I write this blog having seen most new generation bank, well dressed executives searching for flies to fan them out. DSA’s all around calling the customer’s and abuse them for delay in payment. I have never seen executives communicate with customers for some value addition to the bank.  Customer focus is found lacking in these new generation executives. It gives a layman an impression that they are just statues to give an executive look to the bank office. Persons found working is in cash counter.

There was another instance I experienced which hurt me deeply. It is nothing to do with me personally. Story goes like this…I was conducting a gap analysis for ISO certification in a franchise of a great company. The entire activities are supposed to be carried out, strictly based on the operation manual of the parent company. There fore as an ISO consultant I cannot prepare a fresh quality procedure manual any thing different from the parent company’s operation manual. I went through the whole manual and found that the manual is an excellent application of Balanced score card approach. It is very simple understand and implement. Besides company’s auditor visit the franchise once in a month to audit the system. These fellows take the bribe from the franchise and were allowed parallel oracle software to manage their funds.  I contacted the Sales Manager of the parent company to get his help in integrating ISO standards to their other wise excellent operational manual. The answer was, “Mr. Kartha, I am not conversant with Balance Score card, therefore I shall connect you to the Service Manager”. “No Mr. Kartha, we don’t deal with Balance score card, we audit only the CRM” was the answer from the Service Manager. The guy conveniently washed of his hands, and genuinely apologized for his ignorance about Balanced Score card. What a pity?

Focus on VALUE ADDITION shall be the key word for performance replacing key words “MEET TARGET"

People are not going to realize their personal responsibility for the process as a whole unless they are told about it. This leads us to caring, or concern. The most successful ventures are those that people ache for, that they take into themselves personally and simply will to success. But they have to feel that the organization cares for them before they will care for it. The concern shown by the management for the employees and all those who touch the enterprise become evident. This does not mean every one has to sit around each day holding hands and staring each other’s eyes. But it does mean that all involved recognize their own individual significance to the whole. They have to realize for instance, what happens to the rest of the place when they decide to skip a day of work, or goof off some project, the lack of skilled people, the pressures of the skilled competition, and complexities of business in general, will make filling their spot a disruptive action.

SMART executive team is going to have to be like an orchestra conductor.

Sometime people wonder why it is necessary to have so many strings or winds in a symphony orchestra. They do not recognize that the group is actually playing many different parts at the same time. Those forty or so string instruments are playing several different parts of harmony of sound. If the players all do their job just exactly right, the audience rises to its feet and gives them ovation after ovation. If few are not giving it their all, the audience applauds politely. The successful conductor is the one who can convince the musicians to give their all. It is not their talent so much as their skilled participation that matters. The talent emerges in different ways. Perhaps we to hang photograph around the office, showing, a bearded man in a white sheet, standing in front of a cave, right hand raised, palm outward, saying: Work-life is a symphony, my child.”

It is very hard to get across because people usually come equipped with poor self image as standard issue. They have a hard time believing that they are an important part of this machine, that what they do matters all that much, help them realize that.

The work life of the SMART is a symphony

Focus on VALUE ADDITION perfectly matches the customer focus ‘LIVE and LET LIVE. Where as” MEET THE TARGET” is sellers focus ‘LIVE and LET DIE’.”

Source: from the pages of Philip Crosby