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Who's in Charge of Your Reputation?
by Darin Drabing, senior vice president, operations, for Forest Lawn Memorial Parks and Mortuaries in Southern California, www.forestlawn.com, where he oversees more than 500 employees.
Evaluating Employees
Now you can ask the question, "How well do you know your employees?" Sure, you know their names, their titles and what they do. I hope you know their families and what they're interested in.
Do you know what's important to them? Do you know where they find meaning? What kind of relationship do you really have with the people who are in charge of your reputation?
You've got to evaluate your employees constantly. They're all unique; they've got strengths and weaknesses. The question for you is, where should you invest your time and what should you be talking about to that individual? Not that department, not this group, not this firm, but that person.
We use this matrix in our organization to evaluate employees. We talk about it in terms of "Can they do it—yes or no?" and "Do they get it, yes or no?"
When I talk about "Can they do it," these are things that are quantifiable. If they're in a clerical position, can they type, are they accurate? Do they get things done on time? Do they do the physical aspect of their job? If you expect them to mow a certain acreage in a week's period of time, how are they doing? Is their customer service satisfaction level from your surveys, or however you measure it, at the point it should be? Question is, can the employee do the job? That's easy.
Now comes the tough one: "Do they get it?" Are they in synch with what's important to you? Do they share your values? Do they live it? That's all qualifiable, not quantifiable. You have to know that. In order to know that, you have to have some sort of relationship with them.
If they do it and they get it, this is a great person. Probably one of your high-potential employees, or at least a valuable incumbent. What do you do with them? You encourage them. You look for opportunities for them to expand their experiences in your firm.
But what if they get it but can't do it? What do you invest in then? Training; resources. They'll do it faster, quicker, better. And if they don't, don't stop working with them until you're exhausted. If you're exhausted and they still can't do it, then you might have to part company. But they have the most important thing, because they "get it." They're doing what they're doing for the right reason, and that's priceless. So if you can salvage them by investing in their training or the resources that they need to get the job done—they need a different piece of equipment—do that.
Here's the most dangerous employee in your organization, absolute chameleon: Can do it, doesn't get it. They do their job very well, because they can do all of the tasks that you assign them—great—but they're not doing this job for the right reason. Maybe they don't buy into your caring philosophy; maybe they're not really that sensitive. If you want to know that, you have to spend more time with them. You have to invest in finding a way to connect to them in a way that makes your organization a meaningful place to them. But that might not work out.
And this one: They can't do it and they don't get it. You've got to turn around to yourself and say, "I made a mistake; I hired the wrong person." It's going to take a heroic effort to try to change this individual. I suggest that you don't spend a great deal of time investing in that employee. In fact, the more you do that, you're taking away your time and energy and resources from all those people in the other three boxes.
Motivating Employees
So how do you motivate? I think it comes down to what I like to think of as the four Cs of motivation:
• You have to connect. You have to be a real person; they have to know you're real.
• You have to communicate to them. Not just the daily stuff, but you also have to talk about mission, ethics, value.
• There has to be a goal that's big enough that everyone can commit to, everyone knows about it, everybody can see it, taste it.
• And we never do enough of this: We never congratulate enough. If you think you do, triple it, quadruple it.
Your good employees will be amazed. It's how you start building fires. Think about starting fires. Forget the viruses for a minute. When you think of personnel issues, start focusing on all those good people in the first box: They can do it and They get it.
• You know their names; spend time with them, nurture them, encourage them.
• Share knowledge. How many things do you hold back because maybe you think, "Oh, they're confidential," or, "That person doesn't need to know that." Your high-potential employees will just grow from that and will have a better base of information to make future decisions on.
• Expand their authority; expand their responsibility.
• Invite them to make a decision, something perhaps that you typically wouldn't let them do. Demonstrate their importance to others. That's a powerful thing, when you're sitting in a meeting and you sit back and say, "Well, Suzie, what do you think? You do this more than I do. Whatever Suzie thinks is fine with me." Wow. If Suzie's one of those high-potential employees, what do you think the rest of the people in that meeting are going to think about her? Maybe they'll start emulating some of Suzie's behaviors.
• Provide resources, opportunities. Think about education, think about sending them to conferences. Think about language skills. Anything you can do to give them opportunities for growth.
So I want to ask you again: Who do you think really is in charge of your reputation? You are.
You have to hire the right people; nothing is more important. That was lesson No. 1: Hire the right people. It's said that people are your most important assets. It's wrong. People are your greatest liability. They truly are; they'll damage your reputation in an instant.
The right people—that's your greatest asset. Train them. All the way down to the first day, think about how they set foot in your organization and what they see. Motivate them with your vision. And invest; invest in your future by investing in the future of your employees.
A reputation is a terrible thing to waste. Do everything in your power to manage it, and you do that by managing your employees.
1. Have a Hiring Plan
Where do you find employees who will enhance your company's reputation?
2. Tools to Help You
How to avoid hiring a horse thief, or anyone else who is wrong for the job.
3. The First Day on the Job
Are you making a good impression on your new employees?
4. Do Personnel Issues Make You Sick?
Stop spending so much time with "viruses" and start investing in your good employees.
Darin Drabing can be reached at ddrabing@forestlawn.com; (323) 340-4701.
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Copyright ICFA 2002
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