Install a Dual-MonitorWhy?
You recognize their effort at managing all the applications and data that are needed now to participate in all the conversations with all the important stakeholders.
Back in the day...the only applications that were open on a desktop were....maybe email and a CRM application and maybe if you really trusted your customer service associates an accounts receivable/payable application. Sales and IT, finance and executives had their comparable number of applications open.
Now...the number of applications we all use to stay up with our audience, internal and external, families and friends and all the stakeholders of our organization has grown in lock-step with the growth in processing power and bandwidth.
A 2nd monitor, a dual-monitor, provides more screen landscape to move quickly between these applications that your associates, employees*, must use to deliver their brand to all the stakeholders in it.
12 key statements that help describe an engaged employee were first articulated in First, Break All the Rules. Three of them apply here:
- I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right
- At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day
- My supervisor, or someone at work, cares about me as a person
20 years ago I worked in frontline customer service with a startup. We used, I kid you not, half-monitors. It was a headache. Minor errors quickly became compounded in number and impact as we grew and as multiple applications became necessary.
Then we were given full monitors. It was such a simple step. Yet, we felt our efforts were...recognized. We were given the necessary materials and equipment we needed to do our work right. That necessary equipment gave us the opportunity to do what we did best every day. And it showed our management cared about us as persons.
Bring the conversation to 2005 or 2006. John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing shared this idea as one of the best personal productivity tools. I tried it first in the company where I was CEO. It worked.I wanted to push it on to everyone else. But, instead I chose to let them see it in operation while we met in our office. Over time people recognized how their life could be made simpler and more productive. And without forcing this change on them, they embraced it and we installed them.
My wife has a dual-monitor where she works. Her day is made easier, more productive. And that makes her happy, her clients happy, her associates happy. Me happy.
And dual monitors are relatively easy to install, navigate and these days inexpensive.
Do it. Your associates will recognize that you have recognized them. They’ll appreciate that.
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I announced the 52-Week Employee Recognition Plan in May, 2010. This is the 10th week of that plan.
You can start with any week and make that your first week.
You can take one of those weeks and turn it into a month or commit to an accelerated pace and complete 6 of the weeks in one month.
You can create your own week of employee recognition. Share that journey here. Share it in your blog or Twitter or Facebook.
But do something to recognize your employees! They set your brand apart as your ultimate competitive edge. And the more you recognize their achievements, the more achievements you'll see and they'll enjoy, along with your customers and and shareholders, partners and vendors.
* Employees. As I use this term each week in this 52-week series of posts, I like it less and less. It rings with a demeaning tone, doesn't it?
I may end up changing this whole series of posts to be title Associate Recognition....That's a headache. But it's one I think more and more is deserved. Maybe the whole employee engagement conversation will change its alliterative title to Associate Assurance. Ok. I'll work on that.
Zane, I'm wondering if your developing stuggle with the term 'employee' isn't a result of subtle and significant changes in the relationship between you and employees as your ER program unfolds. Have you sensed that?
cvh
Posted by: CV Harquail | July 21, 2010 at 07:56 AM