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OCTOBER 2009

Wisdom from the Storm:

A story about positive initiatives in
difficult times from the desk of Bob Laliberte 

An exceptional organization’s resilience comes through even in the worst of times. Bernard Mohr, a partner of mine, and I had the privilege of facilitating the creation of a highly participative team-based organization which has outperformed the competition consistently over the last couple of decades.  Their very vibrant culture has survived several senior management changes and two buy-outs, yet it still retained its basic team design.  In fact, many interested in its unique design and performance have come to study this organization. Over two decades, the business has been committed to developing its members and continuously improving performance.  Through the ups and downs of business cycles, this business has always retained its staff.  During downturns, people have worked on business improvement projects and increased their skill level, which has kept this organization at the top of its game.

The bubble burst earlier this year. Business declined 50% for a six-month period…with no improvement expected for at least a year…a tough time for even the most resilient of organizations.  The handwriting was on the wall. Everyone could see the performance data; it is used by all teams to run the business. As a result, the leaders of the organization made the difficult decision to reduce the staff by 40%. Since this organization has a performance-based appraisal system, past performance was used as the criteria for reductions.

Even in this organization’s worst of times, it responded to the challenge of recovery after the layoffs in a way that tells an important story. Immediately after the reductions took place, the organization did three things

First… the day after the reductions, the organization held a town hall off-site meeting with everyone (remaining) in attendance.  At this all day meeting that I co-facilitated along with in-house resources, business leaders first responded to questions about the reductions…with honesty and concern for those no longer in the room.  We then paired up organization members to inquire into and recognize team members that stood out in their efforts to help team members and the business remain competitive throughout the past several difficult months.  The interviews provided an abundance of great stories which groups of people discussed and then shared with everyone in the room.  Their colleagues gave each recognized member rounds of applause following each story! As you can imagine, there was an abundance of gratitude and good will flowing in the room!  Everyone was now becoming energized and ready to move on. Second… Our next work effort of the day involved safety.  Safety is a priority for this business. There is a lot of automation and heavy equipment involved in their process.  They have an exceptional safety record; however, some of their fellow organizations at other sites do not.  Making use of a list of safety incidences from several other sites, the organization broke off into mixed groups and began discussing how they could prevent accidents or near misses like these from occurring at their site.  In rapid progression, the groups went through many of these situations with energy and concern for each other’s safety.  Individuals signed up to take action on the identified safety initiatives. Third… A third initiative in the following days was a redistribution of team members. Everyone was involved in making decisions about reorganizing shifts and the redistribution of people on teams so they could still be at their best. Small groups of organization members met and offered ideas based on their knowledge of the business.  The improvements were made quickly and are in place today.   The organization is now planning its response to the challenge of increasing business when it does occur…what resources will be needed and how to best bring them on board.

Many businesses and organizations are facing difficult times. Yet people still have the desire to help organizations be successful if their organization systems and structures are designed in a way that brings out the best strengths of all its organization members.  In the above story, people were and are deeply involved in running the business. They are trusted to do what will help move the organization forward… even through the storms.

For more information on how you can get the best from every member of your organization… please contact Bob Laliberte, Partner and Consultant in Strength-Based Organization Design at bob@innovationpartners.com.

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Of Special Interest:
Join us at the 2009 Global AI Conference in person or online
 

Free Newsletter Subscription! Email:

OCTOBER 2009

Wisdom from the Storm:

A story about positive initiatives in
difficult times from the desk of Bob Laliberte 

An exceptional organization’s resilience comes through even in the worst of times. Bernard Mohr, a partner of mine, and I had the privilege of facilitating the creation of a highly participative team-based organization which has outperformed the competition consistently over the last couple of decades.  Their very vibrant culture has survived several senior management changes and two buy-outs, yet it still retained its basic team design.  In fact, many interested in its unique design and performance have come to study this organization. Over two decades, the business has been committed to developing its members and continuously improving performance.  Through the ups and downs of business cycles, this business has always retained its staff.  During downturns, people have worked on business improvement projects and increased their skill level, which has kept this organization at the top of its game.

The bubble burst earlier this year. Business declined 50% for a six-month period…with no improvement expected for at least a year…a tough time for even the most resilient of organizations.  The handwriting was on the wall. Everyone could see the performance data; it is used by all teams to run the business. As a result, the leaders of the organization made the difficult decision to reduce the staff by 40%. Since this organization has a performance-based appraisal system, past performance was used as the criteria for reductions.

Even in this organization’s worst of times, it responded to the challenge of recovery after the layoffs in a way that tells an important story. Immediately after the reductions took place, the organization did three things

First… the day after the reductions, the organization held a town hall off-site meeting with everyone (remaining) in attendance.  At this all day meeting that I co-facilitated along with in-house resources, business leaders first responded to questions about the reductions…with honesty and concern for those no longer in the room.  We then paired up organization members to inquire into and recognize team members that stood out in their efforts to help team members and the business remain competitive throughout the past several difficult months.  The interviews provided an abundance of great stories which groups of people discussed and then shared with everyone in the room.  Their colleagues gave each recognized member rounds of applause following each story! As you can imagine, there was an abundance of gratitude and good will flowing in the room!  Everyone was now becoming energized and ready to move on. Second… Our next work effort of the day involved safety.  Safety is a priority for this business. There is a lot of automation and heavy equipment involved in their process.  They have an exceptional safety record; however, some of their fellow organizations at other sites do not.  Making use of a list of safety incidences from several other sites, the organization broke off into mixed groups and began discussing how they could prevent accidents or near misses like these from occurring at their site.  In rapid progression, the groups went through many of these situations with energy and concern for each other’s safety.  Individuals signed up to take action on the identified safety initiatives. Third… A third initiative in the following days was a redistribution of team members. Everyone was involved in making decisions about reorganizing shifts and the redistribution of people on teams so they could still be at their best. Small groups of organization members met and offered ideas based on their knowledge of the business.  The improvements were made quickly and are in place today.   The organization is now planning its response to the challenge of increasing business when it does occur…what resources will be needed and how to best bring them on board.

Many businesses and organizations are facing difficult times. Yet people still have the desire to help organizations be successful if their organization systems and structures are designed in a way that brings out the best strengths of all its organization members.  In the above story, people were and are deeply involved in running the business. They are trusted to do what will help move the organization forward… even through the storms.

For more information on how you can get the best from every member of your organization… please contact Bob Laliberte, Partner and Consultant in Strength-Based Organization Design at bob@innovationpartners.com.

---

Of Special Interest:
Join us at the 2009 Global AI Conference in person or online