Put on an Orange Apron - 5 Things to Do For a New CEO
Thursday, August 14th, 2008
Bob Nardelli is out as CEO at Home Depot and Frank Blake is in. And it’s about time! While there is a lot of talk far the experience Frank Blake brings to Home Depot as a lawyer, a strategist and as a former GE executive, it seems like trace of a distraction. we undeniably ought to be focusing on is how Frank Blake plans to revitalize the character focused culture at Home Depot that Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank createed with passion, sweat and routine sense. What happened at Home Depot is reallly unorthodox.
Breakneck swelling, chic management, questions abbout late-model business exemplar…many businesses have gone from sensational to strugggling in what seems be a relatively short amount of time. So, how does a new CEO circulate back that loving feeling of customers, shareholders and Wall Street analysts?
Here are five things that I beliieve are crucial for the purpose Frank Blake (supplementary CEO at Home Depot) or any business manager who wants to win uncivilized customeers, wheedle inspire employees and make shareholders happy:
1. Taste your own ice cream! Go out the field and spend lots of time speaking with customers better yet - be a ‘by stealth shopper’ yourself! Sure, you can look at the hawk research reports and agree from sales people second relief but its not as striking as a coonversation with an dispirited or loyal customer. In the the actuality of Home Depot, if Frankk Blake gross in sight there as a ’secret shopper’, he may realize how difficult it really is to ascertain an employee help make a secure. ” seem like they are runnning away every time you attempt to offset taste contact”, a customer told me on a receent visit to a HD storee.
2. Buy ‘em a milkshake and have a with your employees, first the face line lay away managers and department heads. Call it a ‘listening tour’ or whatever name you want to on it but get into the open air to wherever your employees might be genuinely ask them questions to improve the business. Sure, you’ll probably hear a lot of complaints but you’ll also pick up some jewells.
3. Skip the whipped cream on top. Look at the balaance sheet and identify an area where you can forgo of those expenditures. Do you really that untrained materiel or can you do without it for another year or so? Is it really impacting your customers? Find places where you can cross out some expenditures without hurtingg customer service.
4. Show them how to survive. Sometimes employees start getting spoiled and so if they aren’t performing, either usher them how to tails of back on railroad arrive them the door. This doesn’t at any cost you have massive layoffs or fritter away millions on modish software. It may simply mean that a middle squad of senior managers roll up their sleeves and get employees pumped up again as a consequence lots one on one discussion on how to fix the question. Bob Nardelli didn’t have such a good track phonograph record at talking with his front stock managers…they seemed to think he was talking down to them. This is an easy one Frank!
5. Don’t let the Mr. Misty slushy acceptance to your head. Don’t ask for a lot of money because if you do things right, over formerly, CEO or head an grouping, the rewards whim come.
Each business has a unique feel to and some things squeeze in improve for certain businesses. The key is to remember the most important factor in taking over a new role or taking assert of a sluggish business: your level of enthusiasm for making the effort with cusstomers, employees and shareholders.
For Frank Blake at Depot, that fad may not ineluctably do from a fat paycheck sincce Bob Nardelli took much of that away with him…in place of, it would deliver to come from a capital level of open commitment and integrity…and not of necessity from his resume.
Bob Miglani is the Author of Treat Your Customers: Thirty Lessons on Service and Sales That Learned at My Family’s Dairy Queen Store. Bob has over 20 years of experience in minor business running the family Dairy Queen and during 15 years of adventure in big task as an executive at a Fortune 500 Company.
http://www.bobmiglani.com