COACH'S CORNER
By Barry Knepper
As Seen In Queensborough - The Magazine of the Queens Chamber of Commerce

Tab Member's Question:
How can I instill a greater sense of ownership by employees in the daily operation of the business?

TAB Coach:
The way to instill employee loyalty is to tie the company goals and mission to those felt personally by each employee—how can continued employment with your company help each employee attain their personal goals? How does continued employment honor their personal commitments? The establishment and expansion of this strong bond is a powerful one to maintain employee loyalty, productivity and employment. It is important for a leader to know how to motivate people and act accordingly.

Develop an inspiring three-year vision for the company and a list of challenges for the next year. Then, engage them in a strategic planning session (competitive analysis, SWOT, goals, strategies and action plans). Let them create the plan- don't over manage. Choose someone (non-political) to review goals and specific steps each month. Most teams will take ownership and responsibility for moving the company forward.

History shows us that one of the most successful methods for inspiring employees to act as though the business was theirs is found in the Quaker model. Quakers recognize the need to give back to the community and invented what is known as profit-sharing today. At the end of each year, they gave profits back to the employees and created a revolution in employee motivation. Employees went out of the way to ensure customer satisfaction, picked up paper from the floor, and developed new and innovative processes.

I recommend It's Your Ship, by Captain Michael Abrashoff. It's the story of how he took the worst ship in the Navy to the best ship in a short period of time by getting the crew to understand that they owned the ship as much as the Captain did. Easy read, pretty good story and has some simple, yet effective management techniques in it.

Barry Knepper is the certified facilitator and coach in Queens for The Alternative Board® ("TAB").TAB Board members meet monthly to learn from one another's successes to grow their businesses to the next level through a combination of peer advice and coaching He also serves a part time chief financial officer ("CFO"), utilizing his 30 years of full time CFO experience to help business owners maximize the profitability of their business through the development of a budget, business plan and monitoring of financial operations. He can be reached at 516-724-0351 or bknepper@tab-queensny.com.