McNeill Nakamoto’s office is located in Yaletown, where one of the LiveCity locations for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics is located. Already, we are experiencing some new activity and rearranged traffic patterns in our neighbourhood. Our business will be open as usual. We will still be available to service our clients and conduct interviews. We’ve made adjustments to our way of doing our work as effectively as possible, whether or not our employees can make the commute to Yaletown.
A wonderful legacy that the games has already left for us, is the addition of the Canada Line. Our staff use “the line” exclusively when attending meetings in the downtown area. This has helped McNak with our green initiatives.
Embracing what today’s modern technology has to offer, most of the team at McNak will be able to access their office computers remotely from home during the Olympic Games. Some of our staff will be telecommuting, and some will stagger their work hours. I know that I will be glued to my iPhone to keep in touch, as well as using Yammer to keep up to date on what my co-workers are doing.
As an employer, McNeill Nakamoto has offered their staff the utmost of flexibility during this time. We have approached this situation as not a challenge, but as a once in a lifetime event that we can embrace. Our team will continue to work effectively and be productive even if we don’t see each other every single day during the largest event our city has ever produced.
What plans do you have in place to keep your company running during the games? Please share by leaving a comment.
It doesn’t happen that often that a disgruntled top employee takes on their employer in the most public of public spaces. But with Conan O’Brien speaking directly to millions of viewers in prime time America is like a regular day in the office for the rest of us. This is show business, afterall. For some reason I have been captivated by the explicitly public discussions around Conan O’Brien’s departure from The Tonight Show after less than a year into his new job. In a brilliantly written blog post Marc Effron and Miriam Ort take a look at the series of decisions NBC and Conan O’Brien have made over the past couple of years that ultimately led to such a public display of resentment and disappointment. Here is what Marc and Miriam suggest NBC and any company that depends on top talent could have done differently:
Avoid defensive talent strategies: Conan was promised the host role of The Tonight Show in response to efforts by competitors to steal him away from NBC in 2004. Jay was promised the 10PM slot due to fears he would go to another network. Both decisions suggest a defensive approach to talent — keep them because “they’d be dangerous at the competition” rather than “they’re the perfect fit with our strategy.” Talent choices should be made proactively and to hurt the competition, not merely to avoid pain.
Place big talent bets: It can take new talent a while to reach their full potential. Give them that opportunity. Once they’ve identified their “stars,” organizations should focus all their resources on making them successful. Early missteps aren’t necessarily predictive of failure — it’s often just moving up the learning curve. A little patience can result in a big payoff.
Diversify succession risk: Lining up successors against individual jobs is a rather outmoded approach. Is it expensive to have two talk show hosts in the succession pool? Of course — just as it was expensive for GE to have three CEOs in waiting. Yet that gave them tremendous flexibility when it came to replacing Jack Welch. Somehow, GE’s succession planning rigor didn’t seem to reach NBC.
No question, more than ever before companies understand how important it is to nurture their Power Employees and to build a culture that allows for top talents to find fulfilment while realizing their full potential. At McNak we have been fascinated by corporate culture and are amazed by companies when they truly get it. But what if a company’s best intentions still have to yield profit-driven directives? Marc Effron and Miriam Ort recommendations can serve as an excellent reminder for every high potential employee:
No organization can make reasonable promises of future placement — you’re setting yourself up for disappointment trusting an organization to honor that agreement. In fact, that’s essentially today’s career deal. The corporation will give you an opportunity to acquire a bundle of experiences that have some market value. They are under no obligation to take advantage of that combined experience but they have the option to do so. If for some reason they choose not to take that option (or to revoke it) you walk away and apply those skills to an employer who values them.
What do you do to ensure that you don’t end up like NBC and Conan?
This team knows how to have fun. We like the team’s spontaneous tribute to their corporate culture. It isn’t easy to manufacture corporate culture. And this is a team who has a culture that works. They are so aligned that they will take risks together. Trust is high. And they’ve allowed themselves to have fun. Don’t we all need it once in a while! We’d put bets that this team does some great things together. (perhaps however, not a career in performing arts).
This spontaneous video reminds us of another more structured video where the team is fully engaged and united on a common goal. You can see the magic is real in both environments. Both work. How dull work could be if one couldn’t have smiles on no less than a few faces?
Top performers. They are most often the true indicator of a company’s culture and are part of the integral root system of a company’s success. They are the first to speak up and also the first to pursue feedback. What they will not do is sit idle.
These individuals know how to push the right buttons of a corporation by continuously seeking improvement, not just their own improvement but for the greater good of the company. The biggest risk for a company is to not create an environment that supports their abilities. Their insights often could provide the means to key business improvements and directions.
By understanding the nature of a top performer, you can take their energy and inspiration and use it to grow other future top performers. Everyone can benefit from a mentor. These power employees know this value and seek out mentors for themselves. Their thoughtful communication style engenders teams to them. People want to be in their keep.
Stack power employees together and you get phenomenal teams and powerful collaborators. They thrive on each other’s energy and provide high level strategy and offer a boldness to try new things. They are innovators and executors.
When they set goals they think of them in terms of what they really need to be doing. These types of people think about ways to maximize opportunities and leverage their potential. They visualize their success. They are seriously good at measuring themselves for improvement and look for points where they can take calculated risks and prove successful.
Many of the companies that make it on Top 100 lists have an impressive roster of power employees. There’s a reason these companies can reach breakaway success in their industries.
One of the biggest challenges in corporate culture is finding ways to effectively measure and gauge the strength of your culture. Over the past decade companies have used various survey methodologies in an attempt to uncover the truth about their cultures with the most popular one being an Employee Engagement Survey. The problem is that these surveys are time consuming, difficulty to analyze without outside support, and require a fair investment to implement.
The answer for companies who aren’t ready to take the plunge into instituting a full-blown employee engagement survey actually comes from the world of customer experience. By combining two questions together you can create an easy to use survey that’s fast and efficient, and so simple to complete that your response level will also be considerably higher (important with any type of survey).
First, we need to talk about the Net Promoter Score (NPS). NPS was designed to measure how likely clients are to recommend a product or service to a friend. Satmetrix Systems, the company behind NPS, researched companies that experienced above average profitable growth and their research showed that customers who answered one simple question with a 9 or 10, are promoters of your business, customers who answer 7 or 8 are passive, and anyone that ranks your company 6 or less is actually a detractor – they are highly likely to actively recommend that people not do business with you. The question, “How likely are you to recommend our product or service to a friend or colleague?”
Here’s how to modify the NPS for a simple corporate culture survey: take the Net Promoter Score question and alter it slightly to focus on your employees’ perception of your business instead of your customers:
1. On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend to a friend or family member that they come work at our company?
2. If you gave a score of 8 or less, what would need to change in order for your answer to be a 9 or 10?
Using these two questions you can rapidly put a corporate culture survey in place. Although this will not give you the richness of a full Employee Engagement Survey, these two questions will provide you valuable insight into the core areas that you need to pay attention to now.
*If you’re interested in learning more about Net Promoter Score, Harvard Business Review has a fantastic article that summarizes the entire concept entitled, “One Number You Need to Grow” .
Mike Desjardins is the Driver (CEO) at ViRTUS (www.virtusinc.com), an organizational development consulting firm with expertise in strategic planning and implementation, leadership development, change management and succession planning for medium to large organizations. He regularly blogs at www.mikedesjardins.com.
With less than 45 days until Vancouver hosts the 2010 Winter Olympics there really is little else our city has on its mind right now. As I sit looking out the window in Whistler village watching another round of glorious snowflakes fall, my thoughts draw to the parallel of how corporate business is so much like the business of sports. In looking back over 2009 there is so much we have to be thankful for and so much we have achieved.
Surrounded by images of athletes in the Olympic village of Whistler, I find the journey of a professional athlete fascinating. Not so much as to their almost, and at many times, celebrity status, but for the power of the mind of these tremendous individuals.
When I think of professional sports the first thing that comes to mind is courage. As I flew down a double black run on Whistler mountain yesterday on my newly tuned skis chasing my 8 year old daughter, I couldn’t help but think of courage. The classic story of how Pheidippides, the Athenian messenger who ran 25 miles from Marathon to Athens to deliver the message of ‘rejoice, we triumph!’ and who then falls dead is an original example of courage. Lululemon Athletica states on their iconic sustainable bags, ’do one thing that scares you each day” is also testament to this message. Courage. It’s what drives athletes to succeed and business to reach breakthrough performance. Courage makes teams strong. But it is in knowing when to shake it off and when to actually step away that athletes and businesses succeed or fail.
‘Encourage’ means literally to build courage into someone else. To encourage is to inspire. 2009 was all about courage. For us and for most businesses, this was a unprecendented time in our history where patterns of business were out of balance. Or perhaps this event actually sent us wildly spiraling towards balance. It brought about new realities. Just like it may be said for athletes as for businesses that achieve success, it might be some part luck, but mostly it is the right amounts of courage. Looking back on the year, we kept our eye on the storm this past year and faced it head on. We didn’t dive for cover or seek shelter. We drew upon the tools and skills we knew had made us strong. And with courage and iron will we did it. And we leave 2009 stronger and on a solid growth trajectory. Now the key for our success will be found in our ability to ensure that we can handle our growth and provide leadership to our growing team. Business leadership’s role is to do just that- lead. But to encourage is perhaps one of the most powerful tools a coach can share with their team. We plan to. Here’s to much success and courage in 2010!
We just love this video! And with the holiday season upon us this is such a heartwarming feel good piece. And for however busy it may be at this time of the year it seems that we always find time to sneak a peek at good content. You might even find yourself replaying it again and again. We did.
It’s about the human condition and how much we all thrive on positive messages. We guarantee that you will smile. And definitely more than once. Corporately, the take home is clear. We challenge you to apply your own variation of the ‘art of smile’ into your corporate culture.
Too often in this fast moving life of ours we seem to have forgotten one of the simplest messages. Acknowledgement. Remember the last time someone acknowledged you. How did it make you feel? Especially this past year.
Our last December’s post on our recipe for success still stands true: ‘Think: more smiles, more motivation, more happiness- we have forgotten to acknowledge people. its the simple things.’
One of McNak’s favourite models of the ultimate service experience is the Four Seasons Hotels. It has, after almost fifty years, stayed true to founder Isadore Sharp’s vision to create a second to none service culture. If only more companies could translate their style into their own businesses.
“We hire for attitude, then we train for skill” – Ellen du Bellay, vice president of learning and development, Four Seasons Hotels
A lot of us wonder about respect, especially when it comes to workplace culture. As any follower of our blog knows, McNak is all about finding the cultural fit in an organization, and respect is an integral part of that. Respect is essential to the success of McNak’s business – how we interact with our candidates, how we develop relationships with our clients, and how every member of Team McNak works together to ensure a truly respectful workplace. If respect is core to a company’s belief system then the bond is almost unbreakable and is a powerful tool for personal and corporate success.
Respect in the workplace starts with the individual – whether it’s a management position, a junior administrator, or the CEO. This is the core of the message in Erica Pinsky’s ‘Road to Respect: Path to Profit’. Pinsky, a local author, speaker and consultant, recently took the time to discuss her insights at the BC HRMA book group.
The economic realities of the last year have had a tremendous impact on workplace behaviour – the stress that comes with an uncertain economy can push people to unkind behaviours. The fear of losing a job (or not being able to find another one) can compel individuals to stay in jobs where they are not being treated with respect, putting up with unacceptable behaviour.
Surprisingly, bullying is one of the greatest concerns in Canadian workplaces, causing severe damage at both a personal level, as well as to corporate profitability. Unfortunately, while Canadian Labour Law protects individuals from discrimination, it has yet to deal with workplace bullying. While it may be impossible to legislate respect, corporations that deeply believe in it find themselves with a truly competitive edge. A healthy company can’t be all shiny on the outside and tarnished and bruised on the inside. It just doesn’t work any other way.
Some of us are fortunate enough to have employers truly committed to developing a respectful workplace. Aretha Franklin nailed it with her lyrics ‘ ‘R-E-S-P-E-C-T – find out what it means to me…’
It’s hard for anyone to admit to themselves or to others that they aren’t perfect. In this ‘keep up with the Jones’s generation it makes it that much more ridiculous to even consider getting off the treadmill. For businesses, this might seem like cultural suicide.
Common sense may go so far as to dictate that companies have a commitment to their stakeholders, internally and externally to strive for the closest thing to perfection. While this may hold true in many situations there is a paradigm shift that is needed: in order to be best in class at something you have to dig down and recognize that you must also accept that you need a counter balance of being worst in class at something.
Wow. So the bandage is ripped off now. NOT good at something….Its really just an emotional obstacle, one that can be removed with a team prepared to look at the business differently and that is prepared to bravely go forward with a fierce and united discipline. What can you afford to give up or stop doing? Or rather what can your business do better than the competition. What is essentially unique to your company and what do you not need to be better at than them? Reverse engineer what the company wants to be great at and it will be easier to decide what you can stop focusing on or remove all together. The upside is that your company will be transparent to the marketplace, customers will self select and your internal team will feel happiness and pride in their work. This is powerful because deeply satisfied customers will further fuel your team’s culture.
Once clear on what you are prepared to be good at and not good at it is easy to move the team into alignment of a clear and united mission. Until a company is totally clear on it’s ‘great at’ and ‘bad at’, it is hard to move the team forward. There will always be a disparity of focus and competing interests within the team. Out in the open and exposed, the team can really see the company for all that it is and that it can be.
There is nothing stronger culturally than a team with a united mission. Company – forward MARCH.
I should be sleeping. But after spending such a phenomenal day doing strategic planning that included a delicious wind up dinner, family style, at one of our favourite restaurants, with my ‘other family, team McNak, it is so good to close off the day knowing that this was time well spent. I just had to share.
Our day’s objective: to get clarity around a major goal and set the course for the next quarter.
Our day began extremely smoothly. I think we can attribute this to knowing that we have a team that is prepared to share and take risks for the best interests of our McNak family. We agreed to a no hold back, tell it like it is session. Rip the bandages off if you must. Expose the rocks and then set a plan in place to remove them. The adage that people need to weigh in before they buy in is so very true. We finished the day knowing far more about each other and with a clearer course than when we began. And we left in alignment.
During this session we got on the topic of what we have now called Family loyalty. This is when you know that the relationship has set a course on its own beyond your own controls. Its on autopilot. Loyalty high, trust high. Bradley Cuzen nailed it with his comment by a recent placement who had called us with new business and had proudly said to him ‘we’re family now’. I think our whole team beamed when he told us the story!
Patrick Lencioni, author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team – A Leadership Fable had the perfect opening line from this book for today’s retreat. He said, ‘Not finance. Not strategy. Not Technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare.’
As we shared our reflections on the day over a delicious dessert platter we concluded some things that we are certain of. Families aren’t perfect. People aren’t perfect. Trust is crucial. Commitment – everything. And when you take the time to know how each person fits, combined with a single unified goal, the ultimate power of a team is magic.
Row in the same direction and your outcomes will be substantial. We can hardly wait to embark upon our united objectives of the next quarter in our business together. How sweet it is.
McNeill Nakamoto
Sharon Tong
Sarah McNeill
Cheryl Nakamoto
Dennis Wolff
Sandra Mebs
Jessica Rozitis
Julie Steele
Bradley Cuzen