Lean Drives Focus and Focus Drives Retail Sales

Lean thinking and Lean work processes drive high levels of employee engagement and, therefore, are exceptionally powerful tools to use to drive high levels of customer service. They do this by greatly increasing the degree to which employees focus, in very positive ways, on the needs of your customers. And when this happens, you've got very satisfied customers and increased sales. This podcast gives an example of a program that really met the twin challenges of getting the full and undivided attention of retail sales associates and changing their behavior in some simple but powerful ways that really build sales.Every day, hour after hour, in retail stores across the nation, sales are lost because sales associates engage in behaviors that kill sales. And most of these behaviors are engaged in simply because employees are not aware of their impact or, alternatively, feel so disconnected from their place of employment that they don't care if sales are won or lost. Lean thinking and Lean work processes can transform these employees into champions of indelible impressions; the kind of impressions that customers never forget; the kind of impressions that bring these customers back, over and over again, to a place where spending their hard earned money is really a pleasure. This podcast describes a program that drove exceptional customer service because it increased the degree to which tens of thousands of employees focused on really meeting the needs of customers. And when that happened, it drove increased sales. We have training and consulting resources that can dramatically increase the degree to which your retail sales associates really focus in very positive ways on the needs of your customers and, in the process, build sales.© 2010 St. Louis Community College

As consumers, you and I are confronted daily with dramatic examples of sales-killing behaviors in retail stores. In many cases, the behaviors we encounter hardly get our attention because we've been so accustomed to them. Experiences like one I had just last week are commonplace. I was in the checkout lane of a large supermarket and asked the checker, who was, frankly, looking rather annoyed, "How's it going?" He replied, with a scowl on his face, "Five minutes and I'm out of here." I thought to myself, "I wonder if I should even be in here if this place is this bad." What a contrast to the grocery store my wife, Dolores, and I usually shop in that I've described in the first two podcasts in this series. In this store, the checker would have a smile on her face and say something like, "Good to see you again."

A couple of things stand out in my mind about these two very different ways of reacting to the folks who are paying these employee's salary; that's you and I, the customers.

First, I find it just amazing that the clerk who said, "Five minutes and I'm out of here" saw absolutely nothing inappropriate in saying this to a customer. He was utterly oblivious to the impact this statement would have on whether or not I ever returned to this grocery store. Alternatively, it's quite possible that he didn't care if I ever returned.

Second, I'm continually struck by the simplicity of the change that needs to happen to transform a sales-killing experience, "Five minutes and I'm out of here" into one that is sales-building, "Good to see you again."

Of course, "simple" isn't the same as "easy." Developing a workforce that continually gives your customers indelible impressions of great service is not easy. But experience has taught me that it very definitely can be done. And the payoff is often the difference between staying in business and not making it, especially in today's hyper-competitive marketplace. I strongly believe that Lean thinking and Lean work processes provide the key to driving basic transformations in the quality of retail store encounters. Lean works because it drives focus and it's focus that drives retail sales.

Before looking at some examples of the way in which that quality called "focus" drives exceptional customer service, let's consider the impact of customer service on business success. First, an alarming fact. Behaviors of the "Five minutes and I'm out of here" variety are costing most businesses thousands of lost customers and they're not even aware of it. Second, managers of many retail stores aren't even aware of why their customers aren't returning. After I heard this really pathetic comment coming from this checker, "Five minutes and I'm out of this place", I wondered to myself, is the store manager even aware of the fact that comments like this are being made to his customers and, if he is, is he aware of their impact?

I'm afraid the answer to both of these questions could very well be, "No." It sure shouldn't be. Consider these facts. A study conducted by Bain and Company indicated that each year the average company loses 10 to 15% of its customer base. A Forum Corporation study revealed that 84% of customers who leave do so because of poor service. This Forum study further states that 70% of the reasons customers leave a company has nothing to do with the product.

So some behaviors, like "Five minutes and I'm out of here," that might seem like "no big deal" are, in fact, a very big deal. Why might some managers not see this as a big deal? Well, the checker who wanted to make a fast exit from the store did, after all, check me out very efficiently and bagged the bread, broccoli, and orange juice I had purchased quickly. But all of this process stuff is not what stuck in my mind. What I remembered is "Five minutes and I'm out of here." Getting one's groceries accurately rung up and bagged is the basic price of entry into this marketplace. But they aren't differentiators. They don't create indelible impressions like "Five minutes and I'm out of here" or "Good to see you again" do, on the sales-killing and sales-building ends of the spectrum.

In earlier podcasts in this series, I made what I called an audacious claim. The claim was that changing sales-killing behaviors into sales-building behaviors was simple; that what it took on the part of managers and supervisors was acceptance of the importance of line employees to the success of their company, coupled with a lot of tenacity and patience as they used the tools of Lean thinking to drive this type of change. Simply, stated, managers and supervisors need to believe in the message they're conveying, they need to get the full attention of their employees, and they need to help these employees understand how provide customers with indelible impressions that say, over and over again, to the customers, this is just a great place to be in.

Here's one example of what I was talking about; an example of the power of focus and great communications. About fifteen years ago, I was a member of a team at a major performance improvement company that was challenged by one of its clients to develop a program that would transform some of the basic behaviors of its 35,000 plus retail clerks into behaviors that would build sales. Our experience in designing programs that drove dramatic changes in employee behavior had taught us that two things had to happen if this program was going to achieve the client's goal of increased sales.

First, we knew that the program had to get the attention of the 35,000 plus individuals whose behavior it was intended to change. Second, we knew that we had to provide store managers with highly focused, easy to use training materials that could be used over and over again with employees and that would teach these employees how to provide indelible impressions.

To meet the first challenge, getting the attention of 35,000 retail clerks, we produced an audio tape with country music on one side and rock on the other. Interspersed between the music segments were comments made by a DJ on customer service. The comments he made were simple and humorous. They were all about basic sales-building behaviors, the kind you and I really enjoy; the kind that cause us to come back and buy more. This method of delivering training really worked. Music was the initial draw and resulted in repetitive listening. And the DJ's comments about smiling and saying "thank you" and "good to see you again" helped transform the behavior of these 35,000 retail clerks.

To meet the second challenge, we produced a video tape that modeled the kind of behaviors that create indelible impressions, coupled with an easy to read, illustrated, customer service pamphlet for employees, both of which made it simple for store managers to provide training that reinforced the messages conveyed in the country/rock music audio tape.

Did this program work? Absolutely. It drove increased sales. Why did it work? First, it really grabbed the attention of retail clerks. Second, after getting their attention, it got them to see how important, and easy, it was to please customers. After the program had been in the field for several months, we conducted random surveys of hundreds of retail clerks, asking them what giving good service meant to them. Hundreds responded with comments similar to these:

"It means telling customers that we're glad to see them again."

"It means asking customers to come back again."

"We need to treat customer like they're a member of our family."

"We need to give customers our undivided attention."

Is driving this kind of change simple? Yes. The very successful program I've just described was, in fact, a very simple program. It was about getting the attention of its audience and getting across simple, clear messages about great customer service. Is doing this easy? No. But it can be done. Now, most companies don't employ 35,000 retail clerks in thousands of stores so the tools used in the program I've just described wouldn't be economically feasible for many retailers.

But here's the important point: the twin forces that drove the success of this large performance improvement program can be replicated in a retail store of any size. These forces are, first; get the attention of the folks whose behavior you want to change. Get them to listen to you; and, second, keep the messages simple. It's simple stuff that creates indelible impressions.

Let's go back to some things I've said about Lean thinking. Lean is all about recognizing that all employees are of equal value in terms of their impact on the success of the organization. In fact, it's retail clerks who are the primary drivers of retail success. They're the ones who create those indelible impressions that drive sales. Lean also teaches that respect is a two-way street. If a manager shows respect for his employees, they'll show respect for the manager. When the manager talks with them, they'll listen. They'll listen to what the manager has to say. Just like the country and rock audiotape I described got the attention of its audience.
In the second podcast in this series, I described a very powerful and simple tool call the IdeaBoard that demonstrates to employees that their observations are valued and respected. It conveys respect loud and clear. Doing this, it meets the first challenge: Getting the attention of the folks whose behavior you want to change.

The IdeaBoard also could help meet the second challenge and in a way that would have added a lot of power to the program I've just described had we known about it at the time. How could the IdeaBoard do this? It could be used to have employees themselves coming up with simple, but powerful, ways of creating indelible impressions. In other words, it could be used to support the development of an employee written guide on how to provide great customer service. What could possibly have greater credibility for a team of retail employees than a book that they wrote themselves? Nothing.

And what a difference it makes to have employees focused on the delivery of simple, powerful messages that tell customers over and over again. "We're here to serve you and we really like doing it." "It makes our day."

Consider these two encounters with retail employees. Here's what happened as I was using a coupon I had received via e-mail from a major book store chain. The coupon stated very clearly that it was good for a free coffee or latte. I ordered a peppermint latte. The clerk said, "That'll be $1.02 more." I replied, "Your coupon doesn't say that it's only good for a certain type of latte." He replied in a voice that reflected his complete unawareness of the impact of what he was saying, "I know it, but it should have. That'll be $1.02."

And here's another retail encounter. My wife, Dolores, and I were back again in our favorite grocery store going through the checkout lane. When the checker picked up a carton of eggs we were buying, she asked Dolores, "Did you check these?" Dolores replied, "No" and the checker immediately opened the lid, looked at the eggs, shook them gently and moved her fingers over the eggs to make sure they all moved and weren't stuck to the package. She added, "I wouldn't want you to get home with a cracked egg." Wow! This home of the indelible impression had created another one! Why indelible? First, it showed a complete focus on the customer and, second, it had never happen to us in any of the grocery stores with whom it competes. It was an absolute customer service differentiator. And it is Lean thinking that drives this kind of behavior, the kind of behavior that builds sales.

The retail employees in your store can be transformed into employees who routinely provide your customers with the kind of indelible impressions that will build your sales with individual customers and steadily bring new customers through your doors. We can partner with you in making this happen. Your company can benefit right now from the power of Lean thinking and Lean work processes. We can provide training and consulting services right now that will make this happen. I'd greatly value the opportunity to talk with you about these services but, more than that, I'd appreciate the opportunity to listen to you describe the major challenges you face in building sales in today's down economy. Let's talk soon. Call me, George Friesen, at 314-303-0612. Anytime. Let's talk. Have a good day!

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Using Lean to Create Indelible Impressions that Wow Customers

Lean thinking drives the delivery of indelible impressions; the kind of impressions that really "Wow" customers. It does this by creating a workforce made up of individuals who are continually focused on the work they're doing. This translates into their being completely focused on meeting customers' needs. And when this happens, you've got a winner in the retail marketplace.Henry Ford, in many ways the father of Lean manufacturing, states in his 1923 classic, My Life and Work, "It's a reciprocal relationship—the boss is the partner of the worker, the worker is the partner of the boss." If a company that serves the public through retail sales did nothing more than try to ensure that all of its managers and supervisors believed what Ford was saying and also acted upon this belief, they would have gone a long way in the direction of becoming a winner in the retail marketplace. What would separate them from their competitors? It's the prevalence of a very different understanding of the value of frontline employee contributions to the success of a company, epitomized by a comment made recently by a professor of human resources management who said, in commenting on auto workers who were forced to take jobs at McDonald's, "You have to be realistic and understand that you're not offering special skills to McDonald's. Your job flipping burgers is not critical to their success." Of course, this statement is nonsense but, that aside, it's also commonplace. So, if your company operates on the basis of a belief system much closer to Henry Ford's than to this professor, it won't take a lot of extra fine-tuning to really differentiate yourself from your competitors. Lean thinking and Lean work processes can spark a sustainable and continuing improvement in the quality of your employees' encounters with customers. In doing this, they will markedly improve your productivity and profitability.© 2010 St. Louis Community College

Lean thinking drives the delivery of indelible impressions; the kind of impressions that "Wow" your customers. The kind of impressions that distance you from your competition. The kind of impressions that build sales. Those of you who listened to last week's podcast will recall some of the experiences I described that my wife, Dolores, and I have had at a local grocery store. It's a place where customers are being continually amazed by the responsiveness of its employees, by their energy, by their total focus on making customer experiences absolutely exceptional. It's a really unique retail environment and, by the way, it's almost always filled with smiling customers. Within the confines of this island of exceptional customer service, the impact of the recession certainly isn't to be seen. The key question is this: How does this level of customer service happen? What drives it? What management beliefs and practices power it? What are the key values and skills that their employees are taught in their training sessions? And moving beyond this great place, what beliefs and practices drive exceptional customer service in any retail environment, the type of customer service that delivers indelible impressions, the kind of impressions that build sales and profitability. By the way, my repetitive use of the word "indelible" is intentional because it's my belief, and I'm sure yours upon reflection, that the only level of customer service that really drives sales is the type that you and I, as consumers, simply can't forget. When it happens, we say "Wow" and we remember it and we talk about it to our friends. Any level of customer service below the level of "indelible" isn't even close to being a game-changer. At best, average customer service will barely keep a company in the game ... maybe. In fact, in today's economic environment, delivering "average" customer service is a relatively certain route to failure. The good news is that your company has within its power the opportunity to make the experiences your customers have the kind that drives expressions of "Wow."

What does it take to make this happen? I'm suggesting that nothing will drive the creation of an absolutely spectacular, customer friendly work environment faster and better than the application of Lean thinking and Lean work processes. It's within your power, right now, to start this process. Will it be easy? No? Does it work? Absolutely.

Okay, what's the first step in driving this kind of a transformation? As with any change process, the vital first step is recognizing where you are right now. And, when implementing Lean thinking, knowing where you and your management and supervisory team are "right now" is very important. You need to know what your managers and supervisors core beliefs are about the role of front line employees in the success of their company. Of course, beliefs only have meaning when they're seen in action. As we all know from long experience, if you want to know what a person believes the most reliable indicator certainly isn't what they say, it's what they do. Actions are the only reliable indicators of beliefs.

What are the key beliefs that are at the heart of Lean thinking? And what are some of the common beliefs that are absolutely guaranteed to drive poor customer service and, as a result, kill sales? First, a key belief of Lean, best expressed by Henry Ford, in many ways the father of Lean, is the conviction that line workers are just as important to the success of a company as any member of the company's management team. Ford said, "It's a reciprocal relationship - the boss is the partner of the worker, the worker is the partner of the boss." Contrast this statement with a comment made by a professor of human resources management and cited in a recent article in a major metropolitan newspaper. The article had to do with how workers who had been downsized and who had to take lower paying jobs should adjust their perspectives regarding their understanding of the importance of their work. She was quoted as saying, "You have to be realistic and understand that you're not offering special skills to McDonald's. Your job flipping burgers is not critical to their success." Is she kidding? Why do you and I go to McDonald's? To buy hamburgers. How do we evaluate whether or not we've made a good buy? By whether or not the hamburger tastes good. Who plays an absolutely key role in determining whether or not our hamburger tastes good? The person "flipping the burgers." Not crucial to the success of McDonald's? On the contrary, the people who flip the burgers are at the very heart of the success of McDonalds. Bad burgers. Unhappy customers. Great burgers. Happy customers and repeat business. It's that simple. So the first step in the application of Lean thinking so that it drives exceptional customer service is having some very focused discussions with your management and supervisory team on their understanding of the role that the folks who are on the front lines, either with direct customer contact or "flipping burgers," play in their company's success. If their beliefs, as measured by their actions, tend toward the belief shared by the professor I just quoted, before anything else happens, these beliefs have to be changed.

The second step in creating a work environment in which indelible impressions happen routinely is to understand what your frontline employees believe to be their primary job responsibilities. You need to know if they understand the importance of those moments when they're face to face with a customer. You need to know if they understand that the customer needs to believe, as a result of your employee's behavior, that more than anything else, your company wants to listen to its customers and serve them well. For example, you need to know if your employees believe what this employee at a client of mine said, "I will bend over backwards to do good work but at my rate of pay it isn't very efficient just to talk and be friendly to the customer." Now I happen to know that the employee who said this is a hard worker, by many measures a good employee. Is his understanding of the role he can play in building business one that will create "indelible impressions"? Absolutely not. Does this kind of thinking need to be changed? Absolutely. Can it be changed? Absolutely. Is it going to be difficult to change? Absolutely. Are resources available that will drive this kind of change? Absolutely. We can provide them for your company.

Okay, once the beliefs of your management and supervisory team have been addressed what needs to happen next? What's step three in your transition to being a place of indelible impressions? A place that "Wows" its customers?

Step three sounds so simple that to some it hardly seems credible. But here it is. Listen to your employees. Continually ask your employees, "What do you think?" Through your actions and the actions of your managers and supervisors make sure that your frontline employees, the ones with direct customer contact, the ones who flip burgers, understand that you value their creativity and that you value their knowledge and that you understand that if they're not successful, you're not successful. Remember what Henry Ford said about line workers, "it's a reciprocal relationship."

As we all know, it takes actions to turn beliefs into practice. One of the most powerful tools I've seen to make employees really believe that their company values their ideas is called the "IdeaBoard." I learned about this terrific way of driving high levels of employee engagement in a great book by David Mann entitled, "Creating a Lean Culture." Here's how it works. A board with four columns is posted in, say, the employee breakroom. The four columns are labeled, "My Idea," "To Do," "Doing,", and "Done." Next to the IdeaBoard is a pad of Post-it notes. When an employee has an idea about a way to improve work processes, for example, or how to improve the quality of customer service, they write this idea on the Post-it note and stick it on the IdeaBoard in the "My Idea" column. They do the same thing if they spot some wasted time or motion, they briefly describe the time or motion waster on a Post-it note, sign and date their observation and put it on the IdeaBoard. It's that simple. Of course, before the IdeaBoard is launched, employees are briefed by their supervisors on why it's there; on why it's important; on why their ideas are valued and on why their ideas are needed if the company is going to succeed. And, of course, the messengers have to believe the message, but when all this happens, Wow! Seven of my clients are using IdeaBoards to drive higher levels of employee engagement and higher levels of employee focus on work processes.

As I've mentioned earlier in this series of podcasts, there's a strong relationship between Lean thinking and the creation of indelible impressions. Lean thinking drives a high degree of focus. Focus drives indelible impressions. When Dolores and I go to our favorite grocery store, we know that the focus of all of this incredible place's employees is on us and making sure that our impressions of their service are indelible. And we just love it.

So, here again are the three first steps to take in driving very high and sustained levels of customer service and, as a result, creating an environment that continually triggers indelible impressions.

First, understand what your managers and supervisors believe about the role frontline employees' play in the success of your company. On a continuum, are they closer to Henry Ford or to the professor I quoted at the beginning of this podcast.  If they're closer to Ford, you've got a management team prepared to drive Lean thinking. If not, well, there's work that has to be done.

Second, understand what your employees believe about the importance of face-to-face customer encounters. On a continuum, are they closer to the fellow who said "at my rate of pay it's not very efficient to be friendly with customers" or are they closer to the clerk at the grocery store Dolores and I just love who at the checkout counter looked at a container of blueberries and said, "this one looks like it doesn't have quite enough blueberries in it." Next she rang a bell and an associate sprang into action to go get a package with more blueberries. Following this, she said to us," I wanted to make sure you didn't get short changed." There was no ambiguity in our minds on where her focus was. It was on us. And we just loved it.

Third, take action to translate your beliefs in the very high value of your line workers, your employees with direct customer contact, by using a tool like the IdeaBoard.

Can a workforce be transformed into one which is focused on creating indelible customer service experiences? Absolutely. Is driving this kind of change difficult? Absolutely. Are resources available that will drive this kind of change? Absolutely. We can provide them for your company. And we'd greatly value the opportunity to meet with you to talk about how to make this happen.

Next week's podcast, the third in this series, will highlight some of the outstanding results that high focus, high engagement performance improvement programs can deliver, based on experiences I've had working on teams with a major performance improvement company, as well as the personal experiences of professionals like yourselves.

If you'd like to get information about training and consulting services available through St. Louis Community College's Center for Business, Industry & Labor, services that will drive the delivery of indelible customer service impressions by your employees, please call me, George Friesen, at 314-303-0612, and let's talk. Have a good week!

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The Value of Your Employees

When we have happy employees, we naturally have happy customers. Valued and happy employees are more productive, creative, and healthier.The way to develop a powerful workforce that is passionate about their work is to create an environment where people feel cared about, where people feel valued, where their personal growth is encouraged and nourished, and where every effort is made to build self-esteem and self-worth. Cultivate the inner relationship with your employees.© 2010 St. Louis Community College

Would you like your organization to be a great place to work for and a great place to do business with? Organizations that achieve greatness, work hard at it. They create the kind of environment internally and externally when people, customers and employees are treated as treasured assets.

If you'd like to create a culture that's conscience, competent and caring you're in the right place this morning.

One crucial fact I've learned, there is no way that the quality of customer service care can exceed the quality of the people who provide it. Do you think you can get high quality customer service by paying your employees the lowest wages, giving the fewest benefits, and conducting the least amount training? It will show because companies don't help customers ... people do! Remember that your people will treat customers the way they are being treated. How your employees think of customers is exactly how they will treat the customer. Think about the value of your staff, and how to keep them happy!

Happiness in business, you may be saying to yourself, oh that's the soft stuff that adds hard bankable bottom-line results.

In customer service, we spend a lot of time on two specific types of relationships, the first is External relationships - those outside your company, customers, suppliers, vendors, community, etc. and the second, Internal Relationships - your co-workers, boss, employees, the guy who sits right next to you. But there is a third, Inner Relationships. This is the relationship, where we have given little attention in business, until now. That's the relationship you have with yourself. The relationship you have with your work. That's the relationship that determines whether or not you jump out of bed in the morning and say "yes" or drag yourself into work, counting the days to the weekend!

Now what's the difference between the two? Anywhere between 19% and 200% in productivity. Think of your business as having to manage three different relationships. How do you keep all three of these relationships going?

Think about the implications for your business in cultivating this inner relationship. Come on let's face it, when we have happy employees, we naturally have happy customers. When we are experiencing a positive emotion, we are more productive, creative, and healthier.

You cannot mandate someone to do that. The only way you can get the people that work with you to have the passion, desire and compassion to take great care of your customers is to take great care of them by listening to and addressing their needs. What great ideas come from sharing with the people that take care of your customers? Always think magic moments for your customers as well as your employees. They need magic moments too! I know I do. The attitude of the employees is often a reflection of the attitude of management. You know this is true.

You want customers and employees that are amazed, astounded, thrilled and loyal for life. You want the kind of customers who refer you to their friends and can hardly wait to do business with you again. The way to create that kind of customer and employee is to create and implement an "Ultimate Customer and Employee Experience." We want people who love and take pride in their work and will present the organization in the best possible light.

Loyal employees create loyal customers. When you establish a remarkable emotional connection between an organization and the employees, they create amazing emotional connections with customers.

The only way you can get a workforce that is that powerful and that passionate is to do anything you can to create happiness in your workplace. The question is - how do I do this? The answer is no secret: create an environment where people feel cared about, where people feel valued, where their personal growth is encouraged and nourished, and where every effort is made to build self-esteem and self-worth.

Do this, and you've got an environment where customer caring will abound.

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More Job Interview Tips

This podcast covers three different types of interviews - panel, serial, and telephone - and some general etiquette for interview situations.This podcast covers three different types of interviews - panel, serial, and telephone - and some general etiquette for interview situations.© 2010 St. Louis Community College

In a previous podcast, we covered how to prepare for an interview and how to deal with behavioral interviews. If you'd like to listen to that one again, or hear it for the first time, click on the podcast link for "Seven Tips for Successful Job Interviews" (http://www.stlcc.edu/podcasts/business-training/Successful-Job-Interviews.html). This presentation covers additional aspects of interviewing to help you be at your best.

When you think about a job interview, what picture forms in your mind? If you're like most people, you probably envision an interviewer sitting behind a desk, with you sitting across the desk from him/her - or perhaps alongside the desk. While this interview scenario is fairly common, it's important to remember that there are other formats that you'll need to be familiar with.

Sometimes you'll be in a panel interview. In this format, you'll be a in a room with several people - perhaps three to five, and you'll have to respond to questions from all of them. Organizations use panel interviews to save time and gain the benefit of several opinions and points of view on the candidates. It might seem intimidating at first, but don't panic! It's not as hard as you might think.

To begin with, you should introduce yourself to each of the people individually. A firm handshake, a nice smile, and friendly eye contact will help you establish rapport with each of the panel members, which will help you reduce your level of tension. Once you're seated, and the interview begins, you'll probably notice that the panel asks questions one at a time. They won't all be talking at once. This allows you to respond primarily to the person who asked the question. Maintain primary eye contact with the questioner, and every few seconds throw a little eye contact around the table. This enables you to focus on the questioner while keeping the rest of the panel involved. By maintaining your focus on the questioner, you can emotionally tune out the rest of the "audience," and lower your anxiety about speaking in front of a group.

While you're responding to the questioner, use your peripheral vision to take note of the body language of the rest of the panel. Be on the lookout for head nods, smiles, and other positive body language. This will be another way to manage your anxiety and help you know what parts of your answers to emphasize.
At the end of the interview, be sure to get business cards from each of the panel members and send a thank you note to each of them individually. If that's not feasible, write your note to the convener of the panel and ask that person to convey your thanks to the others.

Another interview format is the serial interview. In this format you will meet individually with two or three people, one after the other. While this may seem a more comfortable format, since you're only talking with one person at a time, keep in mind that as you move from one person to the other, you will start to get fatigued. Meanwhile, each of the people you speak to will be fresh as a daisy.

In the serial format, you will need to pace yourself mentally. This doesn't mean you hold back during any of the interview segments, but it will allow you maintain your energy level and ability to focus over a longer period than just 45 minutes to an hour.

Each of your interviewers will meet later to exchange impressions, so you'll need to make sure that your answers to the same or similar questions are consistent. You don't have to answer the questions exactly the same, and - as a matter of fact - it would probably be a good idea to respond with the interviewer's perspective in mind.

As with the panel interview, make sure you get a business card from each of your interviewers so you can send them each a thank you note.

Another common format is the telephone interview. Employers often use telephone interviews as screening interviews, mainly to verify information on the resume and to get a sense of your interpersonal style. If you're applying to an organization at some distance, phone interviews may be used instead of first round in-person meetings as a way of saving money.

The disadvantage of a phone interview for you is that you don't get to see the interviewer's body language, making it harder to develop rapport and more difficult to know where to put your emphasis in your responses. On the other hand, you get to have all your notes in front of you, which makes it easier to respond to many of the questions. Even though you're not visible to the interviewer, it's a good idea to be dressed professionally and smile frequently. It sounds strange, but the person on the other end of the phone can actually hear the smile in your voice.

If you get a phone call without warning from a screener, it's best not to let yourself go into the conversation completely unprepared. If the caller has any courtesy at all, s/he's likely to ask if this is a good time for you to talk. Rather than give in to the temptation to talk with an honest-to-goodness interviewer, it's best to say something like, "Wow, I really do want to talk to you, but I'm dripping wet from the shower. Can I call you back in ten minutes?" If you don't like that line, make up one of your own. Then gather your materials together and get your head on straight, and call them back.

Here is some general interview etiquette to consider. When you're in someone's office and speaking across a desk, do not put any of your things on that person's desk. If you have a portfolio, a notepad, or purse, keep it on the floor right next to your chair. The desk is the interviewer's territory, and you mustn't invade it. On the other hand, if you're in a conversation area in the office, or in a conference room, the table is neutral territory, and you can feel free to use it for your things.

You may be asked if you'd like coffee. I generally advise against accepting coffee or any other refreshment except water. You don't want to risk the chance of coffee spilling on someone's carpet or furniture. Sure it's unlikely, but why take the chance? If you must, drink water sparingly to keep your mouth from drying out.

If you can, avoid sitting in a soft, plush chair. When possible, choose a chair that has four feet on the ground, with just a padded seat and back. You will be more in control of your posture that way. Also try to avoid chairs that swivel or rock back and forth. If you get nervous, you'll be rocking and rolling your way through the meeting, and distracting yourself and the interviewer.

There might be an occasion, especially during a serial interview, where your interview runs across a meal period - maybe lunch or dinner. Or if you're interviewing out of town, you may be talking to someone across a breakfast table. In such situations, you must remember that no matter where you are, you're still in an interview. That means you should be eating interview food. It's easier to say what it's not than what it is. Interview food is not spaghetti with red sauce, barbeque ribs with lots of sauce, sandwiches that have everything inside squishing out the sides when you bite into them, etc. You get the idea. Stick with something you can eat neatly with a knife and fork - and don't talk with your mouth full! It's also a good idea to avoid alcohol - you want to keep a clear head for an interview.

Because a restaurant is a less formal setting than an office, you may be tempted to be less circumspect - or if you've gone out with some of the other people from the organization, they might be less familiar with the rules of interviewing, and ask what they think are innocent questions, but which EEOC says are verboten - like your marital status, what kind of car you drive, or what church you go to. A trained interviewer will know to stay away from questions like that.

Well, while we're on the subject, what happens if you are asked an awkward question, which you know is inappropriate? It's probably not a good idea to confront the interviewer - "Say, that's an illegal question!" If the question is innocuous, such as "Are you married?" or "Do you have children?" you can usually answer honestly. That information is almost always public information, especially if you're wearing a wedding band. If the question is more sensitive, or if you think you'd rather not answer it all, you might try a little humor while you gently remind the interviewer that s/he shouldn't be asking such questions.

I once worked with a female client - I'll call her Julie - who was actually asked a series of increasingly inappropriate questions about her marital status and children, culminating in an unbelievable "So, what kind of birth control do you use?" She was so upset and flustered, that she said the first thing that came into her head - "Do you have a policy on that?" When she reported this to me later, I concluded that her response - "Do you have a policy on that?" - was probably the best possible answer to any inappropriate question in a job interview. When said with a smile and raised eyebrows, it's the gentlest way to remind the interviewer that s/he stepped over the line. In Julie's meeting, the interviewer simply changed the subject and moved on to more relevant questions.

When you agree to an interview, your goal should be to get an offer. Even if you decide part-way through the meeting that you don't want to work for this organization, don't give up on it. For one thing, the offer might be sweet enough to overcome any of your objections. And even if it's not, having an offer in your pocket might be used as leverage with another organization you've been talking to. It's amazing how a company that seemed luke-warm towards you, now sees you as a hot property when they know that someone else has made you an offer. Maybe it gets their competitive juices flowing. Just remember, you can always turn down an offer if you decide you really don't want to work there.

If you have a question about interviewing or any other part of your job search, I'd be happy to respond. Send me an e-mail with your question and I'll do my best to answer it. My e-mail address is bschapiro@stlcc.edu.

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Seven Tips for Successful Job Interviews

Explores various ways to prepare for and respond to common interview scenarios, including the current trend toward behavioral interview questions.

This insightful discussion helps job hunters prepare for the all-important interview. In addition to general tips and trends, listeners will learn about the increasingly common behavioral interview techniques and how to best respond to behavioral interview questions.
If you have any employment or job search questions, please call Colleen at 314-539-5481 for assistance in connecting with a career center in the St. Louis Metropolitan area.

© 2010 St. Louis Community College

Many job hunters find the interview process daunting. To impress hiring managers, they know they need top-notch answers to tough questions, good listening skills, an ability to sell themselves and perhaps most importantly, high self-esteem. Nevertheless, candidates shouldn't feel intimidated.

A job interview is primarily a business conversation where two parties try to come to a mutually beneficial arrangement. Recognizing that fact will help you feel like a self-confident professional instead of a discouraged supplicant. Focus on your value to an organization rather than your need for a job.

By the time you're invited to meet a hiring authority, you've probably survived several rounds of screening. You're now among a small, elite group of candidates who all look good on paper and are more or less equally qualified. To get an edge on the competition and win a job offer, take the following steps:

Develop rapport. First and foremost, the person you work for must like you and vice versa, since you'll be spending considerable time together on the job.
In the early part of the interview, concentrate on getting comfortable with the hiring manager and establishing good chemistry. Begin your conversation with small talk, a much overlooked and underrated skill. See if you have anything in common, such as hobbies, schools or mutual acquaintances. Convey your pleasure at being with the hiring manager by smiling a lot and using positive body language.Discover the company's need. The interviewer likely assumes that everyone being interviewed meets the job's basic requirements. Therefore, your objective should be to stand out from the pack by discovering the company's current problems and addressing them intelligently. Ask questions such as, "Why is the position open?" "What's expected of the person who will fill it?" and "What issues or concerns need to be dealt with immediately by the person you hire?" Then listen carefully to the answers. The job description will tell you what skills you need, but only the interviewer can tell you what the organization really needs in a new hire.Meet the need. Once you know the company's most pressing concerns, use your past experience to show you can successfully resolve them. Make a clear connection between what you've done in previous positions and potential job requirements. Describe similar problems you've solved in the past, using anecdotes that will make your examples come alive. Avoid blowing your own horn excessively, though; implying that you're a jack-of-all-trades will only create disbelief, not confidence.Take ownership of the position. Wherever appropriate, act like part of the team by using plural and possessive pronouns when referring to the company or the job. For example, say things like, "Where do you see our sales going in the next year?" "How frequently do we take inventory?" or "I plan to bring our machine shop into the 21st century."
By putting yourself in the job during the interview, you place the employer in the position of having to "fire" you if he or she plans to offer the job to anyone else. Inertia is on your side. This technique requires considerable skill, confidence and chutzpah, but it makes a powerful impact when done well.Ask questions. Keep the interview conversational by asking appropriate questions throughout the meeting, rather than just at the end. When you share some of the responsibility for the course of the conversation, you can keep it from becoming a de facto interrogation. Ask smart questions to demonstrate your technical expertise and follow-up questions to display your listening skills, which most companies prize highly.Be prepared. Even if one of your greatest talents is an ability to think on your feet, avoid going into a job interview "cold." Prepare by reviewing your resume, looking for ways to verbally support the accomplishments written there. Try taping one or two practice interviews, preferably with a friend who can ask tough questions. Then, note your mistakes and correct them before you meet with employers.

You should also research the company and, if possible, your interviewer. Use Google and other search engines to find relevant articles. Business directories, such as Sorkin's and Dun's might provide more personal information about key company executives, and networking contacts can be a treasure of valuable "off-the-record" information.

Other preparation includes:

Make sure you have all your paperwork ready. This includes extra copies of your resume, a couple of copies of your master reference list, and a completed application, if one was sent to you in advance.Dress appropriately. When you're making arrangements for the interview, ask what the company dress code is, then plan to dress one step up from that. Remember, you're not dressing for the job, you're dressing for the occasion.Be on time. Get directions when you're arranging the interview, then drive the route you'll be taking the day before the scheduled meeting, at about the same time of day. That will give you the latest update on traffic conditions, and you'll also be able to figure out the best place to park, how to enter the building, etc.If traffic is worse than expected, and it looks like you might be late, call in advance from the car to let them know. Ask how they want you to handle it. Don't show up late and then tell them why - that will be interpreted as simply an excuse.Have some questions prepared in advance about the job and the company. At some point in the interview you will likely be asked if you have any questions. Having questions shows that you are genuinely interested in the company and the job, and makes a good impression. Remember, the quality of your questions can reveal a lot about your ability to handle the job.

7. Ask for the job. Your goal in any interview is to get an offer of employment. So just like a salesperson asks for the order, say in your own words to the hiring manager, "I want this job." You'd be surprised how few people say these simple words to close the deal.

These tips by themselves won't get you your next job, but they will improve your standing against the competition and provide you with the edge you need to succeed.

Contrary to popular opinion, the best qualified job seeker doesn't always get the job. More often than not, the best interviewee gets the job. This is a problem not only for qualified job seekers, but for employers themselves, who often make a bad hiring decision after a candidate has put on a good show.

The newest style of interview is designed to uncover the truly talented candidates and distinguish clearly between the qualified and the eloquent. It's called a behavioral interview.

Let's say an employer needs someone for a job that requires flexibility, the ability to adapt to changing conditions over a short period of time. In the past, an interviewer might ask, "Are you a flexible person? How do you adapt to changing conditions?" The days the questions are likely to be more pointed: "Give me an example of how you dealt with an obstacle to an important project." Or, "Tell me about a time when you had to change course at short notice. What happened?"

In times of increasing competition and low consumer confidence, customer service is more important than ever, even for people who don't ordinarily have direct customer contact. Interviewers these days focus more attention on a candidate's ability to attract and keep customers, regardless of the job description. Some customer-oriented interview questions might go like this: "Give me an example of how you handle problems with customers." Or, "How do you go about establishing rapport with a customer? Give me an example of how you gain a customer's confidence."

With the flattening of organizations and the use of increasingly intelligent software, employees who previously were told what to do and how to do it now find themselves having to make their own decisions on how to handle many situations. Some interview questions designed to uncover initiative include: "Did you ever work in a situation where the rules and guidelines were unclear? Tell me about it. How did you feel about that? Give me an example of how you handled a situation like that." My personal favorite is, "Did you ever hear the old saying, ‘Ask for forgiveness, not permission'? What do you think of that saying? When have you had to ask for forgiveness?"

The flattening of organizations has also led to the need for employees to make decisions that could have serious effects on the company's bottom line. But making decisions like that takes some gray matter to know how to deal with ambiguities, even when sophisticated decision-making software is being used. Interview questions designed to get at your decision-making abilities include: "Give me an example of how you develop information to make decisions." And, "When you've made a decision that turned out to be a mistake, how have you corrected it?"

If you haven't interviewed for a job lately, you may be in for some surprises. You should prepare very carefully for an interview by reviewing your past accomplishments and practicing how to present them effectively. You should have about a dozen different stories that you can use to respond to behavioral interview questions. While you can't predict the exact questions you'll be asked, you can prepare stories that cover common work place themes, such as authority, conflict, customer service, decision making, problem solving, teamwork, adapting to change, etc. When you do that, even if the question deals with something outside your specific experience, you can respond with a story that covers the same theme. Your response to the question might start out like this: "Hmm. I've not had that exact experience, but let me tell you about the time . . ."

At the very least, every accomplishment and most of the major responsibilities mentioned in your resume should have stories behind them. By doing so, you'll be able to handle most of the behavioral questions that come your way.

Interviewing is an important component of a successful job search. By following these tips and suggestions, you will not only improve your interview skills, but you can help the employer make sure he or she gets the right person for the job.

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Out of Work - Out of Control

Considers how the loss of job security affects one's sense of personal control and helps listeners come to terms with those things you can - and cannot - control.

Those faced with a job loss often feel as if they have also lost the ability to control their own destiny. While those feelings are understandable, this discussion presents a common-sense approach to understanding (and coming to terms with) those things that can - and cannot - be controlled.

If you have any employment or job search questions, please call Colleen at 314-539-5481 for assistance in connecting with a career center in the St. Louis Metropolitan area.

© 2010 St. Louis Community College

The most difficult part of being unemployed for some people is the feeling of being out of control. With so many people being downsized and reorganized out of their jobs these days, the problem is worse than ever.

When you are at work, you are in charge of something - a work station, a machine, a team of coworkers, an assortment of information, a project, a task, or what have you. Managers and supervisors are normally deferred to by subordinates, and they're used to getting what they want much of the time. Everyone who works has the ability to make an impact on other employees and customers by means of their decisions and job responsibilities. When you work for a large organization, chances are you have a lot of support in the form of fax machines, copiers, computers, long distance phone lines, and other technology. It's easy to take these things for granted, but for many unemployed people, these business amenities disappear overnight.

When people find themselves unemployed and virtually powerless, their initial reactions often revolve around the shock, anger, and embarrassment that accompany anything unpleasant and unexpected. Once they settle into the routine of a job search, they discover that any authority or control they once had has vanished. People don't return phone calls in a timely manner, or they ignore urgent e-mails. In addition, the loss of status that comes with unemployment can lead many people to lose their self esteem and become depressed.

If any of this applies to you, you can work toward reestablishing your sense of control over yourself, your environment, and your destiny. Here are some suggestions you might find useful:

Surround yourself with close friends and supportive people who are on your side, no matter what. Spend about 15 minutes a day for at least a week writing down your feelings. Go all out - swear, blame, get angry. Keep the writing confidential. Throw it away later on if you want to, but get the feelings down on paper. When someone you want to reach is unavailable, tell the assistant or whatever gatekeeper there is that you will call back, and ask for a good time to do so. Waiting for the phone to ring is very frustrating and adds to any feelings of impotence you might have. If you're frustrated at not being able to get through to the person you want to talk to, don't take it out on the gatekeeper. Do someone else a favor, or volunteer some time to a worthy cause. You'll feel competent and appreciated, thus raising your self esteem. It also doesn't hurt to have someone else in your debt for a change. If you're out of a job, set aside some time - maybe an hour a day during the week, or a couple of hours on the weekend - to do some organizing around your home. Throw away some junk, straighten up a closet, paint a room. This will enable you to take a rest from the frustrations of a job search while giving yourself a feeling of accomplishment. Work out a budget for yourself. If you have a family, be sure to include your spouse and older kids in the process. Seeing the figures in black and white will help you feel like you're getting a handle on things, even when you have to cut back temporarily. If possible, build in a couple of small luxuries - maybe a movie once a month, or a take-out dinner from time to time. This will help you and your family improve your moods, and you won't feel so deprived of any fun. A job loss or a threat to security is tough on everybody. When you're feeling like nothing is working for you, try to focus on what you can control or influence, rather than what's not in your power to control. You can't control other people's behavior or decisions, but you might be able to influence them to some degree, and you can certainly be in charge of your own attitude and behavior.

When people act as if they don't know you and don't return your calls, it's easy to start beating up on yourself for the real or imagined slights you were guilty of in the past - those phone calls you didn't return, the head hunters you refused to talk to, etc. Give yourself some slack! Unless you were intentionally the meanest S.O.B. in the valley, you were probably busy with your own life and allowed some people to fall through the cracks (sort of the way people are treating you now). You can learn an important lesson from this experience: when you're back working again, make it a point to set time aside to respond to other people in need.

For those of you who are still employed, don't get too complacent. There's a good chance that in the next few years you will find yourself looking for a job, whether by choice or necessity. No job is guaranteed, and job security is an illusion at best. When you deal with people today, think of how you'd like to be treated if you were unemployed. All of a sudden, you'll be Mr. or Ms Personality. Taking good care of others is one of the most important career management techniques you can practice.

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Are You Paying Attention?

As a service provider, your main task is to pay attention to the customer and their needs. Customers are not a necessary inconvenience, but vital to your business.As a service provider, your main task is to pay attention to the customer and their needs. The goal of businesses every day is to create more value for the customer in hopes of getting and holding on to their business. Doing this is simply stated: create more value, get more money. The job of every employee, directly or indirectly, is about serving customers.© 2010 St. Louis Community College

As a service provider, your main task is to pay attention to the customer and their needs. But how often do we see the opposite occur? Talking with co-workers and ignoring the customer. This customer service mistake occurs more often than you or I could mention. Why does it seem more important to continue talking with a co-worker than establishing a rapport with the customer? How often must we be reminded that the customer is the reason we are here, the reason we have our jobs. Maybe, if we could image the customer's name on our signed paychecks that would make a difference in our attention efforts.

There is a "Maxine" cartoon that I use in many of my customer service training programs. It's a picture of Maxine with a shopping bag and the quote is "Have a nice day!" and in parentheses "(someplace else)." People laugh, because they know there's a hint of truth behind the saying, because at some point and time we have all felt the "coldness" of not being paid attention by a service provider. Have you ever had the experience where you practically had to chase someone down to ask a question about a product or service? Isn't that what we are saying to our customers when we do not acknowledge their presence, once they enter our place of business? As service providers it's important to be attentive because every person is important and an essential part of everything we do. Customers are not a necessary inconvenience, but vital to business and we must realize that their needs provide critical direction for what organizations should be about.

Customer Service is a noble profession to be in, and to be proud of ... it's like show business. Once the customer shows up - it's show time. Service then becomes our #1 priority. Knowing and believing that service is #1 for your organization will certainly enhance your ability to work better with customers, because customers enjoy being valued, don't you?

One of the many ways we can value customers is to acknowledge them, whether through a warm greeting, a smiling face or a genuine interest in why they are doing business with us. The goal of businesses every day is to create more value for the customer in hopes of getting and holding on to their business. Doing this is simply stated: create more value, get more money. The important thing is this: value must be in place before you can expect business.

Think about it ... who's responsible for creating value for your organization? Everyone is! What if you don't serve customers directly? Are you still responsible for creating value? You bet! Perhaps you've heard someone inside the organization complain, "those darn people in purchasing!" The unspoken part of the message is that some employees in the organization don't relate what they do to adding value for customers.

What I am about to share with you is a true story from one of my customer service training sessions. One of the participants shared with the group that he worked for a fast food establishment for several years and was successfully moving up the corporate ladder, he had recently been promoted to assistant manager. Well, one day two workers called in sick, which of course created more work for other staff members, especially the assistant manager. A drive-thru customer had rolled down his window in hopes of placing his order, but had to wait at least four to five minutes once he reached the intercom. When it was finally time for him to give the order, his voice was stressed and he was certainly frustrated and voiced his concern for such a long wait. The response he received from the assistant manager was, "there's another fast food restaurant down the street, if you don't like the service." Needless to say, that assistant manager no longer works for that organization.

You see, sometimes we get so busy at "work" with "work" that we forget about the customer and forget to pay attention. The fact is that the job of every employee, directly or indirectly, is about serving customers. Remember every employee is an extension of the company. And in every transaction, the customer is thinking, "Is there value here? Is it consistent with my expectations? Is it improving?" The challenge you face is putting together and driving forward a commitment to adding value for customers in every individual in your organization.

When everyone in the organization understands that their job is to serve customers by simply paying attention, this becomes an important point of separation from the competition. Now, are you paying attention?

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Why Should an Organization Not Implement Lean?

Discusses the importance of management commitment to the process and the major ways in which lean effects the jobs of all members of the management team.

Many Lean implementation efforts fail and their failure can be traced to three primary factors: First, the leadership team starts the implementation of Lean without an inspirational purpose. Second, the leadership team doesn't really understand what Lean is. Third, the leadership team isn't prepared for some of the significant ways in which their jobs must change as they implement Lean. It is better not to start the implementation of Lean processes if the organization's management team doesn't go in with a total commitment to all that Lean encompasses.

© 2010 St. Louis Community College

As I've mentioned in earlier podcasts, attempts to implement Lean processes often fail. Studies conducted on the rate of failure suggest that it's between 60 and 70%. Even if the percent of failed attempts was much lower, it would still represent a tremendous cost to the organizations in which Lean failed and, in fact, to the entire country's economy. I've entitled this podcast, "Why not implement Lean?" because of my firm conviction that it is far better to never start down the Lean journey than it is to begin and then abort the effort. When this happens, not only has the company and all employees involved in the effort wasted their time and money but, more importantly, a climate of cynicism will have been created and this cynicism will stand as a very potent roadblock to future attempts to implement Lean. I've encountered this cynicism in the workforces of far more clients than should be the case. Over and over again I've heard comments from line workers such as:

"We've tried this before and it didn't work"

or

"Is management really serious about doing this? They weren't last time."

or

"Management says they're serious about changing the way they work with us. We don't believe it."

Whenever these types of cynicism and doubt develop, convincing employees that the new effort is for real becomes even more challenging. How can these roadblocks to the implementation of Lean work processes be avoided? There are three answers to this question:

Don't start Lean without an inspirational purpose.Don't start Lean unless you're sure you understand what Lean is.Don't start Lean unless you're sure that you personally are prepared to accept the changes that are going to have to happen in the way you do your work.

Let's address the first issue which is always having an inspirational purpose for starting Lean. Several months ago I heard the CEO of a major St. Louis corporation talk about his company's difficult but successful drive to implement Lean work processes. He spoke about the large number of companies that fail in their Lean journeys and made a profound observation about these failures. It was this: "The power of Lean is to engage employee's heads and hearts." And then he addressed this question: How does one engage the heart? He suggested that for this to happen the leadership of the company has to be driven by a basic set of beliefs having to do with the purpose of their work. He said that his personal ability to be a Lean leader was very much energized and focused by something said by President Woodrow Wilson, "You are here to enrich the world and you impoverish yourself if you don't see your journey in this way." He added that he tried to imbue all of his managers with the understanding that in a very real way they were stewards of their employee's lives and that implementing Lean was directly and explicitly related to improving the quality of their employees' lives. It is exactly this understanding of the ultimate purpose of work ... to enrich the lives of fellow employees ... that drives the success of Lean implementation. Without this type of inspirational purpose, maintaining the high levels of energy and focus required by managers and supervisors in Lean workplaces is just too difficult.

The second issue is equally important. It has been our experience that far too many organizations start on the Lean journey without really understanding what Lean is. Here's what they need to understand about Lean but often don't:

Lean is primarily a change in the culture of an organization and secondarily, a collection of tools used to shape work processes. Far too many organizations see Lean as being 5S, Six Sigma, Value Stream Mapping, Pull Production, Visual Management, Standardized Work, and other tools having to do with how work is done. I've heard organizations say, "We want to do Six Sigma" or "I'd like to do some Kaizen events." Or "We'd like to do 5S." Statements of this sort almost always mean that the organization's leaders don't understand that "doing Six Sigma" or "doing 5S" or "doing Value Stream Mapping" as single, stand alone interventions is a waste of both time and money. Are these tools important? Yes. Can they drive change? Of course. Without being part of a unified, cohesive Lean implementation campaign, will they stick? No. Divorced from the recognition that Lean is about culture change, they can't have any lasting impact.The primary source of expertise in any organization is line workers. Managers whose training was shaped by the teachings of Frederick Taylor and his scientific management theory, have a perspective toward what their primary role should be that is at significant variance with what their role needs to be to support Lean. Taylor's theory led to companies hiring armies of industrial engineers who would go through plants conducting time and motion studies and designing work processes that workers were then supposed to follow without questioning. Lean also teaches that managers and supervisors must focus on monitoring work processes. But there is one key difference between Taylor's Scientific Management and Lean Management. It is this. In a Lean work environment it is understood that the primary source of creative thinking about how to improve work processes is the workers themselves, not some elite group of industrial engineers. The elitism that is inherent in Taylor's approach to management is absolutely inconsistent with the beliefs that are at the heart of Lean manufacturing.Lean is primarily about processes, results are secondary. Many analysts contend that the one central tenet of Toyota's culture that is responsible for its success is this: All work processes must be controlled, scientific experiments, constantly modified and improved by the people who do the work. Results are critical but the point is this: It is only through the continual observation of work processes by managers and supervisors who know what they're looking for, coupled with the ongoing analytical thinking of the people doing the work, that work processes can be improved. And, of course, only improved work processes can drive better results.

The third issue is this: How's a manager's job going to change as a result of implementing Lean?

The organization's leadership team has to be committed to taking an active, highly visible role in supporting Lean.
I've had plant managers say to me, "Just keep me briefed on how our work to implement Lean is progressing." This attitude just won't work. The plant manager is a key factor in the transition to Lean and her/his involvement must be visible and vigorous. In any organization, there will always be a number of individuals who don't believe in any form of change. These professional cynics will be continually on the lookout for evidence that the company's commitment to Lean is far less than stated. Any sign that the plant's top management is not totally supportive and involved in the transition to Lean will be interpreted as evidence that this attempt at change, like many before it, will also fade away. All managers have to be actively and effectively involved in the transition to Lean.The process of implementing Lean never ends. There is no finish line.
Managers must remember that Lean is about the relentless pursuit of perfection ... perfection that is always pursued but never quite achieved. As soon as the pursuit of perfection ends ... as soon as the idea develops that we are finished with implementing Lean, at that moment Lean fails.The leadership team has to understand that to successfully implement Lean the focus must be on long-term gains, not short-term ROI.
How much will productivity be increased when Lean is first implemented? Who knows, maybe none at all for a year or so. The focus has to be on the steady development of ever more productive standardized work processes created in partnership with line workers and undeterred by the demands of the moment no matter how potent. As soon as management allows a crisis to move it into a "just do it" mode, the effort to implement Lean will be seriously damaged to a degree that may make recovery impossible.The leadership team must trust line workers, treat them with respect, and be prepared to let them make mistakes. Managers must also be prepared to share the mistakes they make with line workers.

As Henry Ford taught us in his book, "My Life and Work," written in 1923 and studied by Toyota managers as a key source for those ideas that later germinated into what has become Lean manufacturing, relationships between managers and line workers are reciprocal, the manager is the partner of the worker and the worker is the partner of the manager. And partners share their defeats as well as their victories, learn from both, and continually move their organization closer to perfection. The skills and knowledge needed to effectively fill the role of leader in a transition to Lean manufacturing are not present in many managers and supervisors. In order to meet this need, St. Louis Community College has developed a Lean Leadership Certificate program, specifically designed to develop and sharpen those skills needed to support Lean work processes. This program includes eight four to six hour seminars and can be delivered on-site at times most convenient for participants. Few investments in Lean could have greater payback than this series of seminars.

Our next podcast will address the question, "How will Lean make my organization more competitive?" While Lean will make work processes more efficient, its most important impact is that it will drive higher levels of employee engagement and, as a result, maximize the organizations ROI on its most valuable asset: Its employees.

As I mentioned in previous podcasts, I'd very much appreciate the opportunity to discuss Lean with you. Please call me anytime at 314-303-0612 and let's talk about it. Have a good day!

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Red Flags in Your Job Search

Helps listeners recognize (and deal with) the symptoms of depression and lowered self esteem that can result from a prolonged job search.Helps listeners recognize (and deal with) the symptoms of depression and lowered self esteem that can result from a prolonged job search.
If you have any employment or job search questions, please call Colleen at 314-539-5481 for assistance in connecting with a career center in the St. Louis Metropolitan area.© 2010 St. Louis Community College

It takes longer than we would like for a manager or executive to find a new job. During the period of unemployment most job seekers will undergo a variety of emotional experiences - some high, some low.

We know that low periods are characterized by feelings of listlessness, low self esteem, and depression. High periods are full of optimism, energy, and high levels of activity. No matter how you feel, the type and frequency of activity should be managed carefully for maximum effectiveness.

During high periods, activities should revolve around other people. When you're "up," you transmit that feeling to others, transferring your energy and optimism, making others feel good about being around you. These positive responses will persist, even after you're no longer physically present, creating a mental association between their good feelings and you.

When you're feeling low, it's generally a good idea to minimize contact with people who don't know you well. Instead, spend time with people whom you know and trust - who will be on your side no matter what - such as family and close friends. Use this time to make plans, do research, and answer ads. Get involved in structured activities, where you need to make as few decisions as possible. When you're depressed, structure is comfort.

Most people have a built-in "depression detector," which kicks in whenever they need to adjust how they're feeling. This psychological governor is sometimes damaged or "off-line" when emotional trauma occurs, so you may need help from others who can give you the feedback you need on how you're coming across.
You can also be on the lookout for some telltale signs of job search burnout that should raise some red flags, even if you're feeling pretty discouraged.

If you've been keeping track of your activity (as you should), you might notice an overall drop off in activity level, especially involving behaviors requiring initiative on your part.Over-reliance on newspaper ads, employment agencies, search firms, or mass mailings (typically low-return activities) is a signal that you're avoiding people.Low telephone activity and low follow-up volume are additional people-avoidance behaviors.

Anger, when not vectored properly, can lead to depression. Some signs of ineffective disposition of anger include:

dwelling on the pastrationalization of past mistakesblaming or fault-findingaccident-prone behaviorexpectations of doomtemper flare-upsloss of appetitesleep disturbances

There are many other symptoms, both psychological and physical. Any departure from your usual feelings and behaviors is worthy of investigation. Rely on feedback from your spouse or others close to you. Be especially wary of the occurrence of accidents, even minor ones. Accident-proneness is especially problematic, since it can lead to personal injury or serious property damage, neither of which you can afford during a job search.

Low self esteem is a frequent accompaniment to early depression. Watch your speech for signs of self-deprecation or unaccustomed difficulty in articulating your goals and objectives. Pay more attention to how you dress, even if you're at home. Casualness and carelessness in an otherwise fastidious person are sure signs of emotional turmoil.

Your behavior is not only a barometer of your internal feelings, it can also perpetuate or reverse your feelings. If you're feeling depressed and allow yourself to act depressed, then you'll worsen the feeling. On the other hand, if you're depressed and force yourself to act as if you were happy, there's a good chance that you'll snap out of your gloomy mood.

Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are interconnected in a complex web. Remember that it's not what happens to you that makes you feel bad, it's what you think about what happens to you. While depression is often accompanied by feelings of helplessness and powerlessness, you have more power over yourself and your destiny than you may think. Use it.

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Go Ahead, Make My Day!

It's nice to have "satisfied" customers, but it's the "enthusiastic" customer that really counts.It's nice to have "satisfied" customers, but it's the "enthusiastic" customer that really counts. Go beyond the Golden Rule of Customer Service to develop customers who stick with you.© 2010 St. Louis Community College

When customer service employees are asked if they provide good service, almost everyone says "yes." Almost no one says, "No, I'm really lousy at customer service." That raises a good question. If everyone in the country thinks they provide good customer service, then why are customer scores lower than ever? Why are so many consumers fed up with the service they receive? Obviously there's a big gap between the provider's definition of good customer service and the consumer's satisfaction.

A few months ago I found myself conducting a workshop for front-line customer service professionals. During the first break I was approached by a participant. I'll call her Allison.

"I really don't need to be here," she insisted, "but my boss made me come."

"Oh?" I asked, inviting her to say more. Allison's demeanor made it clear that she'd been "sentenced to training" and very much resented her "prisoner" status.

"My boss told me I had to come because I'm not nice enough, but I know that I'm perfectly nice," she declared, daring me to contradict her. Allison was right she was perfectly nice. She also appeared to be a matter of fact person, who did not waste time chit-chatting about things that are frankly, none of her business. Niceness often implies taking a personal interest, even if it takes a little more time.

Allison and her boss were both following the Golden Rule of Customer Service - "Treat others as you would have them treat you" - and that gold was returning as lead. So what should you do if you're in the customer service business? What can you do to ensure customer satisfaction? The Golden Rule is a good place to start in service, because it helps you put yourself in your customer's shoes and to look at the world from the customer's point of view, but it's a poor place to stop, because it tells you only half the story.

I could talk about this for days! For starters forget about customer satisfaction! Aim for customer enthusiasm!

There is a difference. A satisfied customer is simply a person who got what he or she paid for, nothing more, nothing less. Unfortunately, research says 40% of your "satisfied" customers will move to the competition if they get better service. What you want and need are "enthusiastic" customers. Enthusiastic customers are people who got more than they paid for, and as a result, they are customers who stick with you.

One way to get enthusiastic customers is to surprise them with service that goes above and beyond the customers expectations. Go ahead. Surprise your customers, just like a local hardware store did a while ago. When a giant Home Depot opened up across the street from him, the local guy went to Home Depot and wrote down all the things Home Depot didn't have. The local guy adjusted his inventory and put up a sign that read, "If Home Depot doesn't have it, we do." His business tripled as a result. He surprised his customers with service that went above and beyond the customers' expectations. In the end, customers want to be treated the way they want to be treated. It's as simple as that - and as difficult.

Today, at work, make it your goal to surprise one customer. Give him or her some service that goes above and beyond the bare minimum that goes beyond the customer's request. Then look for the delight in your customer's eyes. Go ahead, Make Their Day!

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Making Meetings More Productive

If you have to meet, here's how to keep the meeting moving and make something good happen.How can we make meetings more productive, and how can we decide whether a meeting is even necessary? When meetings really are necessary, consider the use of new technologies to save time and money. When you hold a meeting it should be as productive as possible. One of the simplest (and still the most effective) ways of ensuring meeting productivity is presented. Learn how to keep meetings moving and make something good happen.© 2009 St. Louis Community College

Almost everyone I talk to has a similar complaint - too many meetings or meetings that are a waste of time. How can we make meetings more productive, and how can we decide whether a meeting is even necessary? I'm glad you asked.

To begin with, many meetings are completely unnecessary. If the purpose is simply to share information with one another, such as sales reports or progress reports on projects, a few concise e-mails should take care of that. The information will go out in a uniform way and can be easily stored for future reference.

Some organizations hold meetings simply to provide some face time among employees who work at different locations, or to give employees access to senior management. Unless there's an emergency or some other really good reason, these kinds of meetings should be limited to bi-monthly or quarterly intervals.

From a financial standpoint, telephone or video conferences are much more economical over the long term than face to face meetings, especially when the participants work in different locations. The savings in travel time, mileage or travel expenses, meals, etc. are obvious and substantial. The recessionary problems around the country, the price of gasoline, and other economic issues are pushing more and more companies to invest in the hardware and software to enable virtual meetings.

The most valid reason for holding a meeting is that complex issues need to be discussed and decisions need to be made by the participants.

Once a meeting has been determined to be necessary, no matter what form it takes, it's important to make sure the meeting time is productive. Some of the steps necessary to ensure productive use of everyone's time are as follows:

A clear, detailed agenda is an absolute must. The agenda should outline: The time, date and location of the meeting. In the case of a virtual meeting, call-in numbers, PINs and passwords should be given to all participants. Reminder e-mails should be sent at least a day in advance, and when possible, on the morning of the meeting. All communication should contain the purpose and objectives of the meeting. The agenda should indicate clearly what will be discussed and who will be responsible for each part of the discussion.The agenda should be distributed to all participants in advance, to enable time enough for any necessary preparation. The agenda should include the total time of the meeting and realistic estimates of the time necessary for each agenda item. And by the way, the number of agenda items should be kept to no more than 3 or 4. That will ensure that enough time can be given to each item within the total time allotted for the meeting. Meeting discussions should result in an action plan for each item on the agenda. A note taker should be specified, who will be responsible for recording what was discussed and any action plans developed. Participants should be reminded of standard ground rules for meetings in the organization - These might include: Being on time Participating actively in discussions Listening carefully to what is being said Respecting one another's contributions The meeting facilitator should open the meeting with a clear statement of purpose and why the meeting is important. These opening remarks should include the impact of the discussion and conclusions on the work group or the organization as a whole. For each agenda item, participants should seek and share information about the situation or task before them, and identify any issues or concerns. Withholding information or concerns runs the risk of contributing to groupthink or otherwise making bad decisions. For discussions that are complex or difficult, an outside facilitator should be considered; someone who can be more objective and willing to ask the hard questions. Using an outside facilitator also allows the nominal leader in the group to participate more fully. As decisions are made and action plans developed, everyone needs to know who will be responsible for each component, what are the deadlines for action and completion of tasks, how progress will be measured and reported, and what resources will be needed to achieve results. This information should be carefully recorded by the designated note-taker and distributed to participants as quickly as possible, ideally within 24 hours. This distribution should be mainly a back-up to the notes that individual participants make about their own responsibilities.Each agenda item should be closed with a summary of decisions made and actions to be taken. The meeting itself should be closed with a summary of all decisions and actions to be taken. If audio-visual equipment is to be used in the meeting, the facilitator or someone designated for the purpose should make sure the equipment is in place and tested. Back-up material in the form of printed handouts should be available, not only for future reference, but in case of equipment breakdown.

I'm certain that this is not an exhaustive list of what to do to ensure productive meetings, but it's a pretty good start. If you have any other ideas or suggestions, feel free to send them to me, and I'll be glad to include them in any updates to this podcast - with full credit given, of course. My contact information will be given in the closing segment. In the meantime, keep up the good work!

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Lean Retailing: A Total Focus on the Customer

Success in the retail marketplace depends on the quality of interactions that take place on the floor between sales associates and customers. We'll present examples of sales associate interactions and behaviors with customers that build sales as well as kill sales. Lean thinking and Lean work processes can dramatically improve the quality of these interactions.Success in the retail marketplace depends, more than anything else, on the quality of interactions that take place on the floor between sales associates and customers. Lean thinking and Lean work processes can dramatically improve the quality of these interactions. This podcast provides examples of sales associate interactions with customers that build sales as well as example of interactions that kill sales. The sometimes very subtle differences between sales-building and sales-killing behaviors are noted. Two of the core beliefs that drive Lean thinking, as described by Henry Ford, are discussed in regard to their special relevance to retail sales. Finally, this podcast introduces two Lean performance improvement processes that will be addressed in detail in the next Lean podcast in this series on the relationship between Lean thinking and retail sales. Applying Lean techniques will transform the behavior of retail store employees and, as a result of this process, provide customers with indelible impressions, the kind of impressions that build sales and drive customer loyalty.© 2011 St. Louis Community College

Last week, as I was checking out at a large drug store in my neighborhood I was, once again, treated like a non entity by the sales associate. You know. No eye contact. No "thank you." No nothing. I'm not sure what happened but I just couldn't take a pass on this opportunity to find out why I, a customer - the person paying this sales associate's salary - was being treated this way. I asked him, "Don't any of you folks say 'Thank you' anymore?" He replied, "It's printed on the receipt."

For some reason, this completely out-of-left-field comment, and, for that matter, this demonstration of amazing candor, made me think about customer service training I did some years ago, during which we discussed situations just like this one, situations in which the customer is treated like a non-entity. As I recall, I launched our discussion with a story like this one. "Remember me? I'm the person who goes into a restaurant, sits down and patiently waits while the waitresses do everything but take my order. I'm the person who goes into a hardware store and stands quietly while the sales clerks finish their chit-chat. You might say I'm a good guy. But do you know what else I am? I'm the person who never comes back and it amuses me to see you spending thousands of dollars every year to get me back into your store when I was there in the first place and all you had to do to keep me was give me a little service, show me a little courtesy."

And I thought about how incredibly obvious bad customer service is ... and how incredibly obvious great customer service is. I mean, really, "It's printed on the receipt."? C'mon, this kind of a slight can't be intentional, can it? It had to have come from someone whose mind was on auto pilot, didn't it? It had to have come from someone who was almost totally disengaged from their work, a person for whom this work at this moment had virtually no meaning, a person for whom this work at this moment was in no way connected to anything that he valued, to anything that he thought was important. It was work that was far on the periphery of his life. And that's where work is for a large percentage of the millions of individuals who are interacting with customers on retail sales floors and, as a result, effectively killing sales. The challenge is clear: How do we move the experience of work from being on the periphery of an individual's thinking to being in the core. More about that later in this podcast and the next podcast in this series.

Let's look at some more examples of the kind of treatment customers are subjected to by individuals who are presumably hired to sell products or services. I'd suggest that reflecting of these types of experiences is a very important first step for any manager or supervisor as they prepare to lead transformations of the performance of the retail sales associates they supervise.

Why is this so? I believe that you and I, being typical consumers, have become effectively desensitized to really bad customer service. Bad customer service is, frankly, so commonplace that we've come to accept it as virtually the norm. And, I'd suggest, that to the degree that this has happened to the managers and supervisors of retail sales associates, as it surely has, that their expectations regarding the behavior of the folks they're supervising has been significantly degraded. The experiences they've had as customers have shaped the expectations they have as supervisors.

These expectations, your expectations if you manage retail sales associates, have to be raised. A first step to take in raising expectations is to reflect on our own experiences as customers, both the good and the bad. And, in the process of doing this, we need to reflect on the impact these personal experiences have had on our individual buying behavior. We can be sure that our reactions to good and bad treatment when we are the customers are exactly the same as the reactions of our customers. When we encounter retail sales associates who are not totally focused on us, the customer, we need to really remember what the experience felt like, we need to remember the impact it had on our thinking, and we need to resolve to do what it takes to make sure that these types of experiences aren't replicated in sales encounters our customers have with our employees.

And they don't have to be. As I've suggested in earlier podcasts in this series, Lean thinking and Lean work processes can transform the behavior of retail sales associates, causing them to interact with customers in ways that are very powerful sales builders and drivers of customer loyalty.

But first, we need to sharpen our personal expectations. Here's a request to each of you listening to this podcast. Before you listen to next week's podcast, resolve to be especially observant of ways in which you've been treated as a customer and the impact these experiences would have on your future buying behavior. Jot down some notes about really bad experiences and really good ones. Think about what made the good feel so good and the bad feel so bad. And think about your employees interacting with your customers in exactly the same ways as you've just experienced. And, finally, think about the contribution these kinds of behaviors, the good and the bad, make to your bottom line.

Studies have shown that 96% of unhappy customers never complain about rude or discourteous service, but 90% will not visit or buy from that place again. How many of your customers are silent but unhappy with the treatment they've received? What's the cost of losing the business of 90% of these customers?

Let's looks at some more examples of sales-killing and sales-building encounters with customers; the kind I'm asking you to look for and make some notes about before next week's podcast.

A couple of weeks ago, my wife, Dolores, and I were in a large retail clothing company. Dolores asked a sales associate, "Could you help me in the shoe department or help me find someone who can help me?" He replied, 'Beats me, I don't know where they are'" as he sauntered off. More recently, we were going through checkout at a local supermarket. I asked the persons checking us out, "How's it going?" She replied, "I'm going to get as far away from here as I can get." If a person tried to script sales-killing comments, it'd be tough to beat these two. Are your sales associates saying things like this to your customers?

Extending beyond the retail sales floor, I thought about a call I'd made several years ago to a major computer hardware supplier from whom the company I was with was planning to make a significant purchase. I asked, "Could I speak to Jane Smith?" The person answering the phone replied, "I'm sorry, she's not here." I asked, "Would you take a message?" She said, "Yes." I said, "Ask her to call George Friesen at 314-303-0612." She said, "Okay." I asked, "Will she return my call on Monday?" The reply was "I don't know," My response was "Will she return my call next week?" She said "I don't know, sir. She just leaves and doesn't tell us where she's going or when she'll get back."

How's this kind of a response to a customer possible? What kind of thinking or lack of thinking makes it possible?

I contrasted this experience with one I had years ago when I was Director of Professional Development at a large Midwestern university. We were marketing a series of seminars nationwide and I recalled calling a hotel in Little Rock and asking a person in their sales office how many people had registered for our seminar. She replied, "Looks like we have 18 registrations for your program." I responded, "Thanks have a good day." She came back, quickly, "You know, your program really looks good. I put a brochure on the front desk and have told some of the business groups that meet here about it." I said, "I really appreciate your help." She responded, "Glad to do it. Wonder if you could send me 25 or so brochures. I'll mail them to people I know in Little Rock who might be interested in your program." Wow! What a totally customer-focused comment made by an employee who was fully engaged in the work of the moment.

I've also thought about customer loyalty programs, reward programs, you know the one's that require us to carry cards signifying, if not our allegiance to a particular place, at least our intention to spend a fair amount of money there. And I've thought about the rules that govern some of these loyalty programs such as one program that issues awards ... like a free bagel, for example ... and then, without notice, take the award away on expiration dates that are never clearly explained to the customer. What's the impact of this rule? A satisfied customer is transformed into an annoyed customer.

I also thought about an encounter Dolores and I had just several days ago at a large bookstore chain whose customer loyalty card we carry. We had made a mistake with a cook book we had purchased for a Christmas present for our daughter and wanted to return the book and exchange it for the one we should have bought. We approached a sales associate, with the book in their store's bag and told him we'd like to return it. He seemed hesitant in responding to our request so I took the book out of the bag and noted that it still had their store's barcode and price on it. He asked, "Do you have a receipt?" I said that we didn't but that that it was obvious that the book came from their store. His response was crisp and unsmiling, "No receipt. No return." Forget about the stupidity of this policy. Couldn't he at least have said "I wish I could take this back, but I can't?" Of course, he could have. And he would have if he was engaged in his work; if he was focused on us, the people paying his salary. But he wasn't.

Just what is it that distinguishes behaviors, or policies, that are conspicuously unfriendly to customers from those that create customer loyalty and, as a result, build sales? As I've suggested in earlier podcasts, it's all about focus. Focus on why the customer is important. Focus on how to please the customer. Focus on what it takes to provide customers with experiences that drive sales and drive customer loyalty. And, if you're a store manager, it takes a focus on those things that you need to do to ensure that your sales associates will interact with customers in ways that build sales rather than ways that destroy sales. It takes sales associates who interact with customers in exactly the same ways that you personally want to be interacted with when you're a customer.

Henry Ford, as I've noted in earlier podcasts, was in many ways the father of Lean thinking and Lean work processes. In his writings, Ford makes two comments that are especially relevant to the situations I've just been describing. They are:

"It's not the employer who pays the wages-the employer only handles the money. It is the customer who pays the wages."

and

"Quality means doing the right thing when no one is looking."

Ford never forgot that pleasing customers had to be the prime directive governing any company if it was to be successful. And this prime directive - pleasing the customer - had to be the yardstick against which the efficacy of all policies and procedures had to be measured. Ford also understood that the only way a manager or supervisor could be confident that the employees they supervised would exhibit behaviors consistent with this prime directive was to be confident that the beliefs driving these behaviors had become the individual beliefs of the employees. He had to know, just as you have to know, that the people you supervise are having high quality interactions with your customers. And the only way you can know this is if you know that they value quality and know what quality means.

In next week's podcast, I'll be sharing some thoughts about very specific actions you can take to begin the process of transforming the quality of sales encounters your employees have with your customers. We'll be considering the power of observation and reflection, on your part as well as the part of your employees. Specifically, I'll be referring to a "Standing in the Circle" process developed by Taiichi Ohno, the Toyota manager who built the Toyota Production System. Ohno built the Toyota Production System upon a foundation provided by the writings of Henry Ford, extending Ford's thinking through the application of this own great creative abilities into a performance improvement system that is now the standard for the world, across all types of work environments.

I'll also be referring to a book just written by Hubert Dreyfus of the University of California-Berkeley and Sean Kelly of Harvard University entitled "All Things Shining" and I'll be suggesting that Kelly and Dreyfus have made some observations about the behavior of human beings that have direct and powerful potential when applied to the topic you and I are focusing on in these podcasts: Transforming the behavior of retail store employees and, as a result, providing your customers with what I've described in earlier podcasts as indelible impressions, the kind of impressions that build sales and drive customer loyalty.

We at CBIL can partner with you in making this happen and I'd greatly appreciate having the opportunity to discuss the ways in which our consulting and training resources could go to work for you now in driving this kind of transformation. Call me, George Friesen, at 314-303-0612. Anytime. Let's talk.

And be on the lookout for those experiences that you and I have daily that either build sales or kill sales. If you have the time, send me an e-mail describing either of these types of experiences that you've had as a customer. And have a great week!

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