Henry Ford on a successful workforce: “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
What was the client need:
The Northern New England region of a leading small business payroll provider was languishing. The region was only at 70% of plan and turnover was high. The client needed to “stop the bleeding and turn the region around.” The agreed-to goal was to get the team to 100% and reduce turnover, at 74%, to industry standard.
What One to One Leadership did:
We assessed the situation and “performed triage” urging the company to set aside an entire Friday to get to the core of the problem. We began with a “state of the region” report and then
- Broke the entire sales region into smaller, more manageable groups
- Tasked participants to list all the things that “get in the way of making a sale”
- Combined the lists and created categories to help drive discussions toward a solution
- Aha moment = not one sales rep noted any concern about his or her own behavior
The heart of the problem:
Too much finger-pointing and defensiveness; not enough self-reflection and honest critique
We then spent time with the team reviewing each list and inspiring safe self-assessment. We then asked the most meaningful and motivating questions of all: Could the sales team look in the mirror and change what they were doing or not doing that was creating an obstacle…and remove it?
Results – and positive self-reflection – Lie Within
The answer was a resounding yes! Each group agreed to behavioral changes and held itself accountable to those changes. ADP implemented new coaching techniques and organization processes. Within six months, the region achieved 122% of plan and lost only two sales reps.
