Sample: Article for the Monitor


CEOs Promote Sense of Company Ownership
To Sustain Peak Performance

By Susan Carol
Appearing in the Monitor, September 2001

CEOs and human resource officials within the leasing industry recognize that people are the industry's most valuable resource. As a result, they are creating new programs designed not just to retain employees but also to turn them into future leaders. The idea is to promote a sense of ownership in the company, even if stock options aren't available, and to do everything possible to ensure that employees enjoy coming to work.

For example:

• IBM Global Financing recently created a "Pulse" survey designed to give management real-time feedback on employee satisfaction.
• Key Equipment Finance's PEG program--"perform…excel…grow"—encourages employees to make recommendations for greater efficiency.
• Dell Financial Services has a relatively new CFO suggestion program, accessible via the company's intranet, that also encourages employees to suggest cost-cutting ideas.

In addition, some leasing firms have expanded their mission statements to stress how much they value their employees. Too, more and more companies are relying on intranets to keep personnel better informed about corporate policies and news and to conduct real-time "meetings" with senior executives.

New HR programs strive to combine business goals with the needs of employees; the latter includes having challenging work and achieving a better balance between work and personal life. Still, for companies that are in flux because of reorganization, downsizing or rapid expansion, maintaining a contented work force can be a major undertaking.

Jim Renner of Wells Fargo Equipment Finance says his company continues to grapple with the tremendous growth resulting from Norwest's acquisition of Wells Fargo in 1998. The company went from 225 people before the acquisition to 400, and now face time with all of the employees means travelling to Salt Lake City, Toronto, New Hampshire and Portsmouth, in addition to visiting with staff at the home base in Minneapolis.

"We doubled the company in a year, so it makes communication really important. The larger you get, the less attuned you are to individual needs," Renner says.

HR Consultant Debra Bundt says Norwest has been recognized by Business Week and Fortune, not just for its financial success but also for its people and culture. So, the ongoing objective is to apply Norwest's vision and values to Wells Fargo and to integrate them throughout the new larger organization. The "PACA" program ("People as Competitive Advantage") provides the framework for the integrated corporate culture.

Orix Financial Services expects similar challenges during its planned reorganization, downsizing and move to a new location. Now based in Secaucus, N.J., Orix is shifting its headquarters to Atlanta to take advantage of Georgia's significantly lower cost of doing business, relative to New Jersey.

Burt Alexander, executive vice president of Human Resources and Organizational Development, says the company Chairman [insert the chairman's name here.] has been corresponding regularly[how? via employee newsletters? internal e-mail?-.] to keep employees up to date. In addition, Orix has added a Q&A section, monitored by a HR professional, to the company's intranet, and every question is addressed within 24 hours. Further, Orix has offered all current employees an opportunity to apply for jobs in Atlanta and extended job offers to some upper-management employees without requiring them to apply formally for the positions.

Alexander, who himself is new to the company, says that although there will be changes ahead in HR policy and culture, one thing is clear already: the company will be doing a lot more training. It will take place "from the ground up," he says, because there are new business units and many new people joining the company.

Orix is also focusing on recruiting the right people from the start. The company is looking for people with a lot of skill, talent and an attitude that says "I do well when my company does well." In seeking people who are motivated to make the most of their skills and able to work in teams, Alexander says Orix recognizes good work performance with bonuses and generally offers higher-than-average corporate benefits.

Canon Financial Services President Albert E. Smith says his company has a retention rate of 85 percent and he attributes the low turnover to the fact that people are engaged in challenging work. All forms of communication are tapped to keep everyone informed on business indicators, and all repetitive or menial work has been outsourced or automated.
He describes the culture as entrepreneurial with many incentive rewards. It is also involved in its community. The Burlington, N.J.-based company is a top team in Southern New Jersey's March of Dimes, having raised $50,000 last year in 10 K walk. They make it a big event by also involving family and friends.

Another company described as entrepreneurial is Dell Financial Services (DFS), based in Austin, TX. President Michael Watt describes the DFS work environment as "enabling," one with few manuals and procedures. "We just ask ourselves,
'what is the best way to do it?'"

DFS employees enjoy the work and the challenges, Watt adds, and they are encouraged to move around within the company to try different job opportunities. Despite the company's growth from only 50 employees in 1997 to nearly 900 today, he still insists on face time with everyone, a goal he achieves by meeting people in groups, a different one each month. Two-way communications is the ideal and, in roundtable discussions, he says he can learn things "that won't make it up the chain."

Laura Thomas, head of corporate communications, says the company used feedback from an employee survey two years ago to design communications programs aimed at keeping retention rates high. That feedback also led to the creation of a "management 101" course. DFS tracks retention on a monthly basis, she says, as a part of the regular business review process. It also has introduced training programs that encourage job rotation across business units.

Citing the value of employee surveys, HR Director Angela Woodland says company executives have learned that people stay at DFS because of good relationships. Salary ranks third behind people and opportunities. "We try to make it fun and give our employees flexibility," she adds. "We enable them to be creative."

The company also emphasizes creativity when it comes to its employee offerings. For example, its intranet, the "Abilizer Portal," offers discounts on everything from movie tickets to car rentals and hotels. Rewards of up to $1,000 are available to anyone who refers a friend who gets hired. DFS statistics reveal that about 35 percent of new hires result from references by friends and family members.

While the HR benefits at DFS are similar to those of the parent corporation, many are customized for DFS. For instance, there is a matching 401K plan, as well as the offering of company stock to employees at discounted prices.

Implementing Employee Ideas

Compaq Financial Services just launched a new mentoring program for all of its 848 employees. Vice President of Corporate Resources Ann Henry says they've learned that career development is very important and the mentoring idea came from an employee survey the Murray Hill, N.J.-based company conducted last year.

"If people have an impact in decisions, they are engaged in a higher level of performance. They want to feel like they are owners and they need challenging jobs," says Henry.

There have been no increases in the turnover rate and Compaq also enjoys a diverse employee population with 30 percent composed of minorities and 48 percent women.

Generally, company executives interviewed say their companies offer higher-than-average corporate benefits, but some go farther than others to make the workplace a real comfort zone. Most CEOs and HR directors say that while employees are attracted initially by their companies' reputations, they stay on the job because of the challenge and the opportunity to contribute to the company's success.

In fact, CEOs such as Steve Grosso of De Lage Landen Financial Services say it is important to realize that people's needs change over time, so they are not always motivated by the same things. For example, there are young moms who need some time off , some people working part time and still others who are "really putting the pedal down and wanting to expand and grow." There is not one thing, he says, that gets everyone engaged at a high-performance level.

Grosso, who became De Lage Landen CEO last August, says he expects that even the new physical environment of his company will play a role. De Lage Landen built a new office building that is so open, he says, that it makes face-to-face communication inevitable. He also points to a "robust electronic strategy" for sharing company news and information via its intranet.

From employee surveys, De Lage Landen executives learned that communications is an important issue to employees. Consequently, they launched a management development program and a member-orientation program.

Grosso also has increased corporate perks with the goal of creating a "home-work" place. In this environment, people can enjoy a fully-equipped health club, including aerobics classes and individual training on Nautilus machines. They also have available a restaurant where they can entertain guests and a corporate convenience store. Grosso says the company plans to offer car wash and dry cleaning services next year.

In addition, De Lage Landen offers one-month sabbaticals for employees who have been with the company for more than seven years. Because De Lage Landen is a privately-held company, there are no stock options but, Grosso says, there are long-term incentives for key executives.

"Recognizing employee needs for challenge as well as their need to balance work and life is what leads to a sustained performance," he says.

Once in Birmingham, People Stay

In Birmingham, the perks are in the city and its surrounding communities, says AmSouth Leasing President Chuck Kiser, who moved here from New York. "It would take a heck of an opportunity to get us to move out of here," he says.

The biggest challenge is getting people to move to Birmingham but, once they do, Kiser says they discover it is a good place to raise a family. He says the AmSouth work environment is also family-oriented. For example, employees can obtain no-cost assistance for a family problem, and employees usually take home the bank's weekly newsletter to share with their families.

Kiser says AmSouth employees on all levels met a few years ago to decide "what kind of people do we want to be?" Together, they came up with six simple things that at first sounded "corny" but, Kiser says, now form the cornerstone of the company culture:

• do more than is expected
• if something is wrong, make it right
• make time for people
• improve someone's life
• make a difference
• do the right thing

Most Distinctive at Key

Paul Larkins, president of Key Equipment Finance, based in Superior, CO, says his unit is listed repeatedly as the most distinctive business operation within Key Corp.
"We are their top-performing business, and we're operating in 25 countries. Employees like the opportunities to grow and the potential to engage in off-shore assignments," he says.

The company also distinguishes itself with its sensitivity to workplace diversity. Its diversity council, along with its across-the-company diversity training, is designed to promote the acceptance of various cultures within the organization. For example, the healthcare coverage extends to "domestic partners," however that may be defined, and family medical leave policy can be used to attend to domestic partners with serious illnesses. There is also a 24-hour nurse hot line for employees and domestic partners.

Key Equipment Finance offers a variety of perks, flexible work schedules, an internal training program for shaping new leaders, and an average annual employee compensation rate of $53,125. More than 20 percent of the staff was promoted last year, and the company has increased its retention levels by a factor of 4 over the past three years.

"Employee turnover is significantly decreasing because they (employees) recognize this (what is offered) is unique," Larkins says.

An employee survey revealed the need to communicate with employees in different ways, so Key Equipment Finance now has live quarterly meetings, as well as electronic updates via streaming video.

Employee surveys have provided some valuable information to IBM Global Financing (Armonk, NY), too. So much so, says Steve Jarrett, vice president of human resources, that the company conducts one every 18 months. Not surprisingly, most of the feedback concerns "the work climate," he adds, and it has prompted management to allow more telecommuting.

The results of all employee-focused research reveal that quality of work is the most important issue and that when employees leave the company, they are seeking new opportunities, Jarrett says.

Executives across the industry continue to place a lot of importance on anything that affects employee retention. As Larkins of Key Equipment Finance puts it, "I think it is part of my job to be concerned about this. Human capital is our most critical form of capital."

Echoing that sentiment, Grosso of De Lage Landen says, "Human resources is the biggest issue in business today. It's not the Internet and technology-it's people!"