Through the eyes of your people: working to create a performance-driven and "people-centric" distributorship

Modern Brewery Age, March 31, 2003 by Pat Jones

People have more of an impact on your business, financial and otherwise, than any other aspect of your business-operating model. People are your touch-point with your customer, your face within the community and often, the determining factor in your company's success or failure. Far too many organizations do not attempt to measure or are ambivalent to the impact of low morale, employee turnover, employee distrust, lack of training, poor people-enabling systems, organization structures which drive unwanted behaviors, and processes far to complicated to ensure the success of the individual. Moreover, alignment with employee quality of life, value systems, feelings of self-worth and personal "success gauges" are often ignored or trivialized. Additionally, development of a people- centric operating model is typically far down the list of primary operating objectives in many organizations. People centric models require a longer-term focus and most organizations are very short-term focused. . .evaluating short-term operating performance and reacting to today's issues.

The People-Centric Operating Model is a 32-point approach that can significantly improve operating performance over the long haul.. .obviously depending upon the successful design, development and implementation of each point. Moreover, without a people-centric operating model, there remains a very strong likelihood that operating performance will continue to be significantly less than potentially achievable.

Having worked for or consulted with organizations ranging in size from 30 billion in sales to 10 million in sales, it may seem unlikely that we would single out Del Papa Distributing, an Anheuser Busch Distributor located in Texas, as the best example of a People-Centric Operating Model that we have This is not to say that Del Papa does not their share of challenges, opportunities and operating model improvements. On the contrary, "the best organizations are fluid, embrace change, are committed to their values and see people as the key to their success." according to Larry Del Papa, CEO of Del Papa Distributing. "While we strive to be the best we can be, we realize that we are far from perfect and continue to look to our people to help elevate the organization to the next level of attainment."

Del Papa has been actively working on all aspects of a people-centric organization for at least 10 years. Del Papa refers to their commitment to people as "Value-Flex" or "adding value through flexibility". Examples of the "Value-Flex" approach include:

While a five member executive committee makes the strategic decisions, decisions are made with considerable field input.

Performance is based solely on merit, and Performance reviews are multi-directional. Feedback goes in both directions, something Del Papa terms "360 degree feedback." Del Papa views self-directed work teams as "leading and supporting" rather than "managing and supervising."

Human Resources is the focus of the organization, the number one area of concentration in 2003.

The organization remains relatively flat and access to all levels within the organization is encouraged. Del Papa is completing information systems implementation designed to provide all levels of management with critical information including key performance indicators. Del Papa is expanding their commitment to training, both computer-based and instructor-based, over six-fold in 2003. Their values statement, hanging in each office area, includes "respect for the individual" as a core value.

People receive considerable coaching in their respective jobs and coaching is part of the culture. People are simply not summarily dismissed based on performance but are viewed as a valuable asset that can improve in the appropriate environment and with exposure to good coaching.

There are no set vacation days or sick days. People work within their teams to insure that personal and professional responsibilities are balanced. Recognition programs exist to honor those who have exhibited high levels of achievement and excellence but never at the sacrifice of their teammates...it is a "We" and not an "I" culture. Fit within culture is absolutely critical for any organization. Del Papa has been presented with many opportunities to seek out external candidates for senior level management positions and others but has opted to promote from within, to a large extent for cultural reasons. "Our people understand our culture and our people-centric "Value-Flex" approach. We have been very successful developing our people and promoting from within over the past 10 years. This is not to say that we would never hire from the outside. On the contrary, we have some excellent examples of people who have come into our organization through acquisition that have made strong contributions to the organizatio n. However, they were a very good cultural fit from the beginning," says Larry.

Del Papa Distributing epitomizes a diverse organization. Race, religious, political, ethnic, and cultural diversification is obvious when attending a meeting at Del Papa "We try and select the best candidates for the job.... period. Theoretically speaking, people should apply for positions in numbers relatively proportionate to the population for the income, skill-set and quality of life that we provide.. if the company is viewed within the community as fair and equitable. Diversity makes us a much stronger organization and better able to service our very diverse customers in the market place," says Larry.