Enterprise Management Consulting -

Inner Quality Management – Doing Business from the Inside Out

“How an organization reacts, how it prepares its people for change – the emotional ‘field’ of a company – all have underlying emotional components that organizations can no longer ignore. Smart organizations will learn to harness and manage the coherent emotional intelligence to unleash tremendous power within that organization.” Childre and Cryer, From Chaos to Coherence [the power to change performance] Planetary, a Division of HeartMath LLC, California 2004

What makes a relatively small organization viable and durable in a competitive marketplace and in an era of unprecedented change? It’s the dynamic interaction of people, principles, structures and strategies that gives it the vitality and flexibility of a living, growing organism.

People in business can live their entire professional lives just emphasizing the strategic side of their business. And if they do everything right, they may well be successful. But it‘s doing the right things that can make a company great. And this requires vision – and a culture with values that are driving the strategy.

If the strategy is strictly the achievement of the bottom line, you can certainly have a good company. But if the strategy is value-driven – and operates on a win-win basis with every employee – it will create mutually advantageous relationships with every client, as well.

Many companies state that ‘quality is Job 1.’ But only satisfied employees can actually assure the level of quality that leads to lasting customer loyalty.

Satisfied employees are not anonymous workers who feel compelled to perform in accordance with management’s goals and demands. They are individuals who have a high level of commitment to the company because they feel fulfilled by their relationship to it.

This can only occur through proper leadership and through Inner Quality Management. Customers aren’t loyal without these two components and neither are employees.

Through Inner Quality Management we can make certain that all facets of the company are being run in ways that honor the dignity, intelligence, creative contribution and inherent value of everyone involved – from company presidents to on-site workers. This then liberates each individual to work in good faith and at full capacity.

Principles of Harmonic Cooperation

Coherent Communication – Getting to Know Each Other by Heart

“One of the great ironies, and opportunities, is that the mind becomes far more effective, sharp, and clear as the emotions become balanced and understood.

The mind itself can tap into another dimension of intelligence, clarity, and creativity when unmanaged emotions are not leaking all the fuel.” Childre and Cryer, From Chaos to Coherence [the power to change performance] Planetary, a Division of HeartMath LLC, California 2004

At our client’s company, we have deliberately created an atmosphere of acceptance and respect that embraces each new person who comes to see us – whether they are a potential client, a perspective employee or a hopeful vendor.

We take this approach even further with our staff. Our goal is for all our employees to feel safe to open and share what’s in their hearts and on their minds – not only in one-on-one conversations but also when we gather together as a group at our weekly meetings, quarterly retreats and other special occasions.

One of the tools we use to facilitate this level of openness has been labeled ‘coherent’ or ‘empathic listening’ by the Institute of HeartMath. It involves perceiving the essence of what someone is endeavoring to communicate through the words they speak, the feeling tone in their voice and their body language, as well.

Since many words in common usage mean different things to different people, it is essential to develop this ability to hear the very heart of someone’s communication – and to check with them to make certain that we truly understand.

This level of receptive, empathic listening invites us to move beyond the self-conscious ego concerns and ‘false fronts’ that keep us locked up inside ourselves. By so doing, we deepen our bonds of compassionate connection with others.

Corporate Ecology – Creating the Climate in Which Everybody Thrives

“Many companies start with high spirits and great intentions – and when they’re still very small this spirit manifests successfully. But as the company expands, the originating energy often gets diluted and dissipated in the stress of doing business. This is because the founders never really understood the source of their own magic so couldn’t put in place the structures to sustain it under all conditions.” Laurel Airica, Communications Consultant

What businesses around the country need is the ability to take the vision and values of the person starting the company and get everyone involved to incorporate those values as their own – without brainwashing them.

This takes careful planning because each new person who joins a company changes the culture – and not necessarily for the best. Still, it is quite possible to precondition people to enter into something wonderful that’s already happening. Then s/he can add unique, personal value to it. But first s/he must be invited to become a member of an intentionally created and carefully cultivated company culture and community.

At our client’s company, we use safeguards to protect our positive internal climate. So, though we now have over 100 employees with different backgrounds and knowledge, everyone is basically on the same page: We’re all dedicated to our company mission and to exceeding customer expectations time-and-time again. And we understand that a chain of events has to take place flawlessly for a customer to be satisfied on a consistent, dependable basis.

Employee Relations – Honoring and Serving the Totality of Every Being

“Emotion, not intellect, is the fuel that drives the organizational engine. Intellect provides the direction, but not the fuel. In most organizations, this understand-ing has not been activated, so the fuel being used is not high octane, but more like kerosene, fast-burning but low quality.” Childre and Cryer, From Chaos to Coherence [the power to change performance] Planetary, a Division of HeartMath LLC, California 2004

Our client’s company has organized itself in such a way that we can adapt to rapid change and continue to deliver high quality work to all of our clients. It is Inner Quality Management that gives us this ability. The process of Inner Quality Management enables us to hand pick our people, treat them like they are the best in the world – which, of course, they are – then coach and mentor them according to these values so that they can achieve their own greatest dreams while helping the company achieve its long-term objectives.

At our client’s company, we endeavor to employ all the best psychology in our performance management system. One of our strategies is to offer good salaries and a generous incentive program. We do this, first of all, because we believe that all employees deserve to be treated properly. We also know that people work best when they are free of concern for their families and their future.

To ensure the company’s best interests, we use a superb methodology for hiring the right kind of people – those with a compatibility of spirit and a beauty of being who also fulfill our professional requirements. As a result, we have a staff of people who not only possess the appropriate aptitude, attitude, knowledge and skills – they are also individuals who hold themselves to the highest standards of character and contribution.

We provide our employee-partners with clear and thorough positional descriptions so that they fully understand what they are chartered to do here. They can see how their roles relate to our strategic objectives. And they feel welcomed onto a dynamic team of happy and dedicated individuals who work together to fulfill their respective responsibilities in accordance with the guidelines and timelines we establish together.

We evaluate performance after 90 days and then every six months. Periodically, we all evaluate each other. Our company philosophy is to place the strongest emphasis on what we have done right rather than dwelling on past errors.

We also take special note of our employee's personal aspirations. Because they are giving so much of their time and their talents to our shared enterprise, we feel it is our responsibility – and privilege – to help them discover their voice, develop their sense of purpose, and fulfill their life objectives whether that ultimately includes our company or not.
We believe that only those who feel fully seen, appreciated and supported on all levels – physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually – will be fully invested in the future of our company and inspired to contribute the best of themselves for the highest good of all concerned.

Perfect Pitch – Staying in Tune with Our Vision and Values

“Organizations which simultaneously address personal dynamics and organizational structures are more successful and sustainable and outperform their competitors.” Childre and Cryer, From Chaos to Coherence [the power to change performance] Planetary, a Division of HeartMath LLC, California 2004

Creating organizational harmony and success is like keeping an orchestra tuned-up to present a world-class concert every day of the week. It requires that we know the score at every moment, that we are willing to set the tone for the whole ensemble, and that we have an in-depth awareness of what each player needs in order to perform their part with pleasure and finesse.

At our client’s company, we maintain this level of harmony by reviewing the StrategicPoints of Focus Evaluation on an annual basis. These points relate to our organizational strategy, design and culture as well as to the standards we all set for ourselves and endeavor to meet in everything we do.

We begin by revisiting our Vision, Mission and strategic differential statements to determine whether they are still adequate foundations to guide our decisions and support the direction in which we are growing as a company.

We look at how well we are integrating our Values into our everyday business practices. We review the financial and operational side of the business and how well we organize around work.

We appraise all of our formal organizational structures as well as our strategic alliances and market share. We assess the effectiveness of our communication systems – both in-house as well as with clients, vendors and contractors. And we measure the efficiency of the technology we use to track every aspect of operations to make certain that everything occurs on time and as planned so that we can always fulfill our promises to customers.

In addition, we focus on the balance between direction, oversight and empowerment of employees to assure that each member of our staff has the preparation and permission to exceed themselves on behalf of our collective cause. We emphasize coaching, caring for and appreciating employees, rather than managing them.

We also look at the appropriateness of our recruitment criteria for our particular stage of development. We give thought to our employee orientation process, the on-gong learning opportunities we provide everyone, and our system of rewards. And we make sure that our employees are completely comfortable in relating to management as equals, in sharing their creative ideas with us, and in delivering feedback without fear of reprisal.

In his 2004 book, The 8th Habit, organizational guru Steven Covey talks about servant-leadership. At our company it’s our job to see to it that everyone has the tools at their disposal to be totally successful at what they’re attempting to do. We are also vigilant concerning our own effectiveness in modeling the behaviors we want to see exemplified throughout the organization.