Tag Archives: Accountability

How Do You Smoothly Transition Employee Roles? Four Suggestions

Situation: Two employees within a small company are shifting roles. One is shifting from Operations Manager, a higher level position, to an engineering role in charge of production, with no reports. The second has been promoted from Customer Service Supervisor to greater responsibilities for purchasing and production scheduling. How should the CEO adjust the titles and compensation of these individuals?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The Operations Manger is really shifting to a staff engineer position. Consider the title Senior Engineer or Senior Staff Engineer if the individual is comfortable with this. It conveys respect for prior experience while delineating this individual’s preferred responsibility. You may want to make adjustments to compensation over time by holding back on salary raises rather than by cutting salary right now.
  • The Customer Service Supervisor is moving into new responsibilities, and this may take time. In a sense this is a lateral move with potential for growth. Consider retaining the title of supervisor until this individual has demonstrated ability to perform these new duties. Salary adjustments and raises can be added as the individual grows in responsibility.
  • There is no problem having multiple titles and business cards. Many small companies do this. You can give the second person two titles: Customer Service Supervisor and Production Supervisor. This enables you to elevate this individual to manager of one or both areas as ability is demonstrated to take on additional responsibility and accountability.
  • Because both employees will be working in production, albeit in different capacities, monitor the situation closely to assure that conflicts don’t develop.

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How Do You Increase the Strategic Focus of a Board? Four Guidelines

Situation: A company has a board which is uncomfortable with strategic issues. Faced with a strategic decision, they gravitate quickly to tactical issues. What can you do to increase the Board’s strategic focus?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Change the focus of your Board meetings.
    • Change the agenda of Board meetings. Start with a review of the Strategic Plan and progress toward meeting the objectives of the Plan. Over time, input to the Plan grows as Board members become more comfortable with the strategic issues addressed in the Plan.
  • Develop a Board Charter and annual objectives for the Board as a whole.
    • If you have an individual on the Board who models or nearly models the behavior that you wish to see in the full Board, ask this individual chair a Board subcommittee to work on the Charter. Devote time at Board meeting to discussion of the subcommittee’s recommendations.
    • Develop annual objectives for the Board, including both global objectives and specifically how you want individual members to contribute. Outline your most important expectations of the Board, what you need from them, and ask them to develop objectives to meet these needs and expectations.
  • Start to proactively educate your Board on how they can be most helpful to the company.
    • Gather benchmarking data from similar companies. Educate the Board on best Board practices.
    • Look at the best performing companies in your industry – preferably organizations that do not compete directly with you – and ask to attend their Board meetings as a guest. You may want to take one of your own Board members along. Look for practices that will augment your meetings.
  • Augment the Board with individuals who will help to steer it toward the strategic focus.
    • As you begin to bring the right talent to the Board, recommend the creation of Board subcommittees to work on key strategic areas. At meetings, after the Strategic Plan update, the Subcommittees can formally present their updates to the Board for discussion and consideration. Choice of subcommittee chairs is important to success.

Key Words: Board, Strategy, Tactics, Agenda, Charter, Objectives, Accountability, Best Practices

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Is it Better to Grow by Building Existing or Adding New Functional Teams? Three Approaches

Situation: Sales at a small company have grown rapidly. They need to expand staff to keep up with demand and fulfillment. There are two options: expanding current functional teams in sales and service or adding a back office operations function. Based on your experience, which of these two options makes more sense for a company of fewer than 20 people?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Since the company is planning to grow from 10 to 20 people, create an organizational chart for what the company will look like with 20 people. From this back into what it looks like with 15, and then 10 people.
    • Look at how the positions work, and what talents you want to see in each position. Assess how well your current staff fills both current and anticipated talent needs.
  • The company’s key market differentiation is and will continue to be exceptional client service. Here are some of the questions to ask:
    • Are the back office needs of the sales and service teams similar or different?
    • If there is enough overlap, can one person, and eventually a team, supply the operational needs of both your client services and sales functions?
    • If there is little overlap, what specific needs are currently unfulfilled by each team? Is there enough work to justify adding more than one person so that each team manages their own operations?
  • One option is a matrix organizational structure which can work well in a firm of 10 to 20 people. Key factors include:
    • Establishing a company culture to compliment your strategy and objectives.
    • Establishing clear expectations of accountability and expectations to govern the model.
    • Matrix structures don’t always succeed. Ask whether your current people and culture are suited to a matrix organization.

Key Words: Growth, Staff, Demand, Function, Team, Sales, Customer Service, Organizational Chart, Talent, Matrix, Culture, Objectives, Accountability, People Skills

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Are Your Employees Living the Company’s Values? Four Recommendations

Situation: A tenet of the Company is that all decisions are made consistent with Company Values. However, some of my managers are asking for guidance on how to do this. How have other CEOs encouraged managers to make decisions consistent with company values?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Create cross-functional teams to address initiatives, solve problems and develop new processes consistent with company values.
    • This builds understanding other departments’ perspectives, and awareness of the impact of decisions on the company as a whole.
    • It builds awareness of company values and fights unhealthy competition between functions.
  • One company created an employee task force to encourage living company values. Their solution includes:
    • Review the company’s values and consider revising how they are stated for easy learning.
    • Involve employees in discussions of company values and how they are applied in their departments.
    • Create a cross-functional employee task force to address inter-departmental conflicts and to suggest solutions in line with company values.
    • Expect everyone to know the company’s values, and occasionally test them.
  • Build a vision of what the company looks like as an expression of its values.
    • Make living this vision part of your role.
    • Include living company values as a formal responsibility of managers.
    • Reward initiatives that build company values into company efforts.
    • Regularly review with your mangers their execution of company values.
  • Create “SMART” objectives around implementation of company values, and hold individuals accountable for achieving their objectives.

Key Words: Company Values, Decisions, Employee Involvement, Initiative, Vision, Role, Objectives, Accountability  [like]

How do you Prioritize Multiple Priorities? Seven Suggestions

Situation: The CEO was just promoted from COO. During the transition, the CEO is responsible both for past and new duties. There is an extensive list of Company priorities. How should the CEO prioritize this list for action?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Key Take-Aways
    • Focus on Executive Committee roles first – the roles of your leadership team.
    • Select your leadership team carefully – the team that will implement your agenda. They will help you make key choices and implement changes and programs. It is essential that this team present a united front as you roll out any changes.
    • As CEO, you are now accountable for the success of the company.
      • Put issues on the table.
      • Gather input and advice from your team.
      • Make your decision on how to move forward.
      • Delegate responsibility and accountability.
      • Rally the team around your decision.
      • Follow-up to assure that things are getting done.
    • Be focused. If you only had the resources to do three things, which would these be? What will bring the greatest short and long-term value to the company?
    • Avoid micromanaging assigned responsibilities.
    • Bring in a consultant to assist you in implementing organizational changes that are necessary for the company.
      • Defining new roles and responsibilities.
      • Correcting behavior of team members that does not benefit the team.
    • As soon as possible, promote, or hire someone to take on your old roles. You will have your hands full as CEO.

Key Words: Priorities, Leadership Team, Accountability, Responsibility, Delegation, Follow-up  [like]

Creating a Client-Centered Organization – Six Guidelines

Situation: We want to make our company more client-centered. What are the most important considerations?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • One CEO transformed their company into a client-centered organization based on conversations with customers.
    • The new structure is based on client-market groups.
    • The core of each group is cross-trained professionals who focus on client needs.
    • These groups are supplemented with a cross-trained support staff who can shift between projects depending on market conditions.
  • Organizational structure must start from, and support, a strategic vision. The vision must be informed by the realities of your market and the products/services that you offer.
    • Once you have determined strategy and analyzed customer markets, develop an structure that allows you to adapt to market changes. Structure follows strategy and market.
    • Things to watch:
      • Flexibility within the structure. You want most of your staff to be flexible, so that you can move them among projects as market conditions change.
      • Cross-training is critical.
      • You need strong leaders who can develop market segments.
      • Create objectives and accountability that will tell you how the market segments are operating, and whether staff are meeting cross-training objectives.
  • As you implement a new structure, be aware that:
    • Any change is met with insecurity. Coach your managers to communicate with their teams.
    • The core message is assure employees that they are valued, that any change will be gradual, and that you will provide them with the appropriate training and incentives that they need to succeed.

Key Words: Customer Focus, Cross-training, Communication, Strategic Vision, Structure, Objectives, Accountability  [like]

Whadayamean an Annual Plan . . . Really? Nine Guidelines

Situation: The CEO has developed an annual plan and wants ideas on the best way to communicate the plan to staff, secure buy-in and create accountability for execution.

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Communicate your vision for the company and the future as a broad outline so that employees know how they can contribute. Create a picture so that they can see and support your vision.
    • Ask for input on how to implement the plan. Since they will be doing the work, the best way to generate buy-in and accountability is for them to own the implementation plan.
    • You don’t have to share all details of the plan with everyone. If you communicate the plan in parts to those who will implement them, tailor the message to the person, and create individual objectives that will support the overall plan. Connect achievement of objectives to job evaluations.
    • Limit the number of objectives for each person – three key objectives plus one personal development objective. Have each employee develop activities to support achievement of their objectives.
  • Once objectives are in place, conduct regular meetings to review progress against plan and objectives, identify performance obstacles and solutions, and to reinforce the overall vision.
    • The vision must be simple and direct. Consistently repeat and reinforce the message. Publicly recognize individual contributions that support the vision.
    • Establish metrics to track progress toward the vision.
    • Stay on message with each person – focus on their goals and contributions.
    • Be consistent in your words and actions and use them to reinforce the vision.

Key Words: Business Plan, Annual Plan, Vision, Message, Buy-in, Accountability, Performance Objectives, Metrics  [like]