Features
Full participation
How McNeil Industries gets results by involving its employees
By Patrick Mayock
Smart Business Cleveland | February 2008
When Randall J. McNeil and his management team at McNeil
Industries establish goals for the year, they don’t aim conservatively. Whereas other companies might focus efforts in two or
three areas of improvement, McNeil seeks to better his entire
business through numerous goals and companywide participation.
The CEO doesn’t approach such lofty goals carelessly. On the
contrary, he applies a stringent set of management strategies and
processes that are outlined in the book “Mastering the Rockefeller
Habits” by Verne Harnish.
With support from quarterly sessions with a business coach,
McNeil and his staff first develop a “one-page plan” after each quarterly meeting to summarize key ideas, strategies and plans.
Execution of the plan is built on three key disciplines: priority, data
and rhythm.
Priority denotes the prioritization of the company’s short- and
long-term focus. While long-term goals typically remain the same,
McNeil’s management team also identifies a number of short-term
goals and lays out assignments necessary to achieve each one.
To help track and manage the numbers that reflect those improvements, company employees are randomly assigned to cross-functional teams to review and familiarize themselves with certain data. The
Gross Margins team, for example, meets every week to review and
discuss the profit analysis from all orders that shipped the previous
week. Similar meetings occur for other teams, fostering dialogue on
how best to solve problems while exposing all employees to every
aspect of the business.
Rhythm, the final Rockefeller discipline, involves the continuous
breakdown of objectives into well-aligned annual, quarterly, weekly
and daily tasks. McNeil implements this discipline through numerous meetings throughout the day, week and month to help employees better identify and tend to their assigned tasks.
The entire strategy proves a bit daunting on the front end, but
McNeil Industries now is well on its way to achieving six annual
goals, including sales quota and on-time delivery.
The most impressive result stems more from the method than
the goals. By involving every employee in the process, McNeil has
fostered a level of ownership and understanding that most companies can only aspire to achieve.
HOW TO REACH: McNeil Industries, (440) 721-0400 or www.mcneilindustries.com
