Incentive - June 2008 - (Page 27)

CASE STUDY and modified their standard curriculum First Data’s leadership team stresses how to fit specifically with the industry and important it was for the salespeople to see company and culture. where the communication and performance “It was definitely a program designed models One to One was presenting fit into for long-term impact, not quick hit,” says their work performance. There was a clear Wilhelm. point to the practices and To begin the formal behaviors they were learning training, One to One in the workshops, without asked managers to take an which the students would have assessment similar to the had trouble focusing and stayMyers-Briggs personality ing engaged. They actually test, with answers to varirole-played, and putting pen to ous questions revealing paper determined how exactly their present style of manthey would implement what aging and the implications was discussed in the classroom for their ability to manage. back at the office. “You could see light“It was a pretty dramatic bulbs going off and peoshift because it was like givple saying, ‘Oh my God, I ing the whole team a shot of did that just this morning something new, like a new before I got in here,’” set of tools that they could says Mary Ann. After use,” says Sean. “[The stuMary Ann O’Neil determining their “style,” dents] encouraged each other to managers estimated the style of those use them, they were kind of questioning they managed, discussing the key drivers ‘was that consistent with this model?’ and motivators that got them to really which just kind of kept the momentum achieve. going.” The goal of these assessments was not In combination with the training, memsensitivity training, but to dislodge the bers of the leadership changed to a more communication barriers between sales staff open approach in coordinating the extenand managers. “You have to be able to sive First Data sales team. According to modify your approach and so forth, based Anthony Lucatuorto, senior vice president on the people around you; that is a key of sales for First Data, efforts to create a tool in helping them become better leadculture of open communication meant ers,” says Wilhelm. increasing the collaboration between jobs better and in helping their leaders be better leaders. Weekly communications about the status of the employees that were struggling, what we could do to help them or if we need to replace them.” This was accompanied by an emphasis on quality over quantity. “The previous thinking was that the more feet on the streets, the better chance to succeed,” Wilhelm explains; the belief was that as long as the sales associates sold anything, it was better than nothing. “But we [began to] spend more time on the people who were at seventy percent and get them to eightyfive percent, and the people at ninety percent to one hundred percent, and saw how much more impact that had on the engagement of their team and the morale of their team, but also in the end, the productivity,” says Wilhelm. With a more open, collaborative culture in place, improvements came quickly and dramatically. Months after beginning their initiatives, First Data’s attrition rate had dropped to 26 percent, or less than half of what it had been. One to One saw clear improvements in the performance of those who went through their training. Looking at the first five teams to take their training, One to One found an average of 19.8 percent had been failing to make 70 percent of their expected sales; after the training this group’s average dropped to 11 percent. Blocking and Tackling The training then went on to what Wilhelm calls “the blocking and tackling of being an effective leader.” Over a series of sessions, using role-playing, film clips, and question and answer segments, One to One broke down the essentials of powerful leadership, piece by piece, explaining how to choose the right words in speaking with subordinates, how and when to give feedback (once a year is too little, once a minute too much), and many of the classic mistakes managers make in their approaches.` For example, Sean and Mary Ann point out that a question or request can come in the form of an “arrow” or a “feather”—with the softer approach being generally more effective. “It was definitely a program designed for long-term impact, not quick hit.” –James Wilhelm managers and salespeople. While before, the environment bordered on a “dictatorship,” according to Lucatuorto, in which the few times managers spoke to their subordinates it was to tell them what to do, soon he and others were seeing executives becoming more aware of communication, self-awareness, feedback and collaboration. “Anthony and his team spent a tremendous amount of time communicating,” says Wilhelm. “Communicating in person, doing a roadshow with the account executives talking about the investments they were trying to make in making their “These folks, in my years in the industry, were the best training I’ve ever been through personally,” says Lucatuorto. Seeing the investments being made on their behalf by the leadership actually boosted the account executives’ support for the changes. In turn this strengthened their commitment to First Data Corp. As Lucatuorto says, “Knowing now the investment we’ve made in the leadership team and the fact that the reps are seeing it, we’re getting more and more recruits.” Send comments to alex.palmer@incentivemag.com incentivemag.com | June 2008 | Incentive | 27 http://incentivemag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Incentive - June 2008

Incentive - June 2008 Contents Editor’s Note In The News Cover Story: Seventh Annual Industry Roundtable Incentive Interview Case Study Soft Incentives Empowerment and Engagement The Incentive Career Incentive Primer Travel News: Where To Go and What To Do The Cook Islands Field Report: Bermuda Potentials: Here and Now 50 Top Motivators: The Best of the Best Electronics: High-end Audio Equipment Gift Cards: Should One Be Enough? Advertiser Index Off The Cuff

Incentive - June 2008

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