change, celebrate where you’ve come from and where you are now. While you don’t need a red carpet and photographers to do that, do take the time to express your thanks to the employees who stuck with you and then move forward!

The NextStop Theatre in Herndon, VA made a major shift in its business model and I believe it will pay off for them.  How are you reacting to changes in your organization and how are you helping your employees manage those changes? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

You’re Back!

It was an enthusiastic, yet unexpected and surprising greeting I received at the nail salon one Monday. “You’re back!”  I wasn’t expecting it because I have a standing appointment there every other week.  It was surprising because the person who delivered it was the owner’s four-year old daughter.  She’d been at the shop two weeks earlier when I was there.  (Mom was having child-care challenges and was taking her daughter to work on certain days.)   What a way to train the future generation!

Several weeks later a driver came to my house to pick up a chair I was having reupholstered.  He greeted me with a big smile and said:  “Good to see you again!  How are you?”  I’d used the firm about three years ago.  I don’t know if he remembered me, my house, or both.  But it didn’t matter.  Once again I felt good about the recognition I’d received in addition to the great service from the business.

“Have a beautiful day!” is how Barbara and I are greeted every week when we meet at a local establishment for our breakfast meeting.  The greeting is accompanied with a warm and sincere smile.  This employee, Anna, expects to see us every week, is concerned when we don’t show up, and is surprised when we occasionally meet for lunch rather than breakfast.  Convenience aside, we continue to return and spend money because of this personal treatment.

In his book, The HR Value Proposition, David Ulrich said that the work of HR does not begin with HR, it begins with the business.  I’d expand that to say that the work of any business function (human resources, accounting, procurement, marketing, IT) does not begin with the function, it begins with the business. “Value” is determined by the customer/client.

Contrast these positive encounters with some unfortunate changes I’ve witness in another place I often frequented for lunch.  A self-service establishment, for years there was a manager who would walk around asking “How are you doing?  Is everything okay?”  Like Anna, she was warm and sincere.  She wanted you to have a good experience while you were there and she was happy to see you back,  The work flow was fast and efficient – you didn’t have a long wait between ordering and picking up your food.  And the orders were always correct!  After about 3-1/2 years I suddenly notice that she wasn’t there and the operation was clearly suffering.  Orders wrong, long waits, and the staff, with the exception of one long term employee, not friendly or recognizing you.  I discretely discovered that there were major management changes that had taken place and the new regional manager was insistent on things being done “his way”, with little regard for the customer. What?  “Value” is determined by the customer/client!  Convenience aside, I don’t go there as frequently as I once did.  The experience is not the same.

Some thoughts on customer service for all companies to ponder – customer service is based on:

•       Effective Relationships: Do you leverage formal and informal relationships effectively and with integrity?

•       Achieving Results: Do you focus on achieving desired, timely organizational outcomes more than on rote process ?

•       Communication: Do you accurately formulate and clearly communicate critical messages?  (How well you listen, understand, and provide information?)

•       Competence:  How knowledgeable and skillful are you concerning the use of your service customer situations?

•       Speed:  How quickly do you give customers what they want (or need)?

•       Integrity: Can customers trust you to tell the truth?  Are you there when they need you?  Can you recover from any problems with responsiveness, empathy, persistence, and complete customer satisfaction?

•       Flexibility:  How willing, eager, and able are you to adjust your product or service to meet customer needs, wants, desires or changing behaviors?

Give your customers a good experience.  Make customer service a part of your organization’s value proposition and culture.  As leaders practice it and lead by example.