Building Unity in the Work Place

Building Unity in The Work Place

Agel Enterprises is the most unique and exciting company with a product that has emerged among its network marketing brother and sister companies this decade. This year we have had record setting months with revenue earned that will hopefully offset the difficult, emotional months recently experienced. This is such an awesome company and I absolutely love being part of bringing health and wealth to tens of thousands. Forgive my zealousness and passion but I believe I feel comfortable enough with all of you to share this insight – one man’s thoughts and opinions – which I hope will find merit among the leaders.

It appears that our company has divided itself into fractions and tribes with their employees. I have been slammed from all sides with criticism and negativism, feelings of entitlements, and in some cases apathy and laziness. I for one am sick of it and find it difficult some mornings to put on a happy face and greet the new work day because, though I don't understand completely the basis of these attitudes, I feel they are incorrect and unfounded. Nevertheless, perception is reality -whether right or wrong - and I really want to help play a role in reversing some of these pervasive, negative attitudes. A couple of years ago when I joined Agel there was such a feeling of unity and that attitude of doing what ever it takes to get the job done was alive and well. Many of us wore multiple hats. From the owner to the lowest rookie, we were all willing to empty our own trash, scrub a sink, and make a phone call to a troubled team member having second thoughts, without feeling “these jobs were below us.”

I worked for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space for 16 years. Senior management always told the employees that they could not talk to friends or family about any weapons, satellites or other national security items being developed or manufactured. Do you think Lockheed’s competitors knew about these programs? Of course they did, but it never prevented Lockheed from successfully bidding on government projects, winning these bids, and selling their services to the world to the tune of billions of dollars annually. I guess what I’m saying is, we seem to fear that our plans will leak out, perhaps to our competitors. But I promise that if we share with our employees confidential information and trust that they will keep it that way we all become a united force for a common goal. A successful corporation always begins with a “Strategic Plan” that involves Operations/Manufacturing, Marketing, Sales, Accounting, and R & D. This plan identifies what our revenue goals are for the year, which markets we will be opening, what new products will be launched. This plan then needs to be shared with all the employees. The leadership of each department then meets with their team and explains the projects that must be done to meet this strategic plan. We keep so many of our activities a secret from the employees that they don’t know how their job contributes to accomplishing the “Plan.” Many don’t know the great intensive work that goes into new product development or opening a market. They don’t get a feel for the excitement of advancing the Agel mission. We just don’t ever seem to talk openly any more about new products or how the company is doing financially. Let’s share the excitement and advances we are making even if it is sensitive or confidential.

Let me address the concept of Unity. I mentioned above the observation of fractioned groups within the corporation. To restore the sense of fun and excitement once again we need to be unified and all on the same page. Let me suggest three key elements that will help us achieve Unity in the work place.
1. The first principle of Unity is the need for all of us to work together for a common goal, but in order to do that we all need to know what we are working towards. Not only do we need a Strategic Plan but each person needs to have goals and objectives by which they are measured. Company goals or personal goals – which ever we choose – needs to be posted and reviewed regularly. When I managed Customer Service, with the support of Brent Jensen every employee had personal goals jointly set by me and them. Brent and I would review them monthly. Why do you think customer service brought in a quarter of million dollars each month of extra revenue, certainly not by simply showing up to work. It was through goal setting and review, and no secrets.

2. The second principle of unity is showing humility and expressing gratitude for the one. Executive leadership comes with special privileges and perks, we all get that and are OK with that. How we act and interact with others shows so much. Recognizing the one through taking one minute to speak to each employee shows compassion and sincere interest in our well being. I know I have been the recipient of such kind words and personal interest in my well being. I hope all of our employees enjoy a moment of personal interaction with members of the executive team as I have in the past. I always appreciate the caring words and the opportunity to joke around with many of our execs. As the population of the company grows this task gets increasingly more difficult. It will do the executive team well to reach beyond their specific area of responsibility and talk to everyone at least two to three times a year and learn their names. Really, that is all you need to do to make a difference. Remember “Pride” is the great enemy of Unity. Along with the principle of humility, let me add the need for us to all be peacemakers. The restorer of unity is the one who finds a way to help people see the truth or commonalities they share. These commonalities are always greater and more important to them than their differences. We all come from various backgrounds and are so vastly different. Agel employees have more in common than differences. And even differences can be seen as an opportunity for us to see someone as a source of contribution rather than an irritation.

3. The last principle of Unity is to speak well of each other. None of us are perfect yet many people make a career “at the water cooler” to fuel gossip about the Corporate leadership and others. Realizing that we see others in an imperfect light will make us more likely to be a little more generous in what we say about others. Also, remember what your mother always says: “if you can’t say anything good about a person, don’t say anything at all.” This will help us all look for what is best in each others performance. There is such a great feeling of peace and confidence that comes from speaking generously of others. This will create a strong sense of unity. Unless being questioned for performance evaluation, the next time someone asks us about what we think of another employee, be generous with our positive remarks and cautious with our negative feedback.

You may recall that I spoke several months ago about the concept of “The Band of Brothers”. I certainly hope that has not been lost in all the changes and reorganization that has taken place. Please consider the principles of Unity carefully and find a way to rid our great company from the negative effects of fractions with departments working independently of each other. Bring us all back on the same page by sharing with us your strategic plan and how we can all work together to achieve this plan.

Lastly let me address the rumor mill that has circulated about bonuses. It was reported that a message was given to Ashley Fowler and Melanie Brower that no one will be getting bonuses this year and asked them to leak out that message among the employees. I immediately went into damage control mode at the ADC and told everyone I know that the executive team does not operate that way. We may very well not get bonuses, that is not the issue, but that information will not be delineated through a rumor. If you have not heard it from your manager or Glen himself don’t believe it. Nevertheless, that rumor has been far stronger than anything I could say to counter act its effect. From what I can tell, that rumor was true and just recently, Ashley told me that we are getting a small bonus – a maximum of $500.00. Certainly appreciated. The subject of money - even bonuses - is so important to most employees. Dealing with this subject through the rumor mill is not the best way of communicating with the employee team. I feel a bit cheated that I can’t get this information directly from our leadership. I don’t want to hear this news from an admin or exec assistant - no offense, please. Let me just say that bonuses play a significant role in the evaluation of an employee’s self worth and job performance and reflects highly on how well the company has achieved goals. Again, this goes back to sharing the Strategic Plan with everyone and have everyone’s buy-in on how to achieve that plan. Bonuses should be tied into how well the company achieved this Strategic Plan. However, by giving everyone the same type of bonus may come accros as devaluing many of thoses contributions that have been significant through out the year. Let me stop right here and say, any bonus, especially at Christmas time is an extremely generous gift that shows your respect and appreciation to all of us. I simply recommend getting away from handing out bonus checks at the Christmas Party and give each Department Head a pool of money with directions to share that pool of money based on certain criteria – job performance and deliverables being a key element. Some get more, some get less, some may not get any bonus. But, what a great opportunity for that manager to then sit down with their employee and discuss that person’s performance and critique strengths and weaknesses. It seems to be more equitable and certainly more motivational. This could happen annually, semi-annually or quarterly. I love knowing that how well I do my job has a significant impact on achieving the overall goal of the “plan.” If I get a bonus for simply coming to work each day regardless of performance then it is hard to find the encouragement to improve or stretch our skill set and we become average, which we have learned, nothing scars a company more than mediocrity.

Thanks for reading my thoughts and opinions. And, thanks for an amazing effort by our executive team this year to make hard-line decisions and do the right thing. Your stamina and stress level have all been tested and I know that we will never truly know the level of concerns and the number of troubled/sleepless nights that you have endured to help us all be successful.