Disney: Business magic

Happy customers is business magic

As a child, I would settle in on Saturday night to watch ‘The Wonderful World of Disney’, entranced from the first glimpse of Pluto.

Long after this initial Disney experience, I took my family to the Hong Kong theme park. By then, my strong desire for all-things-Disney had been replaced by an equally strong desire to avoid the place. But, yes, I went for the kids.

The second I walked towards that entrance gate my cynicism left; I was entranced all over again. From start to finish it was a magical experience for adults and children alike. This may sound odd, but I noticed the quality of the bins (very well built and sturdy!), the castle wasn’t just a façade, it was ‘real’, the rides were fantastic and the food was something you would actually choose to eat (and for an amusement park, that’s saying something).

But the real crux of it all was the Disney people. At every turn, there was someone in character to delight my children (yes, and me).  At every turn, the kids were handed stickers and made to laugh. And in a real magic moment, my son was able to draw the sword from the stone.

Disney is widely documented as getting all these things right. If I take my (magic!) park visitor hat off for a moment and replace it with a business one, you can see the enchantment comes from getting the basics 100% right.

Quality? Check.

Customer service over and beyond? Check.

A brand experience and vision? Check.

Sure they are working with beloved characters and tapping into the child in all of us, but why not apply it to your business?  Truly awesome customer service, backed with employee recognition and a culture that supports teamwork and achievement will reward your customers every time.

What businesses inspire you?

Retention is not a dirty word

Retention springs from developing, challenging and respecting employees

Retention is clearly one of those issues that keep Australia’s HR managers up at night.  It’s not unusual to be met with a gap in conversation and people shifting in their seats if I ask about the ‘r’ word. Most people just do not want to talk about it (unless of course you are with one of those rare and impressive companies with great retention figures).

The thing is, even if you don’t say it out loud, it’s still there. And retention issues are incredibly common in the post- global financial crisis labour market… it’s fair to say you are not alone.

There is a great deal of pressure on HR (and hopefully on all your managers!) to improve retention – and rightly so.  Companies that treat people well, develop their careers and knowledge, keep them challenged and interested, and respect people’s ideas and opinions, save a fortune on recruitment, time spent getting newbies up to scratch and lost company knowledge. This is easy to understand, and strangely difficult to do well, especially in a large organisation.

I have never worked in HR in-house, so please consider this an observation from a very interested bystander.  Like smoking, admitting you have a problem is the first, and arguably the most important, step.

You are probably already doing a great deal to address any employee engagement or loyalty issues you may have.  Hopefully the figures are moving in the right direction.

So next time it comes up, see if talking about it outside the organisation throws up any new ideas.  Be proud of what you are implementing as well as talking with others to see what else may help.

Each company will have its own optimal solution, so I’m not going to proffer ideas here and now. I guess what I am saying is how will you know what’s on offer, what might resonate with your people, if you don’t talk about it?

Is retention the elephant in your company’s room?

They get knocked down, they get up again

Resilience in the face of adversity

Every now and then a business may just have a disaster… fire, flood or perhaps even worse, in the premises. Many businesses have a plan for this; backed up IT, alternative buildings and so on, but it can still be devastating for the people involved.

One of academy‘s learning and development specialists recently noticed something pretty special about one such organisation mid-crisis. Here are Shane Garrott’s thoughts on the always impressive (but never more so) Liverpool City Council.

——

In science, resilience relates to the ability of an item to absorb energy when it is deformed, and then return to its original state.

In psychology, it’s about human emotions and positivity in coping with, and bouncing back from, stress.

At academy we have seen it. Heard it. Taught it. But I am not sure if I have ever experienced the resilience I witnessed today.

Last month, Liverpool City Council’s chambers were destroyed in a devastating weekend fire. I saw the building on the news – it was burnt out but you could still make out the sign,

“Liver o   Cit  Council 1987”

- standing tall.

Despite knowing everyone was safe, it left an unsettling feeling.

Today I was lucky enough to catch up with the contact centre team who have since taken up operations in a tight and cosy training room in the council’s nearby depot. As I opened the door to the new temporary residence, I was welcomed with what could only be described as the most enlightening universal “Hi Shane! “Hello Shane” “Heeelllooo!” I’ve ever heard.

After some discussions individually, I began to understand what was behind the bricks and mortar of the council’s chambers. People’s notes, memories, experiences, accreditations, team awards – self-diarised over five years, 12 years, 17 years – lost; cherished photos of team member’s children and loved ones – lost.

Hearing the stories from individuals that observed the inferno on that weekend, and then the aftermath, makes you think… was it a house or a home?

“Hi Shane!” “Hellloooooo”

Enthusiastic. Lively. Why?

Despite the tragedy, the team continues to share a laugh, see the brighter side of the situation and get on with the job at hand. Internal and external customers continue to call and email with their requests that will right now require time and patience. They should know they are in safe hands.

It is this passion and emotion that can drive people in the work place. Science cannot magically self-forge steel and immediately restore a building, but a sign can stand tall against the odds. And the resilience of a team can teach us the importance of being strong, composed and confident in the onslaught of corporate emergency.

—–

Shane’s words made me think: How do we make sure we develop resilience in our organisations? Can you foster it? How do you know you’ve succeeded (unless the unthinkable actually happens to you)?

I took the opportunity to pose just a few questions to the extremely busy customer service manager at Liverpool City Council, Eva Cosentino. Here’s what she had to say:

Why do you think your team has been able to show such resilience?

The situation has been a shock for all of us and initially without systems to work with and business being as usual, it brought the team together to deliver service to the customers.  At the initial point of the fire occurring Customer Services was the main point of call for customers to deal with – and the main contact for their concerns.  It was been difficult for some staff at the start…  emotions were involved and some handled it better than others but steadily this has been overcome.

Has it been hard to get things done after the fire? How hard?

Initially, without phones, we had after-hours service take calls and we responded to these calls.  Within three days phones were installed and operational.  Systems were not in place so everything was done manually. Staff were only too eager to assist in whatever had to be done.  Over the last few weeks systems have been gradually installed and very little is now being done manually.  We have had a few issues to battle through…  but these have slowly been addressed and resolved.

How would you describe your team?

Everyone has come together to deliver and the team has handled the customers with courtesy and care. [They have] been tremendous in their efforts. We have been complimented by many on being up and running so efficiently, and this has boosted the team…  We are moving forward and will soon be progressing to our new building so this is something that we are all looking forward to and being reunited with the rest of team and Council staff.

My conclusion? A strong team of good people is already well set to pull together should a crisis occur. What do we take from this? Developing high performance teams is critical to your business… in good times for obvious reasons, but in bad times, the impact of people pulling together when they really need to is enormous.

Nitesh Gyaneswar: It’s no fun sitting by yourself

Nitesh Gyaneswar of Fairfax Media

It wasn’t until near the end of our chat that I asked Nitesh Gyaneswar his age. He provides thoughtful answers on leadership and managing, occasionally even wise ones. He looks after a team of anywhere from 30 to 45 people. He speaks with experience and he’s obviously not afraid to tackle change and all its challenges. And that’s why I was surprised to hear he is only 29.

In his current role as Director Business Manager for Fairfax Media, Nitesh manages the people who sell advertising space in print and online; they sell into Domain, Drive, My Career, special reports and so on. Before his two-and-a-half years in that role, Nitesh ran a call centre for UtilityOne and was a business manager with NRMA for seven years.

All in all, he’s been in contact centres for 10 years and says, “I enjoy it. I love it. I love the people. It’s no fun sitting by yourself,” which pretty much sums up his enthusiasm and attitude to working alongside people.

What, if anything, did you change when you took on your current role?

When I took over the team at Fairfax, I basically did a 180-degree change. We changed the reward and recognition structure, the job descriptions… all by talking with the team to see what they wanted.  It all became totally different and was a huge cultural change for the team.

I had worked at a large corporation, then a small start-up and then came back into a large corporation without an industry reputation. So I wanted to raise the profile of the business unit fast. I worked on stakeholder relationships from the outset, in some cases establishing links to our team that had not existed at all before.

For example, I put up my hand for some of the work that used to be done by field sales before, so it was brought into our area and we started generating that revenue in the business unit. In fact, last year, we exceeded budget by 37% in a difficult year.

How did that position you to manage in your own way?

Well, I largely use the FISH philosophy; I’m a big believer.  It started in the Seattle fish markets and it’s all about engaging people in the workplace, and then the customers. You choose your attitude before you go to work.

I first saw it at the NRMA, rolled it out when I was at UtilityOne and am reinforcing it at Fairfax. It’s really all about having fun at work and staff taking responsibility for the business unit. An example is when the team helped shape the reward and recognition structure. It’s made a huge difference with the people here; our engagement is always above 90% on the employee surveys.

[Ed – please see here for an overview of the FISH philosophy]

The changes have also seen me introduce a full-time coaching position. So the team leaders handle day-to-day management and there’s a coaching manager who helps with personal and professional development.

That works really well. It means the team leaders can work at 100% output and people love it. Even in the downturn we were able to keep the role as we’ve put some numbers against it and it more than justifies its existence.

Is there anything about your background that you would say has shaped you and the way you manage?

I think it’s my key values of prioritising family and friends in my life. It’s critical to balance work with your personal life and these values were instilled in me at a young age. And managing people flows from there, because I care that my team also have a good balance in their lives.

Also, the people you work with become like a family, so if you can manage a successful family life, you tend to be able to do similarly at work. Just like a family, our team has people from all walks of life, and crosses generations.

What do you look for when you hire people?

I hire based on people skills, not experience. To form a good team, you need people who fit into the team dynamics.

Do you believe management and leadership are different? How so?

They are linked but are the two parts of a manager. Leadership is essential. You need to actually demonstrate the right behaviour and ‘walk the talk’.

Managing is a little more administrative, it’s operations-based. I think a manager needs to spend about 60% of their time demonstrating leadership and the rest on the nitty gritty of administration.

How do you lead?

I guess I’d say I am a free-spirited leader. I ensure my team members are not called ‘staff’. I want their ideas and inputs. I’m open to what they have to say about the business.

I like to encourage an open learning environment… we are a call centre without set scripts. I hope people can manage relationships as they see fit. Of course there are scripts for when someone first starts, but after that, it’s up to them.

I like to give my direct reports every opportunity to run their teams as they see fit. And I have a great team.

What culture do you like or work best in?

I’ve never had to articulate this before, but I guess it’s an environment where I feel comfortable. Where everyone is aware of expectations and aligned to the business goals. And this has to come from the top, and then it’s reinforced through the ranks.

We all need to know the vision of the company.

Have you ever had a truly bad boss? What did you learn from it?

Hmmmm, I’ve had interesting bosses. I’ve learnt from all of them.

I had one who was almost universally disliked, but it was a great person in the wrong environment. And I learnt one of my most important lessons from this boss, even though you might classify him as bad. I learnt how to dress, how to be professional, how to conduct myself… these are lessons that need to be taught and stay with you for life.

I like to take the best out of all my bosses if I can.

My best-ever boss taught me that I will never stop learning. And that I’m not always right. I’m lucky to have learnt that.

What are some classic management mistakes that you see over and over?

Not listening to people. Not respecting staff. Oh, and managers who bypass staff. If you don’t even say hello or goodbye, do you think people don’t notice that? People are more likely to respect you if you respect them.

The other mistake I see is avoidance. When managers don’t have the guts to challenge, perhaps when they allow poor performance to continue. You can’t avoid it.

Final thoughts on leadership?

Leadership is a great word but it’s really about what you do on a daily basis. Some people have it, some people don’t… and great performers do not necessarily make great leaders.

[Ed: Nitesh was also the lucky winner of the recent academy promotion. Our COO, Michael Wolf, is pictured below presenting Nitesh with a brand new iPad. Thanks to everyone who followed us and gave themselves the chance to win!]

Old-fashioned fun leads to team success

Old-fashioned fun = contact centre success

Collecting debt isn’t an easy job and is probably one of the toughest in the contact centre industry. You are exposed to people suffering extreme hardship through to those who just don’t like to pay their bills.

Through it all you need to keep your cool and focus on the objective – to provide a “win-win” for everyone! When you look at it that way, it’s also one of the most complex customer interactions in the industry.

Last Friday night, was the Australian Teleservices Association academy Awards for Contact Centre Excellence (yes, we proudly sponsored) and the collections team that won the Under 50 FTE category was inspiring.

Who are these people? They are the Collections team from FlexiGroup.  I was blown away by the sense of togetherness, teamwork and good old-fashioned fun that emanated from them as they celebrated their nomination – and then their win.

The business reasons they won (the numbers if you like) are truly impressive. Over the past year, the team has saved the company $4 million and increased productivity 25%.

It’s clear to see these results have been achieved through teamwork, support, training and people who care a great deal about each other. Indeed, the CEO was there on Friday night, celebrating the team’s success right alongside them. (The FlexiGroup New Business group also won their category of 50-120 FTE, no accident I am sure.)

While I don’t know the team members personally, I bet many of them are friends for life.  When you spend so much time at work, sometimes engaged in stressful activities, isn’t it fantastic to do it with people you like?

That’s what we aim for at academy.

FlexiGroup’s wins are a compelling argument for ‘people-first’ management and I, for one, would like to learn more about how they make this work so well.

Congratulations to FlexiGroup, iiNet (who won the 120+ FTE contact centre category), the nominees; and all the incredible individual nominees and winners. The contact centre industry is about people and service and it’s inspiring to see how you all ‘walk the talk’.

Intergenerational leadership – A marketing furphy?

Australia’s next MasterManager

Adriano Zumbo's V8 cake: Perfect teamwork

As a manager you have to hope your team is not going to be as hard for you to wrangle as an Adriano Zumbo creation is for an aspiring MasterChef.

Did you see that angelic-looking V8 cake on the show last night? For those of you who did not, it was eight thin layers of cake heaven (well, Adriano’s was, anyway!)… eight layers of vanilla used in different ways, with more than 140 ingredients and four hours of cooking.  The picture is to the left and the recipe link is here.

The reason the cake is such a showstopper is that each layer builds on a theme and is very different from the others, but (and it’s a big but*), they are perfectly complementary and would not work nearly so well without the others. Hang on… isn’t that how a team should be?

It really made me think… if managers (and I am one) put as much effort and passion into understanding the ingredients of their teams, how they work together and how they work as a whole, many businesses may just be in even better shape.

I certainly can’t tell you how to do that in one blog post, it takes different combinations of training, personal development, mentoring and coaching, passion and plain old hard work, for different people. But if we think of Adriano Zumbo as manager and cake as team, we can better understand how important care and attention to each element is when you are creating something greater than the sum of its parts.

* Madly trying to avoid a joke about eating too much cake here

The yin and yang of sales

The yin and yang of sales

Some people may be able to ‘sell ice to Eskimos’ and others may be ‘born salespeople’, but I tend to disagree with the notion that great sales people are only born and cannot be made.

I believe that anybody who is passionate and believes in their product will inspire others to buy.

Furthermore, a natural ability to build relationships, through an empathic ability to identify people’s needs and wants (even when they cannot voice them!) will also close many a deal.

So all of these traits will bode well for a sales person’s potential to generate revenue.

However, I have also worked with many competent sales people who achieve solid results largely through hard work and discipline. These people may not necessarily be ‘naturals’ when it comes to relationship building and management, but their persistent dedication often gets them across the line.

I always hesitate to generalise, however perhaps we can conclude that there are at least two distinct ‘types’ of high achieving sales people. Leaving each ‘type’ with a variety of skills that can still be developed. Indeed, to be a truly great sales person, I believe people need to use tools from a variety of sources, with a range of leaders and mentors.

Sometimes this means training yourself (or being trained!) to go against a natural inclination. Good sales people who are strong on relationships can be coached in disciplined processes. And good sales people who rely on top notch systems can have their people skills developed, by good managers and training.

Having a mix of these natural skills sets in your sales team can only help. Companies that develop a range of attributes in their team may just elevate their sales from good to great.

What do you think makes for a great sales person?