Tip Jar: Addicted: The Sequel

In my last article, I mentioned one of my clients in Zeeland, Mich., that is off to a wonderful start to 2014 — up dramatically over last year.

This jump-start just didn’t happen by luck or happenstance. It happened by great effort, strong decision-making and a compelling willingness to change. And the best part is that every decision is propelling them to even greater momentum as 2014 unfolds. From the sales team to the customer care team, to production, growing and genetics, and all points in between, this company is on a roll!

This client is Walters Gardens, and they are one of the most impressive companies I have had the honor and blessing to work with over the last two decades. Each step that has been suggested and strategized has been executed with a combination of intention and commitment. Lead by John Walters and his management team, the company has a team of forward-thinking and adaptive employees who are delivering their promise every single day. The promise: We will exceed our customers’ expectations by delivering superior quality perennials, on time and at a competitive price.
 

Moving rocks and boulders

The joy of this company is the way they have approached change management. From a two-day strategic planning meeting I facilitated during the hot summer of last year, the pebbles, rocks and boulders of change began to take shape. We agreed that the “mountain of change” needed, as we enter into the new global economy, was not going to happen overnight, but over time, one rock, one pebble, and one boulder at a time. Some of the boulders were in the form of something I have been presenting for years, “The Great Game of Business,” a commitment to make substantive change in areas of either improvement or growth and having fun doing it. The fun part is creating games to engage employees in innovation and change, driving profitability, cost management, as well as sales and service excellence. (You can’t expect what you can’t inspect!)

The grower team lead by Jeff Westendorp has created a wonderful combination of games that track the ratio of man-hours to plant production and has shown phenomenal success. The winning outcome has been an all-team BBQ — oh the sweet taste of success!

Kelly Oates is leading her team to reduce the existence of contamination by instituting standard operating procedures that are to be tracked and measured. As the team delivered on the expectations, Kelly offered an extra bonus reward — a pie on the face. I have seen the video and not only is it awesome, it shows the wonderful side of Kelly and her fun style of engagement and leadership.

At the all-company meeting at the end of 2013, we challenged everyone to choose just one rock that they will agree to carry to deliver on the Walters Gardens promise. They all took to heart the challenge and was then exemplified wonderfully by Frank Meyer on the production team. Frank took time to gather many different rocks and painted them a bright blue to remind everyone that the small effort of many will make a big difference daily. In Frank’s production area, there is a rock high up on a pedestal to remind everyone the vision of the day. Very cool!

Randy in “prepack” production also has embraced the blue rock theme and leads his team in a “huddle at the rock” each day to go over strategy and numbers for the day, as well as setting up the expected successes of tomorrow.

This world-class company is producing world-class outcomes by the simple yet profound commitment of consistently “owning” your blue rock every day, driven by the Great Game of Business, strong leadership, a willingness to change and a world-class product to sell. The end result is to create a culture where the employees are addicted to their workplace, and at the same time create a company where the customers are addicted to the products, service and efforts they make each day to deliver on their promise — one blue rock at a time!

John Kennedy is a nationally recognized speaker, author and strategist with a well-established reputation for excellence in the world of organizational development. John’s presentations focus on customer service, sales, leadership development and teamwork. www.upsellinggreen.com