By Mike Cieri
When we have committed employees, customers, & vendors we create synergies that enable us focus our efforts on efficiencies, exceeding customer service requirements while having flexibility in problem resolution.
There are three categories to focus on that have a direct correlation to developing commitment thus increasing profits.
The three process are:
- Mission – The company’s purpose
- Hiring – Employees & Customers
- On-boarding – Employees & Customers
The Mission:
Many companies have formalized mission statements. Even if yours is not written down, you have one. How else would you know how to react in difficult situations.
Most Mission Statements talk about how they want to serve their customers….grow with their customers… and develop their employees…..
I challenge you to identify what’s inspiring about your mission? How does your mission statement (that is hanging on the wall) inspire people to be creative, take risks, work extra hours, resolve that difficult problem, create commitment with the customer, etc. People want to be inspired, they want to belong to an organization they know what they stand for and can be proud to tell people they work there.
Also answer the following questions: How does your organization fit into the big picture, the community, nation, and/or world? What are the values of the organization, what’s important? What’s the ideal relationship with customers, employees, & suppliers? These aspects of a Mission Statement are particularly important to the younger generation entering the workforce. As a whole they want to be connected to something bigger than their cubical. These people are your employees, customers, and suppliers. Once developed – post it, discuss it, live it!
Hiring:
Thomas Edison is thought of as being one of the most creative and intelligent men in history – in later years, he was to become famous for his saying ‘genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration’. This was certainly true for him in his attempts to develop the incandescent light bulb. He was reputed to have tried and failed over 1,000 times, and when advised by colleagues and friends to give it up, Edison replied with total conviction and some surprise: ‘Why, I haven’t failed; I’ve just found a 1,000 ways in which my formula doesn’t work!’
What are the traits and values you need from your employees, customers, & suppliers that will support your company’s mission? Look for employees, customers, & suppliers that have the same values. If you are successful, you will increase commitment and profitability by developing long term relationships, building in flexibility of problem solving, and reduced recruiting/replacement costs.
On-boarding
Now that you’ve hired the individual or landed the new account, what is the process for assimilation? Social psychologists show that in the first 10 seconds people are capable of making as many as 10 judgments that will form their initial impressions. That formation will continue and they will decide about how they feel in about 30 seconds and your level of credibility is established by the end of the first two minutes. On top of this, they have shown that most people decide about the quality of the relationship within 8 hours. Thus the first 8 hours are critical for laying the foundation of commitment.
Perform an integrity audit of your company’s on-boarding process. Those processes, policies, and information that are not congruent with the mission should be eliminated.
Conclusion
Peter Drucker said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it” And you can begin building commitment to your organization by examining your Mission, is your hiring and on-boarding process congruent with the mission? By looking at these processes you are on your way to increasing commitment which will increase your profits.
