Preparing for the Future
Joint FMI-CGA-CMA Workshop
February 13-15, 2007
Hotel Grand Pacific
Victoria, BC
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Michael Berman
bermanmj@comcast.net
253-514-9421
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FISH’n
With
Mike Berman
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Welcome…
Why are we here?
What we already know
• Chopping wood
• Diet and exercise
What is my role?
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Teamwork
• What evidence do you see of teamwork
at the fish market?
• How important is teamwork at the fish
market?
• Southwest Airlines
• Assembly line/Orchestra
• Desk reference manual
• How do you develop teamwork?
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Choose Your Attitude
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What does “attitude” mean?
How does attitude affect action?
How does your attitude affect other people?
What is an attitude “set point?”
A positive attitude is necessary to “Be
There,” “Make Their Day” or have “Fun”
• Choose your attitude; accept the
consequences
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More Attitude…
• What are some words to describe
working conditions at the fish market
before the current FISH philosophy?
• After the introduction of the FISH
Philosophy are these conditions still
present?
• What changed?
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Be There
• Shawn said that “being there” is like being
with your best friend
• What does “not being there” say to others?
• What are the costs of not being fully
present?
• Be there; After it becomes a habit, it takes no
more time or energy; it connects you with
others, offers support and allows you to
learn and grow
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Additional ‘Be There’
• If you choose to BE THERE with a
difficult person how would that person
know that you were, “being there?”
• How does choosing your attitude help
your being there?
• Have you ever needed someone to be
there for you and they weren’t?
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Make Their Day
• It can be a new house or car; it can also be a
smile, a compliment or an interested
question
• It’s that next step beyond just being pleasant
• It begins with focusing on the other person
• It often costs nothing, takes little time and
makes your day as well
• “If you love your job, it’s going to show.” –
Sammy How could that make someone’s
day?
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Play!!!
• The most misunderstood of the four
principles
• The all business approach is uninspiring,
boring and stifles creativity
• Throwing a fish is productive play
• No one can tell you how to play at work; you
need to think about it and find ways
• Play does not consist of put-downs or jokes
• Play requires mutual trust, permission and
perhaps, boundaries
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More Play
• People play in their own way, some quietly,
some not at all
• Play should not be intimidating
• As J.P. said, “There are a million different
ways of playing. It doesn’t have to be
throwing a fish.”
• What’s fun in your job now? How do you
play? How do you feel when you play and
have fun?
• If you give people permission to play and
you don’t play, will they?
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Play Possibilities
• Decorate your office with FISH décor and
quotes from the video.
• Ride a scooter through the office to deliver
messages
• Play five minutes of up-beat music before the
office opens
• Have an office potluck once a month
• Give silly prizes for no reason
• Let someone ring a gong when they
successfully help a person
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FISH in Action
• O Canada
• The wrong shoes
• The big yellow bus
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Elements of a Successful
Business
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A product of service that is valued
Core values
Employees to make it work
Others
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Components of a Company
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Sales/marketing
R&D
Management
Human Resources
Finance
Engineering
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Physical Equipment
• Office equipment
• Vehicles; truck, cars, airplanes,
tractors, etc.
• Buildings
• Other
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Equipment or People
• Most competing companies have the
same types of equipment
• Companies may draw from the same
employee pool
• Machines do not have personalities,
egos and feeling
• Machines do not have to be motivated
• Machines perform at the same level
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Employees
• What % of total budget is for wages and
benefits?
• Turnover – How much does it cost to
replace an employee?
• What is the effect of poor employee
performance?
• “Poisoning the well”
• Not being an employer of choice
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The Power of Consumers
• As consumers we usually have choices
to make regarding where we spend our
money.
• What do we base these choices on?
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Monopolies
• In some cases we do not have choices
available to us:
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Police
Fire
Other governmental agencies
The only game in town….Wal-Mart
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Relationships
• All relationships, business or personal,
are based on the same factors:
• Mutual trust and respect
• Shared values
• Shared goals
• Open and timely communications
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What are some examples where
a favorable or unfavorable
impression of someone
determined if you did business
with a company?
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What employers have succeeded largely
because of the personal relationships
established by their employees?
West Jet
Southwest Airlines
Walmart
Starbucks
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Key Areas in Building Success
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The hiring process
The “dead zone”
Orientation
Initial employment period – probation
Management styles
Empowering employees
Communications
Customer service
Employee Performance Levels
Leadership
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Where to find candidates
Current employees, promotions, postings,
word of mouth
Competitors
Newspaper ads
Trade journals
Search firms
Walk-ins
New graduates
Others?
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Interviewing Candidates
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One interviewer
Panel interviews
Multiple interviews
It’s all about them
Don’t talk too much
Use silence
Ask open ended questions
Learn about them
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Hiring Guidelines
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Hire for attitude; train for skills
You don’t have to hire a grouch
Find a good fit for the company culture
Don’t hire by a three to two vote; it’s
not fair to anyone
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The Dead Zone
• The time between offer and acceptance
and the first day on the job is a critical
time.
• Buyer’s remorse
• Keep in touch; send a letter, newsletter,
annual report, etc
• Keep excitement up
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First Day on the Job
• Be prepared for the new employee
• Greet the new employ with enthusiasm
• Be sure his/her office or work space is
ready
• Have business cards ready
• Introduce new hire to co-workers
• Have someone take new hire to lunch
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Orientation
The purpose of orientation is to help
the new employee develop a sense of
commitment to the company, his/her
particular job and a feeling of
belonging and being needed.
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More Orientation
• Orient the new employee to the entire
company
• Where does the new employee fit in
and why his/her job is important
• Tell the company history, with pride and
passion. Let him/her know that he/she
is following in the footsteps of some
fine people who set high standards
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Even More Orientation
• Reinforce the notion that they were the
best of the candidates and you are
happy to have them there
• If possible ask senior level
management to say, “Hello”
• Give new employees a tour with
introductions
• Set the bar high so he/she has
something to strive for
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Employee Needs
Financial needs (extrinsic)
• salary and benefits
“Money isn’t a satisfier, but lack of
money is a dissatisfier” Hertzberg
Sustaining needs (intrinsic)
• Meaningful work – A
purpose/importance
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Employee Needs Cont’d
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Shared values
Trust
Shared (reciprocal) Values
Clear expectations
Challenge
Communication – Feedback, praise,
supportive criticism
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A Thought to Consider
“They don’t care how much you know
until they know how much you care.”
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Initial Employment Period
• Provide continuous feedback
• Use “buddy” system
• Be aware of signs of problems or
difficulties
• Be alert to new employees motivation
• Let employee know that he/she is vital
to the company; “I’m just the
receptionist (secretary)”
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More Initial Employment Period
• Establish realistic goals
• Is employee a good fit?
• Work to resolve any emerging
problems and if that doesn’t work –
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Made a Hiring Mistake?
If you have followed all of the above and
the employee demonstrates a poor
attitude and/or job performance:
1. Meet with employee to assess
attitude and provide training when
needed
2. Document employee problems and
help offered
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Hiring Mistake?
3. Release employee if problems
cannot be resolved
4. Obtain legal advice if termination is
indicated
5. Review situation to determine what
went wrong and how to correct it
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The Training Process
Determine what they need to know, to
be successful on the job, and….
TRAIN THEM!!!
Train for current job, promotional
opportunities and entry into
management
When opportunities open up, look first
to your employees
Are your employees in the “right” job?
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Management Styles
• A successful management style is
appropriate to the person and situation
• Leadership versus Management
• People prefer and respond to strong
leaders
• Strength is flexibility –
Oak tree versus the palm
tree
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Great Lies of Management
The Dilbert Principle, Scott Adams
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Your input is important to us
Our people are the best
We’ll review your performance in six
months
I haven’t heard any rumors
Training is a high priority
We don’t shoot the messenger
Performance will be rewarded
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More From Dilbert…
• We reward risk takers
• The future is bright
• We’re reorganizing to better serve our
customers
• You could earn more money under the
new plan
• I have an open door policy…..and
number 1….is
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No. 1 From Dilbert
Employees are our most
valuable asset
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“So much of what we call
management consists of making it
difficult for people to work.”
Peter Drucker
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Management by Exclusion
• Managers push away those who
disagree with them
• Dissidents band together depriving
manager of input
• Gridlock develops
• Manager is isolated
• Dissidents become strong preventing
manager from accomplishing goals
• Manager fails
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Management by Inclusion
Manager includes people in process;
even those who disagree
Employee resistance dissolves; it’s
difficult to disagree when you are a part
of the process
Teamwork develops
Progress is made
Manager succeeds
Everyone succeeds
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Consider….
“When two partners always agree, one
of them is unnecessary”
“Hold your allies close and your enemies
even closer”
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Catch ‘em Doing Things Right
• Praise is a great motivator; employees
tend to live up (or down) to our
expectations
• A new employee’s mind is like a blank
tablet; we write encouragement or
criticism that influences him/her
• Thought precedes action; we do what
we are thinking about
• Riding a bicycle or kicking a field goal
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Power v Empowerment
“Power corrupts and absolute power
corrupts absolutely” Lord Acton
“Powerlessness corrupts. Absolute
powerlessness corrupts absolutely”
Rosabeth Moss Kanter
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Empower Employees
• Decisions should be made at the lowest level
– that’s where the expertise is
- it fosters agreement and cooperation
• Employees not permitted to make decisions
feel incapable of doing so
• Their self-confidence erodes
• They give bad service
• Productivity declines
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More Employee Empowerment
• If you don’t trust your employees to
make decisions, either you failed to
train them properly or you have the
wrong employees
• Trust empowers employees to be
creative
• Minimum – Current – Peak Performance
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Communication
• Employees need to know more than
just their jobs
• They need to know the “big picture”
and where they fit in
• Employees need to be in the “pipeline”
• Being “in the know” creates trust and
commitment
• Employees need to hear the good and
bad news…directly when possible
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Communication Tips…
 Empathize, not criticize
 View the issue from the other
person’s perspective
 Express your desire to reach a
satisfactory result, not a victory
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“A man convinced against his will, is of
the same opinion still”
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More Communication Tips…
Do not become defensive or angry
 Do look for areas of agreement
 Do not say, “You’re wrong,” but if you
are wrong, say so
 And/but
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Male/Female Communication
 Male
 Female
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Neuro Linguistic Programming
 Visual
 Audio
 Kinesthetic
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Underperforming Employees
• It is critical to identify underperforming
employees as soon as possible
• Reasons for underperforming:
• They haven’t received proper training
• They don’t have the right equipment
• They don’t identify with the company or
its goals – “we” vs “they”
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More Underperforming
Employees
• They do not see themselves as
important to the success of the
company
• They are experiencing personal or
family problems
• They have lost interest in their jobs
• They lack ability
• They don’t like or want their job
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Disgruntled Employees
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Underperform
Use more sick time
Have more injuries
“Poison the well”
Others?
Disgruntled employees must be
identified, “turned around” or
terminated
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Customer Service
• The employee providing customer
service IS your company
• Examples of excellent customer service
– how did it effect you?
• Example of poor customer service –
how did it effect you?
• How important is excellent customer
service?
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The Challenge of Leadership
• The success of your company is
directly tied to the level of passion and
commitment of your employees
• Virtually no significant achievement in
history has been accomplished without
passion and commitment
• The most important job of a manager,
CEO or entrepreneur is the
transference of passion and
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commitment to employees
Employees Need to Know:
• What is the mission of the
organization?
• What is my role?
• How important is my role?
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“Leadership is lifting a person’s
vision to higher sights, the raising
of a person’s performance to a
higher standard.”
Peter Drucker
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And finally….
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