High performance culture begins with involved employees

Today, Aug 2002 by Yokum, Ken

association news

TAWPI

www.tawpi.org

leadership corner

Having worked in banking operations for more years than I care to admit (okay, nearly 30) and held management positions for over 25 of those years, it amazes me that there are still training opportunities and different management concepts to consider. But it's important to keep an open mind.

Our current work group consists of nearly ten thousand employees. Each of our lines of business is committed to transforming our work environment to a High Performance Culture. Although there are scores of different ideas and tools that can be used to achieve this goal, some of them resonate more than others.

Working with a group of management specialists from Orion Advisory (415-646-8067 / www.orionadvisory.com), we established a clear distinction between compliance and involvement. As leaders and managers, we can direct others via mandates (compliance) or we can try participatory influence (involvement) and have everyone engaged in thinking about the right measurements and the best solutions, while stimulating overall creativity.

Historically, most management practices lean more to compliance rather than involvement (most of us are into detailed decision-making far more often than we need to be, and that can stifle creativity from others). There are lots of different tools that can be used to get every level of employee involved in the work process. The key is to have the associates themselves lead the effort.

Managers may give high-level objectives without a lot of specificity (e.g. "meet budget," "reduce unit cost," or "improve customer service"). But it's the employees that form groups to discuss how they can best achieve those goals.

While it's difficult to quantify the shift to a high performance culture in terms of dollars and cents, people are definitely energized; they're into it. Within operational work units at Bank One, posters have gone up called "Q-boards," where each unit can track trends, metrics, or whatever the employees themselves feel is important. The results coming out of that tool alone are great to see. Thus far there have been more than 160 Q-board unveilings, where groups show off their goals and accomplishments.

At Bank One, this has resulted in a conscious shift in management habits. The whole program is viewed as a high-- performance culture. We've had a real commitment from top management, without which this wouldn't have been as successful.

Of course, there are some decisions that must be mandated. For example, regulatory or contractual obligations may dictate a strict policy.

As we move into positions of greater management responsibility, we need to evolve from managing primarily through mandates, and begin influencing others, eventually inspiring and encouraging all levels of employees to be engaged in the work process. Remember, with a mandate, the most you can expect to achieve will be the minimum expected result. However you might have had far greater results by letting the group figure out the details for themselves-often with a lot more gusto-providing results that otherwise would never have been reached.

TAWPI Board Chairman Ken Yokum is Senior Vice President, Division Manager, within National Enterprise Operations at Bank One. He can be reached at ken_yokum@bankone.com.