This week something amazing happened.
Well, amazing if you're the type who sees the hard business value in having a workforce fully engaged and passionate about a company.
Okay, who doesn't want that for their company? But how do you really get anything of SUBSTANCE changed for the better? How do you get this subject on the hard-core priority list of people with no time for "soft" stuff? Of people who focus on "the mission critical" work of hitting the numbers every quarter, without fail?
IT happened.
EMC's top 200 or so leaders from around the world (out of 42,000 total staff) came together last week to work on priorities for 2009 and identify further opportunities for success moving forward.
The leaders broke into subgroups to drill down on a handful of topics.
"Company -- or Employer -- of Choice" was a drill down subject.
About 25 of us went hard at the subject for 3 hours, beginning with a single question to the group on an otherwise blank slide, "Why is this important?"
Up until the session started, I truly wondered if many in this group would have any sort of interest or desire to engage on this subject. A few of the leaders were "old EMC," meaning they were here at the company at a time when a subject like this could have been laughed at as fluffy and irrelevant to the sales effort. There was an EMC President in the room, an EVP, some SVPs, a COO, several country managers, a Channel Sales VP, a Professional Services VP, a "classic" Sales leader, a Marketing VP, a Manufacturing VP, a Finance VP, and yes, a couple International HR VPs too.
You know what happened?
The subject had them at "hello."
They got it. Immediately. With full and total passion. Then, we showed data showing the value to revenue, profit and market cap. We later conducted a participatory quiz on actual drivers of satisfaction on the job. (Ouch! Not everyone got the answers right!) This only added fuel to the fire.
I was almost fearful that all EMC's success in this space during 2008 would suggest to the team that this subject needed no further effort.
EMC, had, after all received a RECORD number of "Best Place to Work Awards" from around the Globe in 2008.
We received Best in Sales; Best in Engineering; Best in IT; Best Place to Start a Career; Best Place to Intern; Best in Six Sigma; and Best in most regions of the world. Almost too many logos to cram on a slide! Oh, and then there was that mainstream book which profiled EMC as one of the world's "Eight Engaging Companies." And the fact that we just exceeded our peer group in 2008 in revenue and profit growth.
... And they still intuitively got the value and recognized that we can get better.
They saw the tie to revenue, to profit, to productivity, to being a better place to be. Soon they were citing the need for training programs and measurement tied to compensation.They were asking to examine our Values and further promote our Vision.
They saw the need, as leaders, to own the subject on a personal level.
At the three hour mark, it was clear to many that this topic had opened eyes wider to the many business benefits of doing more in this space. Someone suggested that we continue as a work stream on an on-going basis. A voice clarified, "All of us or a smaller group?" The reply from the room, "All of us!"
The result of the session was a live "Report Out" to all of the Leadership Meeting attendees. It was done by a giant of a guy known for focusing on what is important to the company and getting it done. He shared the group's conclusion that we must be an employer of choice to succeed in the execution of our aggressive vision .. and that is was the responsibility of everyone, at all levels of the company, every day. And in true EMC execution fashion, a list of actionable priorities and an accountable team was identified.
When all the Report Outs were done, CEO Joe Tucci took the stage. He cited call to actions against each of the drill down subjects. On this topic, he told everyone to "be there for your people" and I could have sworn I heard this New Yorker use the word, "Hug."
That, in my opinion, is what leaders do in a company of choice.
------------- Talk Back -----------------------
Should you work on management skills, company vision and values, career development, and listening with heart at a time when analysts suggest your growth market will move into revenue decline in 2009? At a time when, in order to thrive in the turbulence expected ahead, you actually had to cut jobs? At a time when no company, it is predicted, will be unscathed by the global economic decline and employees presumably have few other employment choices?
Surely, this subject should not be a top area of effort ... or should it?
