Boutique Marketing Company

Topic: Appreciative Inquiry

Jennifer Rosenzweig, Doctor of Professional Studies, CPT, Dragonfly Organization Resource Group, Birmingham, Michigan, USA

Background

Boutique Marketing [not its real name] is a strategic marketing services company located in downtown Boston. They have developed a unique and proprietary approach and method for conducting email and Internet marketing campaigns for their clients. Their approach relies on solid analytics that allow them to be efficient and targeted in their promotions. They pride themselves on the quality of their talent, their analytical rigor, their client responsiveness, and their creativity.

Situation

As a ten-year-old company, Boutique Marketing has gone through the struggles of a start-up and is now on solid footing. Their revenues doubled in 2008 during the depth of the recession, and they have seen increases in revenue and profit in subsequent years. Their reputation has attracted brand name clients in the apparel, sports and food and beverage industries, making for an interesting and diverse customer base.

The owners of the firm recognized that a key to their success has been the quality of the talent that they've hired. They have a group of age “twenty- and thirty-something” marketers who enjoy the challenges of leveraging the software to design client-centered solutions. However, as their team has become more proficient and their company's reputation has grown, other competing firms have started to heavily recruit these team members. Wanting to avoid a cycle of high turnover—which they knew would have a negative impact on client satisfaction and ultimately bottom-line performance—they sought an intervention that would engage their employees and identify ways to make staying at the company more attractive to them.

Intervention

To gain insight on how best to tackle their initiative, Boutique Marketing partnered with two consultants, who ultimately recommended that an appreciative approach to performance improvement be deployed. Their goal was to leverage the many strengths of the organization and to engage the entire workforce in imagining improvements to their company that would be both effective and compelling.

The process began with leadership interviews, which included the three owners of Boutique Marketing. They also conducted an initial employee engagement survey to create a baseline and to provide information for the leadership discussions. The results of the survey and ensuing discussions reinforced the desire by leadership to make changes that would allow them to become a greater employer of choice. But they also decided that there were some opportunities to make business improvements that would address some of the growing pains that had emerged through their recent rapid growth. For example, the owners were unhappy with the current organization structure and wanted to identify ways to improve upon it. Their final goals were to (1) retain top talent and (2) identify and enact on business process and structural improvements while still retaining their entrepreneurial spirit.

Strengths Analysis. The first step was to extend the data collection (discovery) process to include the workforce. Everyone participated in an interview cascade in which employees used a survey to have structured conversations about organizational strengths and opportunities for improvement. Key strengths that emerged included admiration for the leadership team; the challenge and responsibility of the work; and the team-based and collegial atmosphere. As they explored potential opportunities, they decided to focus on (1) leadership across the organization (looking beyond the owners); (2) redesigning the organizational structure; and (3) ways to encourage personal growth and development.

Vision (“Dream”). Rather than establish a vision on behalf of the organization and then just announce it to everyone, the owners invited the entire company to a series of meetings in which they jointly imagined the future of the company. Specially, they discussed what leadership meant to the company as a whole, different ways they might organize to better serve their clients and themselves, and opportunities for stretching personal boundaries and growing beyond their current roles. Many exciting and creative ideas were shared, and these became the basis for a series of employee-led projects.

Interventions (“Design”). At the conclusion of the visioning sessions, projects were established to enact the most powerful ideas. These projects included the design of a new on-boarding process for new employees, a mentoring program to encourage cross-training, a new client-centered organizational structure, the establishment of a communications team, and the development of a sustainability charter. This last element stemmed from a single interview comment during the discovery phase in which one employee wondered whether there was a way to look beyond the company needs and have a stronger societal view. This proved to be a captivating idea for the group and became a positive outlet for significant creative energy.

Results. Ultimately, the team accomplished the following:

• Organizational structure. A new dynamic structure was designed to be flexible and adaptive, while remaining responsive to client and business demands.
• Sustainability team. A rotating group of employees manned a sustainability team that focused on improvements to how the “planet” was cared for (for example, a recycling pro-gram was instituted) as well as the “people” (for example, they instituted “Friday fun fests” to communicate current business issues, followed by a social hour).
• On-boarding program. Instead of having a randomly implemented orientation, they created a much richer and better organized method for introducing new employees to the “inside story” of Boutique Marketing.
• Mentoring program. Employees were asked to identify areas in the company they'd like exposure to, and formal plans were created to cross-train them. In addition, more people were included in the company's sales and marketing efforts, for example, by including them on sales calls; by having them write white papers; by encouraging them to submit proposals to speak at conferences, and so forth.

Critical Business Issue

What is: Employee turnover was increasing at a time in the company's evolution in which it was critical to have a skilled and talented workforce fully prepared to meet client needs. The company was also experiencing some growing pains, which suggested the need to redesign internal processes and structures.

What should be: Employees should have a voice in how best to create an organization that meets the needs of both the talent and the clients. It should be a healthy, productive, and stimulating environment that enriches all those involved.

Focus on Outcomes or Results

The owners had two primary outcomes: (1) retain top talent and (2) identify and enact a business process and structural improvements while still retaining the company's entrepreneurial spirit.

Focus on Systems View

Inputs. Feedback and ideas were elicited from everyone in the company, assuring that a rich, full picture of the entire internal system was captured. Data streams also included company finances, strategic plans, and client feedback.

Process. Meetings were held over several weeks with all employees. Team members worked in small groups as they explored the results of their initial data collection (the cascade interviews) and imagined the world they wanted to live in as part of the Boutique Company.

Output. Several project teams emerged from their discussions. All of them were populated by employee volunteers who had an interest in the project, and each team had a leadership sponsor. The sponsors did not lead the teams, but were a resource for problem solving and support.

Constraints. Employees were encouraged to ignore potential constraints as they worked through the discovery and design processes. Once interventions were identified, constraints fell within the normal concerns of finding the time to add the project to their workload and securing the necessary financing (if needed) from their sponsors.

Focus on Value

Value was generated for everyone involved. There was a lot of energy and excitement as new ideas were formulated and employees considered how they could make business improvements. The owners were both surprised and pleased with the quality of discussion and saw several young leaders emerge through the process. They also anticipated value being generated for the clients, for they would also be beneficiaries of any improvements in how work was done.

Focus on Establishing Partnerships

The entire process was undertaken with a partnership mentality. Each person was considered an equal partner in the effort—no voice, including management's, was greater than anyone else's. Ideas and suggestions were vetted for their practical value and desirability, and not based on “who said it.” This opened up the dialogue and allowed even the most reticent individuals to speak out and feel more connected to their colleagues and to the organization.

Be Systematic in Assessment of Need, Opportunity, or Challenge

Attention was given to gaining a clear view of the situation right from the start. First, leadership had a chance to weigh in, but even after they established their own perspective on how best to move forward, the rest of the company was invited in. While this solidified much of what management had concluded, it also reshaped and expanded the goals and added substance to others.

Be Systematic in the Analysis of Work, Worker, Workplace, and Worldview to Identify the Causes or Factors That Limit Performance

Because an appreciative approach was selected for this initiative, a strengths analysis and visioning session were used to identify the future state. The consultants relied on the data generated by all of the employees to guide them and used that to frame the meetings in which the future state was defined. Again, by including every employee in the organization, there was greater assurance that the ultimate solutions would be well targeted and committed to by the company as a whole.

It was also broadening for the group to think about their organization's impact on the world and to capture a societal view as well as a work, worker, and workplace view. Initially, leadership was a bit skeptical about whether there was a place in the dialogue for societal considerations, but as interest in exploring sustainability increased, any hesitations faded away.

Be Systematic in the Design of the Solution

Because employees knew they would be responsible for the design and implementation of the selected solution, they were thoughtful about what they selected and how they designed it. However, they were also encouraged to think big … this was a clean sheet of paper so they were welcome to expand their thinking and move in new directions if it suited the circumstances.

Be Systematic in the Development of the Solution

Each project team was given complete latitude to develop their solution. Their sponsors were available to encourage their progress, keep them on track, and identify resources if needed.

In order to keep efforts coordinated overall, teams reported on progress at all-employee meetings. They also identified some small areas of overlap between projects, minimizing potential complications. These meetings also served to keep the entire organization informed about each project, which enhanced how quickly employees were able to adapt to new expectations.

Be Systematic in the Implementation of the Solution

As the various solutions were implemented, attention was given to ensuring that the new changes were self-sustaining. One of the more interesting approaches to this was with the “Friday fun fest” team. They chose to create a Friday “rotation” in which pairs of individuals would take on responsibility for planning the Friday agenda and taking care of refreshments and other details. To track their work, a log was created. The agenda was recorded in the log, as well as high-level details from the meetings. This provided a history that could be used for reference over time.

Be Systematic in the Evaluation of the Process and the Results

The consultants and owners used a mix of quantitative and qualitative means to measure the impact of the various projects.

The first measure of success came with the employee engagement survey, which was conducted approximately one year after the overall initiative began. The results showed a 9 percent improvement in how employees felt about the organization. Their scores were already high, as this was a well-functioning organization, so everyone was pleased with the upward trend.

A qualitative survey and focus groups also yielded a variety of positive results. One outcome was that leadership recognized that the level of creativity had gone up, as individuals understood that they could influence the company and its outcomes more than they realized. As noted by one owner: “Our company is now coming up with new products and solutions that not only help us, but help our clients, too.”

Enhanced teamwork was also a byproduct of the effort. While they were already strong in this area and routinely worked on client projects, “It really opened everyone's eyes to the fact that we're one team working together to achieve our shared goals.”

There was also a stronger sense of ownership for results overall. None of the projects that the group chose to work on faded away. Each one came into fruition: the new employee orientation; the personal development and learning plans; the sustainability effort. As one employee noted, “The best part was creating project teams and action plans that are actually getting things done.”

Finally, the president of the company commented on how much he ended up appreciating the value of the all-company “discovering” and “dreaming” sessions. “I loved the Eureka moments!”

Lessons Learned from the Case

• Initially there was some impatience, especially on the part of leadership, as they wanted to move from the early stages of discovery right into implementation. Their belief was that, since they knew what they wanted to do, it was best to simply get on with it. However, by bringing the entire company into the dialogue, they ultimately saw that it allowed them to accelerate implementation (because everyone was clear on the direction) and it increased the quality of the solutions overall.
• The overall project work had the desired effect on employee turnover, but it also prompted some unexpected changes. Voluntary turnover stabilized over the following months (specifically, two employees who received competing job offers chose to stay). But the process also revealed the need to make further changes. It became clear through the many dialogues that two employees were not a good cultural fit for the company. In combination with some questions related to performance, it was decided that they should be laid off. Then, as part of the restructuring, two other individuals were hired, but into different roles that matched the new vision. It should be added that the restructuring created the opportunity to move people into new roles for cross-training purposes, so they were able to do that with 20 percent of the team. (Much more than that would have pushed client service boundaries.) These personnel moves led to improved customer service as well as increased employee satisfaction.
• Several lessons emerged from the dialogue on sustainability. The first was the inclusion of the topic itself to the all-company discovery and dream meetings. The concept first came out of the initial engagement survey as a response to a general open-ended question. Because only one voice shared an interest in it, the leadership initially dismissed the interest in sustainability as a minority view. However, the consultants were aware than many companies that are considered “employers of choice” have a strong connection to society, so they encouraged its inclusion on the agenda. The agreement was that, if there was no further interest, the subject would be dropped. So the first lesson learned was that, even if there isn't a majority voice, that doesn't mean that the view shouldn't be given strong regard.
• The next lesson related to the fact that the topic of sustainability initially “stumped” the team who worked on it. They liked the idea in theory; they just couldn't connect it to their daily business. It took several meetings for them to start to embrace the thought that as an online marketing company, they are environmentally friendly in their paperless approach. It therefore made sense to take a more environmental view to other aspects of their business. The first, simple solution was to start recycling. But they are coming up with other ways they can embrace a “green” approach to business. So the lesson here is to pay attention to “intuition” and to allow difficult topics to incubate over time. You may be very surprised and pleased with what emerges!

Jennifer Rosenzweig, D. Prof, M.S.A., M.S.O.D, CPT, is a partner with Dragonfly Organization Resource Group, where she is a performance consultant who applies appreciative approaches to her practice. She enjoys the challenges that change brings as well as the excitement that emerges from co-creating the future. She can be reached at 248.302.0461 or [email protected].