Stay on the path. An important company value

Commitment: An important company value.

Making a commitment involves dedicating yourself to something. This is one of your most important company values.

Making a commitment obligates another that person to do something, as well. Many companies contract consulting firms. Many companies talk about their important company values. The consultants lean on these and, through rigorous studies, reviews, and establish plans to enact improvements. Then, they never follow through to put in place the recommendations. Why is this? Why put in all that work for nothing? After all, this is an important company value.

I believe that they don’t want to make the changes necessary to make the improvements the company needs.

Too many companies hope that by some stroke of luck, things will improve and they will be the beneficiary of that good fortune. A famous saying is: “The harder I work, the luckier I get”. I experienced that with my former company. The more potential clients we met with, the more business we received. When we saw fewer potentials, we received less work.

One of my favorite companies followed this axiom. My company and I worked with them on many projects over the course of 12 years. Our work involved all one-time improvements they were seeking to make. Their staff focused on day-to-day operations.

I cannot think of one project we worked on for which they did not accept our findings. Our recommendations were all enacted. We assisted based on the workload of the employees. The key to their success was that they followed through. Then, they reaped the benefits of the services for which they had paid us.

They didn’t accept everything we recommended at face value. They leaned into their important company values of communication and commitment.

Occasionally our findings were challenged. The project team needed to understand the data and the information we developed. Once they did, then they accepted our recommendations. The executives knew how it would affect them when implemented. There were no excuses as to why they couldn’t make the recommended changes.

One of the projects that I worked on with this company was developing a five – year operational strategic plan. The project team had never done anything like this and didn’t know how to develop one. I helped them to create one. A team member was assigned to learn the process. That person was then responsible to develop future plans.

Another project involved upgrading their thermoforming process. Whoever had developed it had left the company and they had no internal expertise. I worked with them on developing a new process. It included new equipment and layout of the department. There were regular reviews throughout the project.

This company is very successful and has grown by leaps and bounds and is over a billion dollars in annual revenues.

Additional facilities were added through expansion and acquisition. If they can be so successful why can’t others? Here are some reasons that explain their success:  :

  • Clarity about what’s really going on – People who don’t follow through don’t understand the problem(s) they are facing and don’t acknowledge that they are, in fact, the problem. This company realizes that they have problems. They value the time and money they are spending to do so, take responsibility to do something with the information they receive, and want to see results.
  • This company is busy, proactive and attentive. Although there may be many daily activities, they find time to work on issues. If they can’t do both, they hire outside help. This is a force multiplier.

There are no excuses about not having enough time to make changes.

  • They value investing in their company and carefully spend their money. Financial independence is one of their important company values. They realize that it takes an investment to correct and improve things and are willing to make that investment. Once they have, they make sure that they get value for their outlay. Time and money have a value to them. They expect a return on both.
Business Commitment Mechanism

Being committed also impacts your employees.

I have always gone by the 20 – 60- 20 rule. 20% of your employees are committed to the company and need little or no motivation to get things done. They are your superstars.

The other 20% are the employees that need a stick of dynamite to get moving. Even then they resist doing things outside their norm. They have little attachment to important company values.

That leaves the 60% who are waiting and watching. If they see their leadership committed and reward those who are, they will commit too. If they see indifference or a lack of commitment, they will join the lower 20% and do the minimum.

A leader’s goal is to move the middle 60% towards their superstars.

Managers certainly don’t want them to be in the lower 20%. That doesn’t mean that they will all become superstars. When the need arises they will work a little harder spending the time necessary to get things done.

A well-functioning, successful business depends on motivating this middle group of employees.

It also keeps the superstars properly committed. If over time they see that there are no penalties for slacking, they may become less involved. That could be fatal to accompany or organization. So how does a leader keep this from happening?

There are five steps that a leader should take to prevent a downshift.

  • Develop and promote your vision – You must have a vision for where you want your business to go. Your employees’ work needs to help you achieve your vision statement goals. For the employees to take ownership in achieving the vision, they need to believe in it. They know that you are committed and are

“Walking the talk”.

  • The vision must be reinforced. This must be sincere. Employees are smart people. They can see through something that is superficial and must also know what their role(s) will be and what your expectation of them is. Employees who see the impact of their positions tend to be more committed to the business’s success. They observe how their mistakes can damage growth and will work to minimize these.
  • Don’t micromanage employees’ work – Freedom is critical to the employees’ ability to develop ownership in their work. Micromanagement stifles creativity, engagement, and ownership. Micromanaging limits their ownership in projects and tasks. Instead of micromanaging employees you should encourage them to complete tasks how they want. Give the employees the opportunity to share their opinions and ideas on how to do their jobs. Employees who are heard and respected are committed and engaged. Engagement and respect are other important company values that great organizations cultivate.
  • Be involved with the employees – Determine what the workers are looking for. Conduct regular review meetings with them. How the company is progressing towards this should be discussed. The employees should provide updates on what and how they are doing. Improvement ideas should be solicited.
  • Provide incentives – Hard work and initiative should be rewarded. Proper incentives should be utilized. These can include Career advancement opportunities, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Bonuses, and Gainsharing.

Successful companies are totally committed to success.

They seek counsel, listen to what they are told and know what they don’t know and aren’t afraid to admit it. They challenge assumptions and recommendations. This is not to be difficult. They do so but to be sure they understand. They want to be sure that the work they are contracting for is thorough, accurate and complete.

Where do you stand about Commitment? This is one of the most important company values.

Have you established a vision and are you unswerving in making it a reality?

Are you “Walking the talk”?

Are you supporting this to your employees?

Do you think that you have control over your destiny? Or, do you believe it is out of your control?

Successful companies have strong leaders that have and are committed to, a vision.

They communicate this to their employees and assure that each person knows their role in achieving this. They accept no excuses for lack of execution and stay the course. Good leaders are not distracted by the next great business idea. The leader is always looking to see how the business environment is changing. In that way, they stay ahead of the change curve. You need to check your organization and leadership. You need to ask yourself if you meet these points. Decide if it is time to evaluate where you are coming up short. Then change what you are doing and how you are going about profitably growing your business. Make sure that commitment permeates your company. This is one of the most important company values. Make sure it exists and thrives on your own.

98 thoughts on “Commitment: An important company value.”

    1. Peter Christian

      Glad you liked my article. What I meant was that luck or success comes to those who work hard. While it seems that they are getting lucky breaks they are in fact creating those through their hard work. Those who just wait for good fortune to come without putting in the effort needed will not become what they hope for “lucky”.

  1. I’m truly enjoʏing the design and layout of your website.

    It’s a very easy on the eуes which makеs it much more enjoyɑble for me to
    come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a designer tօ create your theme?
    Еxceptional ԝork!

  2. Ϝirst off I would like to say excellent blog! I had a quick question which I’d like to ask
    if you do not mind. I was interested to find out һow you center yourself and clear youг head prior to writing.
    I have had trouƅle clearing my mіnd in ցetting my thoughts out there.
    I truly do take pleasure in writing but it just seems lіke
    the first 10 to 15 minutes are usually lost just trying to figure out how to begin.
    Any suggestions or tips? Thanks!

  3. I don’t even ᥙnderstand how I stоpped up right here, but I
    believed this put up was great. I do not rec᧐gnize wһo уօu
    might ƅe but cеrtainly you are going to a famous bloggeг shouⅼd you aren’t aⅼready.

    Cheers!

  4. An intriguing discuѕsion is worth comment. I do believe that you ought to
    publish more about this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but usually folks don’t talk about these issues.
    To the next! Mɑny thanks!!

  5. Heⅼlo! I could have ѕworn I’ve Ьeen to this
    site before but after going throᥙgh sⲟme of the posts I realized it’s new to me.
    Nonetheless, I’m certainly delighted I found it and
    I’ll be bⲟok-mɑrking it and checking back often!

  6. fantastic pubⅼish, very informative. I wonder why the
    oppoѕite expеrts of this sect᧐r do not notice this.

    You must proceed yoᥙr writing. I am sure, you have a huge readers’ base already!

  7. Does your blog have ɑ contact page? I’m having a tough timе locating it but,
    I’d like to send you an email. I’ve got some recommendations for
    your blog you might be interested in hearing.
    Eitheг way, gгeat website and I look forwarԁ to seeing
    it expand ovеr time.

  8. Hi there juѕt wanted to gіve yoᥙ a quick heaԀs up.
    The wordѕ in your ɑrticle seem to be running off the scгeen in Internet explorer.
    I’m not sure if this is a formɑtting issue or something to do with browser compatibility but I figured
    I’d post to let ʏoս know. The Ԁeѕign loоk great though!
    Hope you gеt the issue resolved soon. Thanks

  9. Hello! I could hɑve sworn I’ve visited this site before
    but after browsing through a few of the posts I realized it’s
    new to me. Nonetheless, I’m definitely pleased I stumblеd upon it and
    I’ll be book-marking it and checking back rеgularly!

  10. Good day! This is my first comment here so I just
    wanted to give a quick shout out and tell you I genuinely enjoy reading through your
    posts. Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the same topics?
    Appreciate it!

  11. I?m impressed, I need to say. Actually not often do I encounter a blog that?s each educative and entertaining, and let me inform you, you may have hit the nail on the head. Your concept is excellent; the difficulty is something that not enough persons are talking intelligently about. I’m very completely satisfied that I stumbled across this in my seek for one thing relating to this.

  12. I’m excited to discover this site. I wanted to thank you for ones time for this particularly fantastic read!!
    I definitely really liked every part of it and I have you book marked to see new
    things in your site.

  13. Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to this website before but after going through many of the posts
    I realized it’s new to me. Regardless, I’m definitely happy I
    came across it and I’ll be bookmarking it and checking back regularly!

  14. I waѕ еxtremeⅼʏ plеased to uncover this grеat site.
    I need to to thank you fоr ones time for thіs fantastic read!!
    I definitеly liked every part of it and I һaνе you bookmarked
    to check out new stuff on your blog.

  15. Excellent post. I used to be checking constantly this blog and I am impressed! Very useful info particularly the final phase 🙂 I deal with such info much. I used to be looking for this particular information for a long time. Thank you and good luck.

  16. Pretty nice post. I simply stumbled upon your weblog and wished to say that I’ve truly loved surfing around your weblog posts. After all I?ll be subscribing for your rss feed and I hope you write once more very soon!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *