RV Weekly

It’s a new day in corporate America. Can anyone remember the old way companies were run before the constant, unrelenting pressure to push the envelope?

It seems we’ve entered a new era in which achieving 109 percent of goal is still considered failure. I received this e-mail from a reader whose spouse works for a major national bank.  Here’s a little background. The bank’s sales team achieved 153 percent of their branch’s sales goal in July. No e-mail was received from the management team marking that achievement.

By close of business August 2 — two days into the new month — the team had already achieved 109 percent of their sales goal for August. How did the branch manager respond on August 3rd?  Read for yourself.

Team,

We dropped 43% yesterday!  It appears as though almost everyone took a ‘break.’  Today is a new day and we have a lot of catch up to do.  As a result, our MINIMUM goal is 36 solutions and 7 checking accounts.  How are we going to get there?

Teller team-we cannot wait until 1:00 to start our day and have conversations.  We cannot pick and choose who we talk to.  We MUST profile 100% of the time.  It is EXPECTED we generate 4 walkovers per teller per day.  It is EXPECTED we have 1 direct sale per day.  IF they have not done so, they need to be held accountable for making up for lost time.  We need to make sure a line director and teller coach are scheduled during pertinent times, no exceptions.  REFER A FRIEND REFER A FRIEND REFER A FRIEND.

 ‘When was the last time you met with a banker for a financial check up?  It is never a bad idea to explore your options and see what is available.  X banker is available right now.  How does that sound?’—I haven’t heard much, if any, of this (i.e. One teller in another bank had over 83 contributions in less than a MONTH from doing this).

 Platform team-schedule an hour of your time today to work with the tellers.  Your objective when you are with them is to get the customer over to your desk.  Each of you are WAY behind on your contact events.  This looses our credibility with customers, especially when they are expecting a call.  What are YOU going to do to get up to date?  We are missing TONS of opportunities!  Do we need to have a call night?  What are you going to do to get organized?  What are YOU going to do to hold yourself accountable?   Team, we need to have a sense of urgency with every interaction.  A customer service issue is still an opportunity to profile and MUST NOT be missed. I need each of you to respond with your game plan by 9:30AM today. 

Sounds like someone needs a hug. And banks wonder why more and more customers are doing all their transactions online.

It used to be a company could take an entire year to achieve its goals, using monthly and quarterly benchmarks to ensure everyone remained on target. Today, how many managers have to submit daily budget reforecasts? Or one in the morning and another at close of business?

Not too long ago, corporate goals were respectable. Companies used to target 5 to 8 percent annual sales increases. Now, it seems the expectation is that sales will increase by 18 to 20 percent — every year — and a 15 percent increase is considered failure. Investors who used to be delighted if their stocks returned two times inflation, now don’t even look at funds which fail to return double digit annual growth. In fact, a 12 percent annual return may suggest the fund manager needs to be replaced.

Another friend of mine who sells cash handling equipment closed his fiscal year in May at 164 percent of his goal. He received a pat on the back, a framed certificate and an incentive trip.  But, by the end of July, his numbers fell to 87 and 91 percent of goal for two consecutive months. He’s on probation now.

The photo appearing in the July 27 edition of the Drudge Report featuring a stressed out stock trader makes the point. (http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2007/07/27/20070727_144830.htm) Less than a week after the New York Stock Exchange set an all-time record, the market experienced a 300 point correction. The guy with his hand on his head knew what that meant — his quarterly and/or annual bonus was gone, but maybe he’ll be able to keep his job through the end of the quarter.

Last year, a highly-educated friend of mine went to work for a major restaurant chain as a benefits manager in the human resources department. His work day started at 8 a.m. He needed permission from a vice president to leave work before 7 p.m. Saturday work was expected, but working Sundays proved a employee’s commitment to the company. To reduce clutter and keep people focused on their jobs, corporate policy prohibited employees from having pictures of their families on their desks or in their cubicles. Once in the morning and again in the afternoon, he had to take a clipboard and walk the floor noting which employees were not sitting at their desks. He then had to contact the employee’s supervisor and cc the vice president to learn where the employee was. Yep, even if a staff member dared to use the restroom during work hours, he risked being accused of dereliction. Because most doctors’ offices aren’t open after 7 p.m. Monday through Saturdays, a trip to the doctor was allowed, but only if the staff member brought a note back for his supervisor. (I wonder how the government would interpret HIPAA laws in light of that type of policy?) Corporate managers were upset that employee turnover was inching toward 200 percent. Go figure.

All this begs the question, how much is enough? There has to be a happy medium between the socialist state of France, where employees receive two months of paid vacation a year, and corporate America, where professionals are expected to take laptops and cell phones with them in order to check in with the office on their three-day weekends.

Does competing in a global market, require this kind of constant stress?  I’d say, “No way.” We bring it on ourselves.

A report in the New York Times’ July 21st edition noted that foreigners put more money into American stocks and bonds in May than in any previous month. That’s not surprising. While the rest of the world relaxes and enjoys the fruits of a hard, honest day of work, Americans will still be on the job killing themselves for a double-digit increase to appease their bosses and foreign investors.

Goals must be met. Failure is not an option. Team, I need you to have a sense of urgency with every interaction. I need each of you to respond with your game plan by 9:30 a.m.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 at 9:32 am and is filed under Previous Blogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.