Consumer Products
Robert Hallam
CEO, Dimension One Spas
By Kristy J. O’Hara
Smart Business San Diego | October 2006
Robert Hallam and his wife were once interviewing a job candidate with three other men. The men thought the candidate could walk on water, and they wanted him — badly. Hallam’s wife said absolutely not, and Hallam left the room in anger. Later, she encouraged him to listen to a book on tape about the differences between men and women in the work place, and because he wasn’t speaking to her that night, he listened to it and realized she was correct. Today, the CEO of Dimension One Spas makes sure candidates are interviewed by both men and women, as well as by people from other departments, to ensure getting beyond the facade.
Smart Business spoke with Hallam about the principles that guide him in growing and managing the 350 employees that make up his $60 million company.
Care about your people and let them work.
Everybody has good people — even the worst companies have good people.
I don’t think I’ve gone into a business and said, ‘Wow that guy is an idiot. Boy, she looks stupid.’ No, people care about what they do. Not all, but a high majority of the people work hard and try to do a good job. All you have to do is let them.
The question is, how do you get the most out of those people? Give them a job they like, that they have passion for, give them an organization that gives a darn about them, and get the heck out of their way.
People talk about how people were the key, but most didn’t realize the key wasn’t the people. The key was what they, as CEO, did to allow the people to be the key, which is really different.
Mold younger minds.
Mentoring is important. I’m 60 years old and have been through a lot of different things.
Although I don’t think I’m particularly bright, I’ve run into some of these issues before, so I know how to handle them. To pass that information along to people, it’s amazing to see the light bulb go on above their heads.
Get buy-in.
We have strategic meetings where we say, ‘OK, where are we going, and what are we going to do?’ and listen to what everybody has to say, and we argue about it.
We used to take all the vice presidents out, get locked in a room for two or three days and come back and announce this great idea and be surprised (if) 20 or 30 percent of it would get accomplished.
When we bring 40 or 50 people to a meeting and we hash out each person’s vision and we pick and choose from these visions, you’d be amazed how much that buy-in changes the culture of the company and the attitude of the people that are trying to accomplish that vision or strategy.
If you give me an idea, and I like it and everybody else likes it, you’re going to bust your back to get that done. It’s part yours, so you have buy-in.
They were part of the solution, and when they are part of the solution, they jump on board and make sure it gets done. It makes a huge difference.
Think beyond a job description.
A job description limits your scope. You’re an engineer and a marketing idea comes to you — well, its not part of my job. Bullshit! Bull — it is part of your job.
Every idea is part of your job. When I do job descriptions, I make sure they’re wide, so somebody that has a passion can switch over to something else and do a little of that, too.
There’s people we move from one department to another because we saw that they were doing an OK job here, but boy, these ideas in marketing are sensational. You change the place on the bus, and all of a sudden they go from a nice producer to a superstar.
Practice listening.
It’s important ... to sit down with people and listen to what they have to say. Now I listen more.
As you get older, you’ve learned a lot, you’ve been there, so you spend a lot more time working with your ears than with your lips. People will tell you everything you want to know if you just listen and ask a few questions.
Don’t search for one magic bullet.
Most people think there’s a magic thing to do to your company to sell more product or become more lean. There isn’t.
Every corner of your business is a way to make you 1 percent better. Whether it’s using ... a new marketing campaign or a better way to do procedures or a new product, that will make you 1 percent better, but it won’t make you 100 percent better — or 5 or 10 percent.
All these things are no better than 1 percent, but if you do all of them, that’s what makes for a successful company. Do not depend on any one thing to save you or to make you successful.
There are no seven highly effective habits of a successful person. There’s a hundred habits of a successful person. Your habits may be different than somebody else’s. They both can be successful. It’s foolish to believe that one thing can solve it.
Instill the value of teamwork.
Every Friday, all the individuals write a report of what they did during the week. If you spend more than five minutes doing this, you’re chastised. The idea is, ‘This is the highlight of the week’ — one line, two lines — ‘By the way, this person really helped me this week, and I want to give them a penny.’
When people give another person a penny, they value that person, and it comes back to them. It doesn’t necessarily come back to them directly, but it may come back in a roundabout way. You, as a company, are patting somebody else on the back, so it makes it a much happier company.
Be a strong manager.
One of the questions I ask when I’m hiring a manager is, ‘What do you expect out of your employees?’ They’ll give you a list of different things.
‘What do you expect out of me?’ Nine times out of 10, those will be different, and they shouldn’t be. They should be the same.
I’m looking for somebody who helps other people get better, who sets certain goals for people and helps them attain it.
HOW TO REACH: Dimension One Spas, www.dimensiononespas.com
