Does your workforce appreciate its impact on your customers? Perhaps it's time to send your people into the field...John

In one of our planning review meetings the issue of dumb mistakes came up.  The company had tried everything to instill attention to detail in manufacturing and shipping. Despite their best efforts, employees continued to make dumb mistakes - putting the wrong number of parts in a carton, allowing stained product to ship, and leaving cartons on the loading dock leading to late shipments.  "These mistakes are keeping us from being profitable," said the President.  More importantly, "These mistakes are killing our customer, who is in a life and death struggle in his marketplace."

"If only our people could see the impact of their carelessness," said one of the team members. "Maybe then they would appreciate the importance of attention to detail."  What a great idea!  The client immediately initiated a program where plant workers spent a day on their customer's production line.  They saw the consequences of their actions - the impact on the customer's productivity and the frustration of the customer's workers.  The personalization of the issue produced an immediate improvement in everyone's attention to detail.

Every week the strategic planning facilitators of Myrna Associates interact with the executive teams of the best managed mid-sized companies in America.  The weekly RUN WITH THE BIG DOGS™ newsletter shares an idea generated in one of those meetings. The companion  RUN WITH THE BIG DOGS™ CEO interviews discusses a single management topic with a mid-sized company leader.