Last week I discussed  the importance of rallying your entire company around a single purpose.

My example was from the book, The Power of Habit.  It was October 1987 when Paul O'Neill spoke at his first "meet and greet" with major shareholders, government leaders, and the press, as the newly hired CEO of Alcoa Corporation. 

O'Neill shocked everyone by talking about worker safety.  The result was many people sold Alcoa stock because they thought O'Neill's concerns regarding worker safety was nuts.  They wanted him to focus on the obvious:  Profits, market share, inventory management...

As the book reports, "Within a year of O'Neill's speech, Alcoa's profits would hit a record high.  By the time O'Neill retired in 2000, the company's annual net income was five times larger than before he arrived, and its market capitalization had risen by $27 billion..."

WHAT IS THE QUESTION?
The question I have been asked most often since last week is, as a managed service provider what should be the focus of my company so we can have the success Alcoa did under Paul O'Neill?

Let me explain by telling you a brief story...

A wife and husband started a computer repair / retail company in the 1990's.  It had its ups and downs over the years, but survived.  In 2010 they shifted to focusing on offering managed services.  In 2013 they heard someone speak on company culture and creating a work environment where employees are self-motivated to do their best.

The couple discussed their business.  It had grown, but it was still dysfunctional.  Most days were a fire drill.  Strategic activities were constantly postponed to make time for the daily tactics that enabled survival and minimum profit targets.

They discussed trying something different.  What would that look like, how much time would it take, and what would be the result?  The answers to these questions were...  they did not know.

So they went back to the speaker and engaged him as a consultant.  Over the course of a year they implemented changes:

1. They defined their company culture in ways that was meaningful to every employee and they could explain to others.
2. They worked with employees to define their roles so everyone was clear on their responsibilities, focused on what they do best, and motivated by a plan for their individual success.
3. They worked with employees to fully define and deliver the perfect work environment for success in their role.
4. They defined what their Clients believed to be their perfect client experience when being served by their organization.  Then they put the systems in place to deliver it consistently.
5. They trained and re-trained and trained again their people on their company culture, soft skills important to working effectively together, and how to provide a superior client experience.
6. They implemented simple, systematic pay-for-performance and recognition throughout their organization, and communicated metrics related to achievement regularly.
7. Through all of this they identified and eliminated unnecessary costs and inefficient processes while continuously improving priorities and extending more authority to every employee.

The company starting growing much more rapidly while the couple was able to take more time off to enjoy their family and personal interests.

WHAT IS THE ANSWER?

Do you want to know what their "worker safety-like" focus was that rallied employees to be self-motivated to do their best?

It was, "No Surprises" as Rivercity Solutions has as their company vision, or "Make Downtime Obsolete", as Alvarez Technology Group has as their company mission. Their focus was to eliminate calls to their service team outside of normal business hours.  Take a moment to consider how when you fully focus on this result it positively affects everything you do in a managed services business.

Please note, this story is a combination of truths learned through my work with hundreds of companies, not an actual couple.

Leaders, every day you wait to become your best is a setback for your career and financial independence, but your inability to maximize profits and growth hurts your employees and families even more.

Do you want to have a better company and be a better leader?  We can help you develop NEW habits to overpower your less productive ones.  Contact us if you would like to talk through what you want to achieve.