RELY ON YOUR EMPATHY
By Lucille Maddalena, Ed.D January, 2009
Are you in the field of consulting, seeking to build a practice that will work with and support today’s Middle Management? If so, you might appreciate hearing an example of how one small consulting firm employed all senses to win a major contract.
To give you a full picture of the event, I’ll examine the actual occurrence, first then offer background information to allow you to form your own opinion of why I secured the project.
This occurred in the 1980’s and I one of the few full-time female management consultants working in the corporate sector for manufacturing and production companies. At the job we’re studying today in particular, I learned how important it is to trust my senses and to allow myself to empathsize with the client's situation by looking for more than the information presented..
The prospect of competing for a major assignment occurred when a division of a major firm sent out RFP’s to secure services for the reorganization of a manufacturing site employing 600 engineers, steelworkers and distribution staff. A blue-collar plant located near a major urban center, the employees population had recently undergone serious downsizing to about half its former strength, and morale was low.
When I learned I made the ‘cut’ and remained in the running as one of final two proposals under consideration, I was able to do some research on the competition. The competitor firm being considered was owned by a well-known retired football player with a full-time staff of five men and a respectable history of accomplishments. It seemed several of the members of the competitor’s team had recognizable names to sports enthusiasts and their office was headquartered in a beautiful new complex.
My colleagues and I on the other hand, described ourselves as a consortium of six independent consultants with different expertise. I founded the company and functioned as the President and COO as well as Senior Consultant, Bookkeeper, Proposal writer, etc. Basically I operated as a virtual firm, relying on strong networks and working relationships: we each worked from our home offices and met at the client site or a centrally-located restaurant. I would have to present a unique approach to gain the attention of the company’s management and be seriously considered for the assignment.
To scope the project while preparing the proposal I visited the site twice, met the senior management and observed a meeting of the engineers discussing the poor condition of the manufacturing equipment. I was taken on a tour of the plant and able to meet the steel workers, learn how they worked together and watch how they completed seemingly delicate tasks that undoubtedly required a balance of skills and strength.
While I walked through the facility, outfitted in my personal hard hat, all of my senses were alert. I observed how people addressed each other, noted common terminology and facial expressions, mannerisms, and dynamics between different levels and function areas. As a result, my proposal included these observations and offered some thoughts on the culture and working environment.
The need for reorganization was apparent to all: the supply chain was overly complicated with newly missing staff, functional reporting relationships were uncertain, and structured teamwork did not exist.
I thought of this situation when I read the Learning and Development Roundtable article Boosting the Effectiveness of Frontline Management [1]. I would have incorporated this thorough study of the role of Front Line Managers in my proposal, had it existed at the time as it provides a strong foundation and structure for any L&D initiative on behalf of this population.
Of greatest importance is the identification of the influencers – those not assigned to formal leadership responsibility. In the situation I was proposing to address with the steel workers I presented a proposal that called for the creation of an in-house design team instead of using my colleagues to create and implement the reorganization. I provided examples of how ownership of the process would be motivating and how their contribution to change would allow each person to feel they were a valuable part of the new ‘team’. My report addressed the existing working relationships and noted the power of the natural leaders who influenced activity without having a management stake in the outcome.
Our proposal was accepted. I worked with one other person to survey all six hundred members of the company, including the three shifts of steel workers. Once the needs were clearly established I presented the results to everyone who contributed to the survey – the entire firm—in back-to-back meetings to cover all shifts. Employing the information gathered, I designed an original process that relied on in-house staff to create a new supply chain and establish new employee functions. The project and complete organization redesign took close to two full years to complete
The project worked very well: employee retention, job satisfaction and motivation achieved a record level at the plant. I was offered a fulltime position at the corporate headquarters, which I thankfully declined rather than give up my consulting work. When I returned to the site two years later, I was greeted as a hero. I still hear from a few of the people there.
What did I do that was unique, that made my proposal acceptable to the decision-makers?
I believe it was how I viewed the situation of the employees and emphasized with the pain they felt as survivors following the downsizing. Every decision I made and suggestion I offered stemmed from that perspective.
I was the first woman to be accepted our state University’s Labor Education program with an undergraduate degree in labor economics. A naïve twenty-year old, I learned the critical role of American Labor, I admire those who came before us and fought for equal rights, for equal pay. Women who struggled and experienced hardships so I could be here today.
My doctoral dissertation was on the Bryn Mawr School for Women Workers. It was difficult to accept that in the 1920’s women had to hide behind curtains in academic classes to listen to the professor.
Today, when the Middle Class and Middle Management is in the center of an economic maelstrom, it is important to identify ways to retain, engage and continue to develop this critical group. Middle managers compose the single largest work group in many of our firms today.
I have been fortunate to have supported the transition of about 6,000 supervisors/middle managers and the contributed to the reorganization of several major firms.
For today’s men and women seeking new and innovative way to develop our workforce, I offer one word of advice: listen to your heart as well as your head. Good luck.
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