Last Minute - The Lethbridge Journal

What about Jack?
By Greg Stonehocker
Submitted to the Lethbridge Journal
For those of you that don’t know Jack. . . let
me introduce you. Jack Welch is the former
CEO of General Electric, known for his
track record of success, enormous love of
people, fierce passion for winning, author
of two best-selling books, and his unique
management practices. One of his more
famous management practices was that he
used to get rid of the bottom 20 per cent
of his employees each year. While some
see this as a harsh way to handle business,
Welch had both strategic and practical reasons
for following this mandate.
First, he realized this type of ‘pruning’ was
necessary for GE’s success. So he made it
part of the overall company plan. He knew
that in order for GE to be the best, he had
to have the best people working on the
job for him – and enough room to replace
those who didn’t work out.
Second, Jack believed in a company culture
that rewarded performance. As others
have pointed out, a lot of Jack’s ‘firings’
were mutual. Some employees simply
didn’t like his aggressive style, his penchant
for numbers and details, his vision for the
company, or his standard of accountability
for every department.
Sometimes, company culture clashes with
an employee’s value system. Sometimes the
employee is constantly at odds with the
overall culture and ultimate mission of the
company. Despite the wishes of some government
and union types, owners need to
replace unproductive workers with people
who can actually do the job so the company
can survive.
So let’s say you’ve decided to raise company
standards. You’ve developed a clear
mission, you’ve established the rules of a
positive company culture and you’ve got
a new attitude toward your customers and
suppliers. But some of your team aren’t
with the program. Some never will be.
What do you do? The best thing to do is
stay the course.
If you’ve ever segmented your customers
into As, Bs, Cs and Ds, you could also apply
the same rationale to your employees.
Some may not be up to your standards, but
others will be attracted to a company that
knows what it wants and where it is going.
So how do you set the standard in your
business? Well for those of you who haven’t
set standards, you need to start today. Take
a cue from Jack. Not only will you benefit
long-term, you will also allow others to
achieve success in their own right.
1. Establish your own Vision, Mission and
Culture for your company – Jack was a big
believer in a culture based on innovation,
efficiency and continuous improvement.
He also believed in rewarding results, from
awarding employee bonuses based on innovation
to allowing staff to participate in
stock option compensation. What are you
a big believer of for your business? Does
your company have incentives or reward
employee performance? The key is to make
it true and meaningful for you!
2. Develop strong leadership – Without
strong direction, your business will be
like a ship without a rudder. This doesn’t
mean you need to be an autocrat or a dictator.
Just the opposite. I’m talking more
in terms of ‘quality’ here. Passion and the
ability to take total responsibility are important
keys.
3. Have a common goal – Both you and
your team need to know what the goal of
the business is. When Jack ran GE, he had
12 businesses under the GE umbrella. All
had their own goals and objectives – but
each operated under the overall GE Vision
and Mission. That helped all team members
to see the ‘big picture,’ one they could
be part of and adapt to their specific situations.
4. Set the rules of the game – Team members
need to know what they can and can’t
do. Everyone must know what game your
company is playing, as well as the rules of
the game. It’s up to you to create the rules
and the playing field. If you don’t, your
team will be without direction, and will set
their own guidelines for you.
5. Have an action plan – All your team
members need a position description that
spells out their duties in clear and unambiguous
terms. This helps define responsibilities
and also helps limit jurisdictional
disputes about what a person should or
shouldn’t be doing. Ideally, all of this is
done in a systemized way, one that can be
written down, replicated and repeated. Do
this by department and you’ll have an operations
manual for your entire business.
6. Support risk taking – You must be willing
to take risks. If not, your team will lag and
not want to push boundaries. If you don’t
push your team to take business risks, your
company will push conservatively towards
its goals. Know that risks and rewards are
two sides of the same coin – and make sure
your team knows that, too.
7. 100 per cent involvement and inclusion
– Practice the art of inclusion. Ask your
team for their opinions and listen. The key
is to make sure everyone is involved and
everyone gives their all to their respective
jobs. In Jack’s view, “every person counts.”
Every person does. And you really want
them to count in moving the whole team
toward the company’s objectives.
And let’s not forget that Jack Welch increased
GE turnover six-fold from the time
he started to the time he left. He couldn’t
have done it with people who didn’t buy
into his vision for the company – and he
had a pretty big vision for GE. Nor could
he have done it with employees who underperformed
and resisted change. Can
you?
Fullfilling a childhood dream with N-Hance
By Erwin Blatter
For the Lethbridge Journal
Sick of working in construction in the rough circumstances
of boom-town Fort McMurray, former history teacher
Nikolay Rudenko contemplated a while about what to
do. He decided to start his own business. In February he
bought an N-Hance franchise, now he’s a specialist in refinishing
floors and renewing cabinets.
For now, Rudenko, 36, works from his Lethbridge home.
But the new entrepreneur hopes to open his own N-Hance
store within a year, preferably in downtown Lethbridge.
Moreover, he wants to hire people in Medicine Hat who
can concentrate on the eastern part of his franchise territory,
which encompasses the cities of Taber, Brooks and
Medicine Hat as well as Lethbridge.
Rudenko has reason to think he will be able to reach his
goals. He believes in his service because it’s simply “too
good to not be successful.”
“The N-Hance way of renewing wooden floor and cabinets
takes only one day on average instead of one week with
more traditional ways of wood services,” Rudenko claims.
“The process doesn’t produce dust so you don’t have to
move your furniture. It’s also almost odourless. And within
two hours you don’t smell anything anymore.”
But probably the most important asset of N-Hance’s way of
working is that it’s not labour-intensive and therefore the
costs stay relatively low.
“Also, nobody is doing this in Lethbridge. The product
we’re using for our service is not for sale in stores. It’s only
available to franchise holders.”
Rudenko’s franchise is the only one in southern Alberta.
Having been in business since February, he has already
done quite a few jobs.
The Russian immigrant is happy he decided to start his
own business. Before, he had been working in the Fort Mc-
Murray oil fields for five years. As a former teacher with a
degree in history, the grim circumstances up north weren’t
quite his cup of tea.
“Working in construction was not very exciting. But when
I came to Canada in 2004 with my wife and my son, my
English was not good enough to be able to teach history to
Canadian kids.”
Now, he has found something he likes, Rudenko says.
“Working with wood has always been a hobby of mine.
When I was a kid I wanted to become a carpenter.”
It triggered his search for a business in wood work.
“I read about N-Hance on the internet. After that I called a
few franchise owners. They were all happy with their business.
They said things ran smoothly.”
In the end, the decision to buy a franchise was relatively
easy.
“Especially because N-Hance also provided the funding of
the business. To me, this is all very exciting, as I have never
run a business before. But obviously, I believe in the concept
of N-Hance.”
Rudenko might even be opening an N-Hance franchise in
Fort McMurray. Some day.
“But for now I’ll solely be focusing on Lethbridge. There’s
still a lot of ground to be covered here.”
For more information on N-Hance, call Rudenko at (403)
894-8095 or visit www.nhance.com.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
LETHBRIDGE JOURNAL • WEEK OF MAY 11, 2012 • www.lethbridgejournal.ca 19