T H E W E L L N E S S CO U NC I L O F A M E R I C A P R E ...Case StudyA WELCOA OPTIMIZING BUSINESS...

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Case StudyA WELCOA

O P T I M I Z I N G B U S I N E S S P E R F O R M A N C E

Building A High Per formance Cul ture

John Harr is , N ikk i Duggan-Hudsmith,Marc LeBaron, Hank Orme and David Hunnicut t

W i th Per formance pH

ABOUT DAVID HUNNICUTT PhD

Dr. David Hunnicutt is the CEO of the Wellness Council of America. As a leader in the field of health promotion, his

vision has led to the creation of nu-merous publications designed to link

health promotion objectives to busi-ness outcomes. Known for his abil-ity to make complex issues easier to understand, David has a proven track record of publishing health and well-ness material that helps employees lead healthier lifestyles. David travels

extensively advocating better health practices and radically different think-ing in organizations of all kinds.

ABOUT MARC LEBARON

After graduating from the University of Ne-braska in 1974, Marc joined Lincoln Indus-tries. In 2001, he was

named chairman and CEO. During his tenure, he initiated the company’s nationally recognized wellness pro-gram. He has also been the recipient

of numerous industry awards. In 2011, he formed the partnership that began Performance pH.

An exercise enthusiast, Marc is an avid runner and experienced mountain climber. He’s a licensed pilot and pa-tron of the arts who also enjoys racing sports cars.

Marc gives much of his time to help local businesses thrive, sitting on numerous private and public com-pany boards. In addition, he’s the past president of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce and past chairman of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce.

Twitter @performanceph

ABOUT JOHN HARRIS M.Ed., FAWHP

John graduated from Grand Valley State Uni-versity with a double major in health scienc-es and physical edu-

cation and then went on to earn his master’s degree in health education from the University of Toledo. After his first “real job” as a college assistant wrestling coach, he became a suc-cessful entrepreneur, growing Harris HealthTrends, Inc. to a sizable compa-ny before merging it with four others

to become Axia Health Management and later selling to Healthways.

As a college wrestler, John was a two-time Collegiate All-American and a U.S. Olympics Trials qualifier. He was also inducted into the Grand Valley State University Athletic Hall of Fame. Today, he mountain bike races in the summer and cross-country ski races in the winter. He also enjoys road bicy-cling, downhill skiing, and kayaking.

Born and raised in Battle Creek, Michi-gan, John is a devout Michigander with a home in northern Michigan where he loves to play. He also serves on a number of for-profit and non-profit boards and is a lover of ani-mals—his Vizsla in particular. Married for 36 years, he and his wife have two adult children, both of whom he deliv-ered with the supervision of a doctor.

Twitter @johnhharris

ABOUT NIKKI HUDSMITH Nikki graduated from Tulane University with a double major in fi-nance and market-ing, and then went

on to earn an MBA with a focus on Healthcare Administration. She has spent the majority of her career in the healthcare sector and worked with WebMD and Healthways before helping form Performance pH in 2011. With Healthways, Nikki worked with organizations to develop measurable strategies to improve well-being at the organizational and individual lev-

els. She also led the research efforts for the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, which were primarily focused on the correlations between emo-tional, social, and physical health and the role of organizational and cultural support on health outcomes.

Born and raised in Little Rock, Arkan-sas, Nikki has been active from an early age. She played competitive ten-nis in grade school and high school, where she became state champion in doubles. As an adult, she and a team of 11 others ran 195 miles in a relay

from Chattanooga to Nashville. But her favorite hobby is diving, particu-larly in Ambergris Caye, Belize.

An avid Razorback football fan, Nikki spends her free time teaching her 6-year-old son about healthy eating, exercise, and good health. She’s also been learning Italian for the last three years in hopes that she’ll get to spend some time in Italy one day.


2 w w w . p e r f o r m p h . c o m w w w . w e l c o a . o r g ©2 0 1 3 W e l l n e s s C o u n c i l o f A m e r i c a

A W E L C O A & P E R F O R M A N C E p H C A S E S T U D Y

http://www.welcoa.org

ABOUT HANK ORME

Hank graduated from Indiana University and then worked for 33 years for Whirlpool Corpora-tion, where he led busi-

ness units—including one in Shanghai, China. He joined Lincoln Industries in 1999 and recently retired from his role as president in 2012. In 2011, he began a new venture, Performance pH, with his colleagues.

Having played competitive basketball until age 51 and competitive softball

until age 65, Hank has never been one to sit on the sidelines. Today, he con-tinues to compete in tennis and golf.

His new passion is climbing moun-tains. Having ascended 29 14,000-foot summits already, he plans to achieve 50 before he turns 80. And when he turns 80, he plans on topping this achievement with one final climb.

Hank married his high school sweet-heart 47 years ago. Together, they have two sons and five grandchildren,

who he describes as the finest people he knows. In his spare time, he loves watching college sports, particularly basketball and football, and spending time with his friends from all over the world.


ABOUT WELCOA

Wellness Council of America (WELCOA) was established as a national not-for-profit organization in the mid

1980s through the efforts of a num-ber of forward-thinking business and health leaders. Drawing on the vision originally set forth by William Kizer, Sr., Chairman Emeritus of Central

States Indemnity, and WELCOA found-ing Directors that included Dr. Louis Sullivan, former Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Warren Buf-fett, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, WELCOA has helped influence the face of workplace wellness in the U.S.

Today, WELCOA has become one of the most respected resources for

workplace wellness in America. With a membership in excess of 5,000 or-ganizations, WELCOA is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of all working Americans. Located in America’s heartland, WELCOA makes its national headquarters in one of America’s healthiest business com-munities—Omaha, NE.

ABOUT PERFORMANCE PH

Find the balance. Achieve Optimal Per-formance. Based in Noblesville, Indiana,

and founded in 2012, Performance pH was formed to enable companies to perform at their optimal potential. The company is an innovative stra-

tegic advisory firm balancing opera-tions and organizational foundation to transform business. To learn more, visit www.performph.com.

©2 0 1 3 W e l l n e s s C o u n c i l o f A m e r i c a w w w . w e l c o a . o r g w w w . p e r f o r m p h . c o m 3


Case StudyA WELCOA

Every company wants a high performing

culture – But only those companies that have

the energy, insight, and discipline have the

potential to achieve one. As a result, many

companies simply remain average, occasionally

peeking out the corners of their eyes in hope

they will not see any competitors inching

ahead. But hope is not a strategy. Neither

is making a conscious (or unconscious)

decision to do nothing. The best companies

purposefully develop a high performing

culture through continuous effort, foresight,

and commitment. What do these companies

have in common? A lot! The good news is

the actions they have chosen to take can be

accomplished in any company that has the

courage to go from good to great as long

as they also have a compelling and unique

business strategy. Conceptually, it is easy. The

devil is in the details. The case studies in this

document tell the stories of some companies

that have dared to be great, what they have in

common, and how what they achieved can

be duplicated in any company regardless of

industry. The most impressive thing they all

have in common is they blow the doors off

their competition in just about every way

performance can be measured.

O P T I M I Z I N G B U S I N E S S P E R F O R M A N C E

Building A High Per formance Cul ture

With Per formance pH




OverviewThe best companies in the world purposefully develop a high performing culture through continuous effort, foresight, and commitment. Every company wants a high performing culture, but only those companies with energy, insight and discipline have the potential to achieve this goal. They must also have a unique and compelling business strategy. Are there other factors a world-class business needs to optimize business performance, strengthen the company beyond the competition and grow top and bottom lines while nurturing employees?

Let’s start by better understanding performance. The best possible performance occurs for any company when all unnecessary spending is avoided, the company is performing with the best possible efficiency, the people are consistently performing at or near their absolute best, suppliers are making their best possible contribution, and customers are fully delighted. This results in the best possible financial top and bottom line.

Accomplishing this optimal performance is not easy. It takes a long-term commitment to better understand business opportunities and act upon them in a well-planned and systematic way. Big ticket expenditures such as healthcare and workers’ compensation must be controlled. Strategies must be in place so people perform at their best, because they want to be at work and because they believe in the company mission, knowing it is aligned with their goals.

The business must be operating efficiently, avoiding unnecessary turnover and other negative business disruptions. Leadership must be fully committed to transformational change, and say it, mean it and live it every day. Suppliers must feel part of the team, and thus perform as such. When these things happen, it will be fully evident to existing and future customers, which drives customer loyalty.

Is this what we see in most American businesses today? Not often. Consider these statistics:

• Workplace engagement is at an all-time low—70 percent of employees “dream of having a different job” —Families & Work Institute Research

• Global engagement scores are on the decline with the recent drops being the largest in 15 years —Aon Hewitt

• Only 28 percent of American workers are engaged in their work —Gallup Research

• One-fourth of high-potential people intend to leave their employers in the next 12 months —Price, Waters, Cooper

• Employee satisfaction is one of the significant determinants of customer satisfaction; it also indirectly influences financial performance —International Journal of Hospitality Management

EVERY COMPANY

WANTS A HIGH

PERFORMING

CULTURE, BUT ONLY

THOSE COMPANIES

WITH ENERGY, INSIGHT

AND DISCIPLINE HAVE

THE POTENTIAL TO

ACHIEVE THIS GOAL.



• People with higher levels of stress are generally less productive than those with lower stress levels —Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

• 63 percent of companies do not even have measurements or ROI goals associated with their culture-based programs —ADP HR / Benefits Survey on Wellness

• Every year, unhealthy people cost employers over $153 billion in lost work days and low performance —Gallup Research

• In 2012 the average health care cost per employee was $10,522, up from $10,034 in 2011, and it is projected to increase to $11,188 in 2013. —AON Hewitt

To make matters worse, current economic conditions are placing continued pressures on supply chain relationships, potentially having a negative impact on quality and productivity. Leaders have to do more with less, but often fail to seek innovative ways to improve performance. Unfortunately, two out of three corporate executives also say wellness programs are ineffective due to low engagement (less than 20 percent on average).

These executives seem to feel the same about many other human resources initiatives, viewing them as fluffy and extraneous to the overall performance of the organization. But what came first, the chicken or the egg? What if companies could build a high-performance culture where people were fully engaged and working up to their full potential? We have found a business functions better—the wellness program, engagement efforts, efficiency initiatives and ultimately top and bottom line financial business performance—when a high performance culture is supported and nurtured within the company, from senior management on down.

As we look at the grim statistics, there are two things for sure. First, it is people who drive performance, not more aggressive operational management. Second, doing nothing is not a strategy.

While optimizing performance is no small feat, it is doable, and the organizations that have done it successfully have reaped the benefits. The good news is the actions these amazingly successful companies have taken are replicable, and can be achieved in any company with the courage to go from good to great.

THE GOOD NEWS

IS THE ACTIONS

THESE AMAZINGLY

SUCCESSFUL

COMPANIES

HAVE TAKEN ARE

REPLICABLE, AND

CAN BE ACHIEVED IN

ANY COMPANY WITH

THE COURAGE TO GO

FROM GOOD

TO GREAT.

FOR MORE WELCOA CASE STUDIES, VISIT:

http://www.welcoa.org/ resources/



http://welcoa.org/resources


What are the factors which make high-performing companies different? It can be organized into three main categories, which we will call The Big 3:

• Organizational Foundation – Things like trust, open communication, vision, work environment, and support and inclusion are central to a high performing culture.

• Engagement – Superior recognition, opportunities for growth and development, fair compensation, and benefits and a focus on safety result in better products and services that delight customers, provide a competitive advantage and a sense of pride for workers.

• Vitality – People keenly understand their personal purposes in life, and how they relate to the purpose of their employers. This helps ensure they want to be at work and contributing. Furthermore, the physical, emotional, social, and financial vitality of a workforce determines how it shows up each day. This is a crucial, but an often overlooked variable in business performance, which impacts far more than healthcare costs.

Said differently, successfully balancing people and operational metrics, and giving each equal importance and attention, can result in the establishment of a high-performance culture.

The case studies that follow tell the stories of some companies that have dared to be great. As you read them, note what they have in common and how what they achieved can be duplicated in any company regardless of industry.

Also, note their passion and conviction for the common good. Most impressively, you will see these companies consistently out perform their competitors, in almost all ways, year after year. Their unique and compelling business strategies combined with their actions to establish a high performing culture make them special.

SUCCESSFULLY

BALANCING PEOPLE

AND OPERATIONAL

METRICS, AND

GIVING EACH EQUAL

IMPORTANCE AND

ATTENTION, CAN

RESULT IN THE

ESTABLISHMENT OF

HIGH-PERFORMANCE

CULTURE.



T H E C A S E S T U D I E S

Case Study #1Company Name: Lincoln Industries

Headquarters Location: Lincoln, Nebraska

Number of People: ~600

Description of the Company: Named one of the 25 Best Medium Companies to Work For in America five times, Lincoln Industries is a large-scale manufacturer of finishing-intensive products and serves a national customer base. Its customers include Harley-Davidson, PACCAR, John Deere, and Polaris.

Highlights of Their Culture: Lincoln Industries’ CEO Marc LeBaron has no doubt why Lincoln Industries has been successful. “I believe that if people embrace lifestyles that create higher well-being, that naturally those people will be happier, more satisfied, and therefore more productive at work,” says LeBaron. This philosophy is the cornerstone of the culture at Lincoln Industries, and the company has the metrics to back their play. From substantially lower than average healthcare and workers’ compensation costs to strikingly low turnover rates, Lincoln Industries’ culture has provided an atmosphere where people excel and has enabled the company to optimize its performance.

Lincoln Industries’ culture is based on 6 key elements:

• Developing Talented Individuals – Lincoln Industries selects people based on a fit-first methodology and is dedicated to providing ongoing development and learning opportunities.

• Focusing on Wellness – Lincoln Industries encourages healthy lifestyle choices and a good balance between work and home life.

• Ensuring Safety – Safety programs are in place to encourage people to be actively involved in identifying, defining, and measuring opportunities to improve safety in the workplace.

• Maintaining Open Communication – Information is shared in many ways, and people have the opportunity to ask questions as well as share information. They also put a priority on communicating with customers and suppliers.

• Recognizing Excellence – Lincoln Industries programs recognize achievements in all aspects of a person’s position, including safety, service, innovation, and growth.

• Community Connections – The Community Connections Committee helps Lincoln Industries and its people find opportunities to give back to the community.

“I BELIEVE THAT IF

PEOPLE EMBRACE

LIFESTYLES THAT

CREATE HIGHER

WELL-BEING, THAT

NATURALLY THOSE

PEOPLE WILL BE

HAPPIER, MORE

SATISFIED, AND

THEREFORE MORE

PRODUCTIVE

AT WORK.”

—Marc Le Baron




Best in Class Business Practices: Lincoln Industries has received national recognition for its comprehensive well-being programs, and its strategic vision for organizational well-being gets stronger every year. 100% of the people at Lincoln Industries have wellness as a performance category in their annual performance review process. Lincoln Industries’ Go! Platinum well-being initiative includes comprehensive programs for every aspect of a person’s well-being: Life Planning classes for people who want to discover their individual purpose; the popular annual Poker Walk which engages people in moving together and building winning poker hands along a one mile course; stretching before each shift in order to prevent injuries; the company also offers an onsite clinic and an onsite workout facility. Based on their involvement in Go! Platinum, every employee is eligible for one exceptional team experience: climbing to the top of a 14,000-foot mountain in Colorado on a company-paid trip.

Another unique aspect of Lincoln Industries’ people-centric strategy is the way it approaches relationships with its customers and suppliers. Lincoln Industries’ belief is that collaboration must exist across the supply chain, and its philosophy of treating vendors like partners yields successful relationships with its customers. The company has developed a Supplier Advisory Committee that helps to inform its business strategy by identifying market trends and efficiency opportunities. Additionally, Lincoln Industries measures supplier and customer satisfaction each year and uses the metrics and feedback from these assessments to determine areas of opportunity and improve relationships.

Colleague conviction, or engagement as some refer to it, is a central component of Lincoln Industries’ success. Lincoln Industries has created an environment where its people are empowered to make the decisions needed and leadership consistently reinforces personal responsibility as a key element of success. Lincoln Industries has also focused on rewards and recognition as a part of its overall strategy to strengthen colleague conviction. The company hosts monthly Champions lunches which not only serve as a way to update colleagues on the latest happenings in the business but also allow people to celebrate wins and successes in a group setting.

Their Business Outcomes: Lincoln Industries has a consistent history of profitable growth. The company’s revenues have grown by an average of 15% per year for the last 10 years. Lincoln Industries’ average annual healthcare cost is 40% lower than the industry average, and company’s tobacco use has declined from 42% in 2004 to 16% in 2013. Additionally, Lincoln Industries’ commitment to safety and well-being has resulted in the OSHA Total Injury and Illness rate (IRR) hitting an all-time low of 2.54, which is approximately half of the industry average at 4.9. Annual voluntary turnover at Lincoln Industries is 6.8% —the industry average for manufacturing is 10.6%.

LINCOLN INDUSTRIES’

CULTURE HAS

PROVIDED AN

ATMOSPHERE WHERE

PEOPLE EXCEL

AND HAS ENABLED

THE COMPANY

TO OPTIMIZE ITS

PERFORMANCE



Case Study #2Company Name: Gundersen Health System

Headquarters Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin

Number of People: ~6,300

Description of the Company: Consistently ranked as one of the top 100 health systems in the country, Gundersen Health System is a physician-led, not-for profit comprehensive healthcare network including one of the nation’s largest multi-specialty group medical practices, regional community clinics, hospitals, behavioral health services, vision centers, pharmacies, and air and ground ambulances. Their services are located throughout western Wisconsin, northeastern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota.

Highlights of Their Culture: Collaboration is a central component of Gundersen’s culture, and when asked about how he helped to establish the hospital’s culture, CEO Dr. Jeffrey Thompson said, “We developed a culture where the medical and administrative people are not warring factions. For the most part they’re looked at as partners.” This collaborative spirit is evident in every aspect of Gundersen’s culture, and it is the catalyst for the exceptional outcomes that Gundersen achieves in quality, safety, and patient satisfaction.

Gundersen’s patient-centered care focus would not be possible without fostering collaboration between all areas of the organization. One of the ways that Gundersen encourages collaboration among the physicians and administration leaders is by creating teams of two (referred to as “dyads” by the Gundersen leadership team) that include one administration leader and one physician department leader. These dyads work together to solve conflicts, determine strategic needs, and breakdown the “us versus them” barriers that can sometimes exist between hospital administrators and the people delivering care to patients.

Best in Class Business Practices: People selection and development at Gundersen are viewed as business imperatives that must be a clear part of the hospital’s strategy and culture. Gundersen relies on a “Fit Tool” that uses a small set of values in order to determine how a person will fit within the hospital’s culture and patient-centered care strategy. At the center of the hiring process are staff compacts which clearly define the expectation of both Gundersen and the colleague and provide a framework for decision making, accountability, and

cultural alignment. There are three different types of compacts that Gundersen uses in the hiring process: one for medical

staff, another for administrative leadership, and one for support staff. Colleagues must sign the compact prior to being hired and these compacts are used during the performance review process in order to measure how all team members are contributing to the patient-centered care experience.

“WE DEVELOPED A

CULTURE WHERE

MEDICAL AND

ADMINISTRATIVE

PEOPLE ARE NOT

WARRING FRACTIONS.

FOR THE MOST PART

THEY’RE LOOKED AT

AS PARTNERS.”

—CEO Dr. Jeffrey Thompson




Some examples of the items in the compact are:

G U N D E R S E N L U T H E R A N ’ S R E S P O N S I B I L I T I E S

Achieve Excellence

• Recruit and Retain outstanding physicians and staff

• Support career development and enhance professional satisfaction

Communication

• Communicate information regarding organizational priorities, business decisions, and strategic plans

• Provide opportunities for constructive dialogue, clarity of goals, and regular evaluation

Reward

• Provide competitive compensation consistent with market values and organizational goals of quality, service, and efficiency

Change

• Manage the inevitable rapid changes in healthcare so that the staff have an opportunity for participation, for clarity of goals, and continuous modification of the process as well as the outcomes

M E D I C A L S T A F F ’ S R E S P O N S I B I L I T I E S

Focus on Superior Patient Care

• Practice evidence-based, high-quality medicine

• Encourage increased patient understanding, involvement in care, and treatment decisions

• Work in collaboration with other physicians, support staff, and management across the system in both service and patient care improvements

Treat All People with Respect

• Listen and communicate both clinical and non-clinical information in a clear, respectful, and timely manner

Take Ownership

• Provide leadership to improve outcomes quality and service quality

• Steadily improve the efficiency and economic aspects of your practice

Change

• Embrace innovation to continuously improve patient care, service and organizational efficiency

GUNDERSEN’S

PATIENT-CENTERED

CARE FOCUS WOULD

NOT BE POSSIBLE

WITHOUT FOSTERING

COLLABORATION

BETWEEN ALL

AREAS OF THE

ORGANIZATION.



Leadership accountability at Gundersen is fostered in several different ways. In addition to the compacts which guide behaviors and provide expectations for colleagues, each area of the hospital develops objectives and metrics that are driven from the overarching objectives of the organization. Gundersen establishes transparent standards and benchmarks for each unit or department and then develops clear expectations by showing colleagues how they measure up within their units. Leaders also compare their teams to others in the organization and set competitive benchmarks from outside the organization in order to drive awareness of, and improvement in departmental metrics.

Their Business Outcomes: Healthgrades® recently named Gundersen a recipient of the 2013 Outstanding Patient Experience Award™ and the health system consistently ranks in the top 5% of hospitals in the country. For the past two years, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has awarded Gundersen’s Senior Preferred HMO plan an overall 5-star rating. Gundersen’s Health Plan was one of only 11 health plans nationally to meet this high quality standard. Gundersen’s nurse retention rate is 95%, while the industry average is just below 90%. In 2012, special efforts to lower injuries in departments, units and clinics reduced lost work time and restricted work time by over 24%. Additionally, Gundersen is well on its way to its goal of being 100% energy independent by 2014 through the use of renewable energy sources and energy conservation initiatives.

IN ADDITION TO THE

COMPACTS WHICH

GUIDE BEHAVIORS

AND PROVIDE

EXPECTATIONS

FOR COLLEAGUES,

EACH AREA OF THE

HOSPITAL DEVELOPS

OBJECTIVES AND

METRICS THAT ARE

DRIVEN FROM THE

OVERARCHING

OBJECTIVES OF THE

ORGANIZATION.




Case Study #3Company Name: Barry-Wehmiller

Headquarters Location: St. Louis, Missouri


Description of the Company: With 20 consecutive years of 18% compound growth in share value, Barry-Wehmiller is a diversified global supplier of manufacturing technology and services across a broad spectrum of industries. The company’s four primary operating platforms are packaging automation, corrugating, paper converting, and engineering and IT consulting.

Highlights of Their Culture: Over the past 20 years, Barry-Wehmiller has successfully acquired and integrated more than 40 businesses. In many organizations, this acquisition pace would challenge the core of the organizational culture, but Barry Wehmiller’s culture continues to be stronger than ever. Over 11 years ago, Bob Chapman, CEO of Barry Wehmiller, asked 20 people from various roles throughout the organization to participate in a two-day offsite planning session aimed at understand the success of the company’s leadership techniques. What emerged from that session was a set of beliefs that guide every leadership decision in the organization—the Guiding Principles of Leadership.

At Barry-Wehmiller, the Guiding Principles of Leadership define the cultural strategy for the entire organization. Barry-Wehmiller’s vision for their cultural strategy reflects their people-centric culture: “We measure success by the way we touch the lives of people.” The Guiding Principles foster the belief that leadership is responsible for creating a dynamic environment that:

• Is based on trust

• Brings out and celebrates the best in each individual

• Allows for teams and individuals to have a meaningful role

• Inspires a sense of pride

• Challenges individuals and teams

• Liberates everyone to realize “true success”

Best in Class Business Practices: Barry-Wehmiller has established an exceptional way to ensure that the company’s people have many opportunities for growth and development. In 2007, the company created Barry-Wehmiller University (BWU), with the goal of creating a place where people could find personal and professional development opportunities. BWU offers three kinds of courses—Enterprise, Divisional, and Virtual Learning. Enterprise courses have limited capacity, are highly selective, and emphasize significant behavior change. Divisional classes are taught at divisional locations and focus on expanding a specific skill set. The virtual learning courses are available on-demand and emphasize building understanding.

“WE MEASURE

SUCCESS BY THE WAY

WE TOUCH THE LIVES OF PEOPLE.”

—Guiding Principles of Leadership

FOR MORE INFORMATION

ABOUT PERFORMANCE pH,

VISIT:

www.performph.com



http://www.performph.com

Barry Wehmiller’s approach to compensation and benefits is summed up in one of the company’s overarching business philosophies: “Treat people superbly and compensate them fairly.” The compensation and benefits packages at Barry-Wehmiller are competitive, and the values that underlie the offerings are a direct reflection of the cultural and business strategies of the organization. In addition to standard offerings like health, vision and dental coverage, the company offers a wide array of well-being programs and a 401(k) retirement plan with a company match and immediate vesting.

Barry-Wehmiller’s compensation and benefits strategy, coupled with the Guiding Principles, has allowed the organization to successfully emerge from the toughest struggles that the company has faced. In 2008, the leaders of Barry-Wehmiller, like many others found themselves in the middle of a harsh economic downturn. Many believed that they would have to initiate a lay-off in order to continue to operate the business successfully. The Guiding Principles, however, steered the leaders to make a different decision.

The company created a furlough program which required everyone, including both hourly and salaried colleagues, to take four weeks of unpaid time off, and they suspended their 401(k) program. Moreover, the leaders committed to transparently communicate business updates regularly in order to keep people informed of the state of the business. The response to the furlough was true to the culture that Barry-Wehmiller worked to create over many years. People took care of each other. Some who could better afford it took more time off than others who were not able to afford as much time. Even one of the union groups, who were contractually exempted from the actions taken, offered to participate in the suspension of the 401(k). At the end of the day, Barry-Wehmiller emerged from the tough times stronger than ever, its culture still intact, and with a deeper level of trust between the company and its people.

Their Business Outcomes: Barry-Wehmiller has enjoyed 20 years of 18% annual growth in revenue. The company’s workers’ compensation costs are half of the industry average. As a result of the organization’s Living Legacy of Leadership (L3) initiative, Barry-Wehmiller has been able to double its inventory turns and has increased customer on-time performance from 50% to 90% on time.

BARRY-WEHMILLER

EMERGED FROM

THE TOUGH TIMES

STRONGER THAN

EVER, ITS CULTURE

STILL INTACT, AND

WITH A DEEPER LEVEL

OF TRUST BETWEEN

THE COMPANY AND

ITS PEOPLE.





http://www.welcoa.org/resources


Case Study #4Company Name: Raven Industries

Headquarters Location: Sioux Falls, South Dakota


Description of the Company: Named to Forbes “America’s Best Small Companies List” for the last seven consecutive years, Raven Industries is a diversified technology company that embraces an integrated approach, where all operations support each other, sharing knowledge and best practices. Raven has three primary divisions: Applied Technology, Engineered Films, and Aerostar.

Highlights of Their Culture: Caring, innovative, goal-oriented, and driven: these are the words that come to mind when people at Raven Industries are asked to describe their organizational culture. Raven Industries is an organization that is in the business of solving some of the world’s most complex challenges. Raven knows that in order to achieve sustainable success, it must have a strong foundational culture that is fueled by team members who are motivated by the values and vision of the organization, and who are empowered to achieve the highest levels of success.

“The Raven Way” is Raven Industries’ guide to the organization’s business strategy, and this document clearly illustrates the connection between Raven’s business performance and organizational foundation. Raven’s culture is guided by two sets of values: Corporate Values and Team Member Values:

C O R P O R A T E V A L U E S

• We achieve performance with integrity.

• We treat each other with dignity and respect.

• Our team members are valued as individuals and challenged to grow and perform at their peak.

• Our customers and suppliers are considered business partners and treated that way.

• We are competitive and aim to win.

• We support diversity, team member involvement, and a climate of inclusiveness.

• Our profitability ensures the viability.

T E A M M E M B E R V A L U E S

• Integrity: Doing what you say you are going to do.

• Authenticity: Genuine and trustworthy.

• Courage: Willing to stand up for what is right.

• Drive: Bold and thoughtful action with a clear sense of purpose.

• Humility: Listens to and empowers others.

• Service: Meeting the needs of others.

RAVEN INDUSTRIES IS

AN ORGANIZATION

THAT IS IN THE

BUSINESS OF

SOLVING SOME

OF THE WORLD’S

MOST COMPLEX

CHALLENGES.



Best in Class Business Practices: Raven Industries’ organizational purpose is rooted in decades of experience and knowledge and is simple, yet powerful: We Solve Great Challenges. For a company that started in 1956 to develop high-altitude research balloons for the purpose of better understanding science, space and the universe, the purpose statement is certainly appropriate.

What’s more intriguing is that, throughout the company’s history, Raven has developed purpose statements for each of its divisions. For the Applied Technology Division, which focuses on agricultural solutions, the purpose is: “to help farmers feed the world.” The purpose of the Engineered Films Division, which manufactures high performance plastic films and sheeting, is: “to help protect and conserve earth’s resources.” For the Aerostar division, which makes the high altitude research balloons and other surveillance systems for military support, the purpose is: “to help save lives.”

Raven Industries has dedicated significant attention to making its work environment a place where people can do their best work. The company’s campus is smoke-free, and it works with its vendors to have healthy options in vending machines and at meetings. Raven has also invested in an onsite fitness center which offers a variety of classes, and the company’s onsite clinic makes it more convenient for people to receive the medical care they need. Additionally, Raven participates in several initiatives which provide the opportunity for their people to serve the community.

Communications is a central component of the culture at Raven Industries, and leaders work diligently to ensure that people have a consistent flow of the information they need in order to do their jobs effectively and to stay connected to the mission of the company. The CEO, Dan Rykhus, holds monthly roundtable meetings in which people are encouraged to share their feedback and ask any questions they have. Each division has a quarterly meeting that provides the forum for giving information about the state of the business, and the company also uses newsletters and daily meetings with leaders in order to keep communications flowing.

Their Business Outcomes: During the past five years, Raven Industries has enjoyed an annual average of 15% in revenue growth, and the company’s Earnings per Share remains consistently strong, averaging 17% growth over the last five years. Additionally, Raven Industries ranking as one of America’s Best Small Companies is driven, in part, by the company’s strong return on equity, which has topped 25% for the last five years. Raven Industries’ average annual attrition rate is 11.7%, and the company’s annual healthcare costs are approximately $6,800 per enrollee.

RAVEN INDUSTRIES’

ORGANIZATIONAL

PURPOSE IS ROOTED

IN DECADES OF

EXPERIENCE AND

KNOWLEDGE

AND IS SIMPLE,

YET POWERFUL:

WE SOLVE GREAT

CHALLENGES.




A Model For SuccessThe case studies above highlight organizations which have established some of the best high performance cultures in the world. Although the case studies vary by industry, size, location, centralization and many other factors, they have many things in common, including:

• None were overnight successes—a high performance culture was the result of a purposeful journey and steadfast investment, even through difficult times.

• There is a leadership commitment at the highest levels.

• Strong measurements are in place to prove successes and redirect the organization to new areas of opportunity.

• Peer-influenced accountability drove systemic change.

• There is a strong emphasis on selecting and developing people, including the clear belief that people are the most valuable resource in the organization.

• There is a continual innovative and strategic focus on improving operations and culture.

• Both customers and suppliers are highly valued and viewed as strategic partners.

NONE WERE

OVERNIGHT

SUCCESSES—

A HIGH

PERFORMANCE

CULTURE WAS

THE RESULT OF

A PURPOSEFUL

JOURNEY AND

STEADFAST

INVESTMENT,

EVEN THROUGH

DIFFICULT TIMES



Metric Definition 2013 Goal

2013 Actual YTD Rating

Culture & People

Assessment Score - Culture Aggregate Assessment score of 5 areas of culture 75% 76%

Assessment Score - Engagement Aggregate Assessment score of 6 areas of engagement 75% 78%

Assessment Score - Well-Being Aggregate Assessment score of 5 areas of well-being 75% 72%

Compensation & Benefits % Satisfied with benefits offered 80% 72%

People Selection Total Turn-Over (Voluntary + Involuntary) 12% 10%

Communications Weekly communications sent to all people 52 1

Well-Being Participation Participation in 3+ events/classes 85% 51%

Growth & Development Training Evaluations - measure effectiveness of training 97% Positive 99%

Human CapitalSales/People Cost - Ratio of sales generated to cost of people 4.08 3.91

OP/People Cost - Ratio of profit generated to cost of people 0.53 0.48

Injury/Illness Rate OSHA injuly/illness rate (industry average is 4.9) 4.3 3.9

Sales & Operations

Revenue Total Sales versus budget $139.4M $18.55M

Close Business Annual value of projects closed during the year $21.0M $3.5M

Funnel Value Weighted value of sales funnel $42M $33.5M

New Strategic Initiatives Number of new initiatives w/ sales potential of $5mm 2 1

Customer Stability Weight retention of customers at 90% of 2011 sales 100% 100%

Customer Loyalty Index Avg. of “Recommend” on Customer/Supplier survey questions 4 3.51

Customer On-Time Delivery (Effectiveness) % of Shipments Delivered On-Time to our Customers 99.00% 99.20%

Productivity Improvement (Efficiency) Year over Year improvement in Conversion Costs 0% Variance to Budget 2.50%

Supplier Delivery Compliance % On-Time Deliveries 99% 99.18%

FIGURE 1

Assessment and MeasurementAs you read the case studies, a model for success begins to emerge. But before we talk about the business transformation process further, let’s make one thing perfectly clear: Both people initiatives and a high performance culture are measurable. The companies featured in the case studies knew exactly where they stood with their objective to create and maintain a high performing culture. This can be attributed to their regular assessment of culture, tracked metrics and actions in the spirit of continuous quality improvement.

In addition, these successful companies gave equal attention to both people/cultural metrics and operational metrics on the company performance dashboard. There was nothing soft about how culture was measured and managed as compared to operations. Successful companies know both are completely interrelated and mutually crucial.

Figure 1 provides an example of a balanced dashboard.

BOTH PEOPLE

INITIATIVES AND A

HIGH PERFORMANCE

CULTURE ARE

MEASURABLE




FIGURE 2

The LeversAll of the case study companies have an effective organizational foundation, with engaged workers exhibiting high vitality. In other words, they have The Big 3 in order. But on a more granular level, there were actions taken within each of these three areas that resulted in high performance. We refer to these actions as the 10 Levers.

Think of the 10 Levers as the keys to unlocking the highest performing culture possible for your organization. All of the 10 levers are measurable and can be tied to outcomes, which ultimately determine the business performance of the organization. These levers are presented in Figure 2 and further explained below.

1. Organizational Purpose

The journey to find the optimal culture for your organization begins here. Developing organizational purpose can involve establishing foundational beliefs and drivers, defining organizational mission and, most importantly, determining what makes people want to be a part of/work with your organization. An important part of this process is to help people clarify their own purpose in life and identify how it aligns with the organizational purpose.

Most workers are not clear on their own personal purpose in life, let alone the purpose of the company. Helping each worker discover his or her own purpose, and how that purpose relates to the company purpose, can vastly change work dynamics. Colleagues perform for a greater good and see work as more fulfilling. As a result they do it with more enthusiasm, care and commitment.

Optimal Business

Performance

ColleagueConviction

Compensation & Benefits Syngery

Effective People Selection

Organizational Purpose

Work Environment Optimization

Customer & Supplier

Collaboration

People Development

Leadership Accountability

Communications Colleague Well-Being



2. Communications

Communicating to your people is mission critical, and yet most organizations struggle to find the right balance of timing, types and resources needed for optimal communications. Most organizations have many opportunities to improve communications, and all of these should be pursued. However, only great companies drive communication down to the colleague-to-colleague level. With an effective communications strategy, many actions are taken at the lowest possible level, allowing management to focus on the important tasks required to successfully operate the company.

3. Effective People Selection

Effective hiring reduces turnover and overall employment costs, boosts morale and optimizes performance. Establishing a process that helps you determine the best fit, talent, and skills (in that order) of your people and identifying the characteristics of top performers will help you find people who will become stewards of your culture and the fuel of the performance of your organization.

Most companies hire primarily on the credentials of the candidate pool. A better approach is fit first. If a person is not a good cultural fit, once hired both the candidate and the company suffer. This is not to say that a company should have a homogenized workforce. Quite to the contrary, diversity is invaluable. However, the most productive environment is established when workers believe in the company mission, and see that it aligns with their personal mission and goals, allowing them to thrive in their roles.

4. Compensation and Benefits Synergy

Your compensation and benefits plans can be major tools to recruit and retain the highest caliber of talent. Going beyond your health care plan, it is important to create a well-rounded compensation and benefits package aligned with culture, business strategy and desired outcomes. Recent research has demonstrated that when the compensation and benefit plan is consistent with a high-performance culture, workers are better custodians of the benefits.

COMMUNICATING

TO YOUR PEOPLE IS

MISSION CRITICAL,

AND YET MOST

ORGANIZATIONS

STRUGGLE TO

FIND THE RIGHT

BALANCE OF

TIMING, TYPES AND

RESOURCES NEEDED

FOR OPTIMAL

COMMUNICATIONS.




5. Colleague Conviction

Getting your people fully committed is the key to reaching your goals and a primary challenge for many businesses. From finding the right rewards and recognition for your people, to helping find new opportunities to learn and grow, strong colleague conviction will be key to optimizing your business performance. You will know you have optimized engagement if your people are excited to come to work four out of five days of the week (five out of five is unrealistic).

A highly convicted workforce is essential for optimal business performance. Unfortunately, workplace engagement is at an all-time low. There are many ways to measure colleague conviction and many more ways to improve and optimize it. You will know you have optimized engagement if your people are excited to come to work and go home fulfilled four out of five days of the week (five out of five is unrealistic).

6. Work Environment Optimization

This is about more than just workspace layout and ergonomics. Work environment optimization is about creating an environment aligned with your cultural and operational objectives, where people feel comfortable and inspired to produce exceptional work. Optimizing work environment can be as simple as developing policies that uphold your cultural objectives.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index reported that 31 percent of workers who said they worked in a neutral to poor work environment also said they were “angry most of yesterday.” Interestingly, people living in the poorest 100 counties in the US, as well as countries like Sierra Leone and Haiti, report a similar amount of anger.

What is the moral of the story? A poor work environment is as anger producing as living in poverty. There are many opportunities for the typical employer to improve the work environment. For instance, if you encourage your people to eat better, make sure there is nutritious food in the cafeteria and vending machines. If you encourage your workers to exercise, make sure there is flexibility in the daily work schedule and a safe place around the worksite. Often enormous impact on performance can be gained with simple, inexpensive modifications to work environment.

7. People Development

It takes great leaders at every level to establish a high performance culture. The best organizations find ways to ensure everyone is involved in the leadership of the organization. Succession planning, developing your people’s strengths, helping people find different ways to contribute to your organization—all of these things are a part of showing your people that they are, by far, your organization’s most important resource.

Most companies do a pretty good job of helping management improve. Often the missed opportunity is at the rank and file level. For instance, how do you help line workers in a manufacturing organization grow? Often the answer is by teaching them life skills such as planning for retirement, hobby building, behavior change programs and community service.

FROM FINDING THE

RIGHT REWARDS

AND RECOGNITION

FOR YOUR PEOPLE,

TO HELPING FIND

NEW OPPORTUNITIES

TO LEARN AND

GROW, OPTIMIZING

ENGAGEMENT

WILL BE KEY TO

OPTIMIZING

YOUR BUSINESS

PERFORMANCE.



The companies that continually develop their people both professionally and personally have the best retention, the most committed people, and the highest colleague conviction. The desire for personal growth is a basic human need companies can facilitate to optimize business performance.

8. Leadership Accountability

It is important for your leaders to have a single source of truth for key performance indicators. For most organizations, key performance indicators are heavily skewed towards operational metrics. Therefore, leaders are more focused on operations, instead of having a more balanced approach that includes culture.

Finding cultural key performance indicators that can be elevated to the same importance as operational metrics will help your leaders find a better balance that will improve all objectives.

In the case study companies, all of the leadership was fully committed, actively engaged and supportive of their people. Leaders must be held just as accountable for their people metrics as they are to operational metrics. Leaders who are not impeccable in supporting the high performance culture are detrimental and must evolve or be replaced.

9. Colleague Well-Being

Well-being is where many companies struggle the most. Well-being initiatives can impact health outcomes, control costs and optimize the vitality of your people. Unfortunately, well-being programs are often plagued with apathetic leadership support and low participation.

Emotional, social, physical, and financial well-being plays an enormous role in how workers perform. Research has correlated workers’ well-being levels to worker annual performance score, healthcare cost, unscheduled PTO use, engagement, intention to stay with their current employers, and leadership scores.

Furthermore, the aggregate well-being scores of groups of workers have been correlated with how they perform, both

physically and financially, as a work unit. Overall well-being can be improved at work, which

after all is where people spend a majority of their waking hours. The well-being of the workforce is within the control of every employer and improving it is an important part of creating a high performance culture, as evidenced in the case study companies.

LEADERS MUST BE

HELD JUST AS

ACCOUNTABLE

FOR THEIR PEOPLE

METRICS AS THEY

ARE TO OPERATIONAL

METRICS.







FIGURE 3

10. Customer and Supplier Collaboration

Your relationships with customers and suppliers are just as vital to your organization as those with your people. The best organizations use their cultural strategies to guide their relationships with both their customers and their suppliers.

Most companies maintain a good relationship with their customers. Great companies even measure it. This avoids unpleasant surprises. Great companies also measure their relationships with their suppliers. High performing companies see their suppliers as an extension of their own workforces and endeavor to make those relationships symbiotic. They also have a continuous effort in place to keep those relationships with customers and supplies productive.

Each of the 10 Levers map to one of the Big 3, which provides the starting point for the strategies which can be deployed in every organization. This mapping is presented in Figure 3.

THE BEST

ORGANIZATIONS

USE THEIR CULTURAL

STRATEGIES TO GUIDE

THEIR RELATIONSHIPS

WITH BOTH THEIR

CUSTOMERS AND

THEIR SUPPLIERS.


©2 0 1 3 W e l l n e s s C o u n c i l o f A m e r i c a w w w . w e l c o a . o r g 23

• Organizational Purpose

• Communication

• Work Environment Optimization

• Leadership Accountability

OrganizationalFoundation

• People Selection

• Compensation & Benefits Synergy

• Colleague Conviction

• People Development

• Customer & Supplier Collaboration

Engagement

Colleague Well-Being• Physical• Emotional• Social• Financial• Personal Purpose

Vitality

Taking Action To Improve PerformanceAs can be seen from the case studies, successful organizations have a strategic plan in place to drive performance. Much of the focus is on pulling the 10 Levers continually. How can this be achieved? Figure 4 shows the actions which must be taken to effectively pull the levers, and examples of how each lever impacted one or more of the case study organizations.

AS CAN BE SEEN

FROM THE CASE

STUDIES, SUCCESSFUL

ORGANIZATIONS

HAVE A STRATEGIC

PLAN IN PLACE TO

DRIVE PERFORMANCE.



FIGURE 4

Big 3 Lever Possible Actions Case Study Examples

Organizational Foundation

Organizational Purpose • Develop clearly defined set of beliefs/drives/values

• Conduct individual purpose/life planning classes

• Conduct leadership purpose exercises

• Align individual purpose with organizational purpose through the talent selection process

• Purpose marketing/communication campaign development

• Carry purpose into the community

Life Planning Classes at Lincoln Industries help people examine their lives from different aspects in order to define their purpose.

Raven Industries has developed purpose statements for each of the organization’s business units in order to help people better identify purpose with daily work activities.

Gundersen facilitates alignment with purpose as part of the selection process by utilizing hiring compacts.

Communication • Develop an internal communication strategy

• Develop communication cadence/calendar

• Develop forum for colleagues to effectively communicate ideas/suggestions

• Determine existing/needed media

• Identify the communications people/resources needed

• Develop advanced communication strategies

All four of the case study companies have a clearly defined roundtable process that enables colleagues to talk to leadership about emerging issues on a regular basis.

Raven Industries offers several avenues of communications and feedback sharing, including quarterly meetings with all team members, the annual colleague opinion survey, and monthly newsletters.

Gundersen recently completed a communications audit. The company looked at all of its communications outlets, determined which were the most effective, and determined how to best leverage social media outlets in order to communicate its messages. One of the most popular communications methods is GundU Views, which are short videos (must be 6 minutes or less in length) that concisely give the information needed in a format that is simple to digest and easily accessible on the intranet.


FIGURE 4 (continued)




Organizational Foundation (continued)

Work Environment • Environmental and safety audit

• Safety initiatives developed and communicated

• Environment and work flexibility friendly policies

• Develop initiatives aimed at improving physical workspace

• Determine small investment, big impact work environment improvement opportunities

Raven Industries has leveraged the company’s workspace in order to provide colleagues with an onsite clinic, onsite fitness classes, and healthy options in vending machines.

Barry-Wehmiller has developed a Safety Covenant that clearly spells out the safety responsibilities of the organization and its colleagues.

As part of a safety and prevention initiative, Gundersen installed bed lifts in order to make it easier for staff to lift patients – this initiative reduced workers’ compensation costs by 48%.

Leadership Accountability • Establish/confirm leadership model

• Develop roles/responsibilities structure

• Determine how leaders will have high visibility in driving the high-performance culture

• Individual and organizational best practices capture and benchmarking

• 360 degree evaluation process

• Balanced scorecard with equal focus on people and operational metrics

Gundersen’s compacts, which are an integral part of the hospital’s selection process, help colleagues understand roles, responsibilities and expectations.

Lincoln Industries develops a monthly dashboard that includes both operational and cultural metrics in order to drive change and ensure visibility.

Barry-Wehmiller has developed a set of leadership principles that help guide the decisions and behavior of all leaders in the organization.

Engagement

People Selection • Develop talent pool process for auditing talent in the organization

• Develop talent profile for each position

• Train for hiring on fit, talent and skill

• Determine appropriate interviewing style for each position

• Develop recruitment materials

• Develop visible and vibrant internal posting and promotion process

Raven Industries utilizes a fit first model for people selection. The company determines cultural fit by analyzing 16 values that they look for in a person throughout the selection process.

Lincoln Industries also utilizes a fit first model for selection. Additionally, Lincoln Industries has developed a comprehensive internal posting process that keeps colleagues informed on opportunities company-wide.

Gundersen screens all candidates on their ability for service and caring, which aligns with their culture objectives, and all candidates are given a fit assessment at the time of hire.

Compensation And Benefits Synergy • Establish a written compensation and benefit philosophy (e.g., personal ownership, results, etc.)

• Audit compensation and benefit structure

• Develop a communication plan for compensation and benefits/personal responsibility

• Establish initiatives that reduce cost, promote prevention, and increase colleague commitment

• Identify potential non-traditional compensation and benefits

• Develop an absence prevention strategy

While Barry-Wehmiller has a consumer driven health plan (CDHP), and this is consistent with the company’s philosophy of spending less on healthcare benefits and instead putting it toward a people-centric culture that enables people to thrive and find their optimal well-being. The overarching compensation and benefits strategy is to pay people fairly, but to treat them exceptionally.

Lincoln Industries offers a competitive compensation and benefits structure, and the company has utilized outcomes-based incentives for metabolic syndrome and smoking risk factors. Keeping consistent with the company’s beliefs and drivers that define accountability and a results-based culture, every colleague at Lincoln Industries is eligible for the annual profit sharing, which keeps colleagues engaged and constantly driving the business forward.



Engagement (continued)

Colleague Conviction • Identify team building activities/launch actions

• Develop action team process aimed at organizational improvements

• Recognize and reinforce empowerment throughout the organization

• Intrinsic and extrinsic rewards/recognition initiatives tailored to the population

• Identify supervisor roles in optimizing conviction

• Improve leadership as a face-to-face activity

Raven Industries CEO has purposefully created an entrepreneurial atmosphere in which colleagues are encouraged to celebrate successes and find the joy in winning as a team each day. The company’s lofty vision statement enables colleagues to find innovative and challenging ways to engage colleagues.

Lincoln Industries has a monthly meeting called Champions during which colleagues are encouraged to share success stories, celebrate wins, and reveal new ideas and innovations that are the future of the organization. Additionally, empowerment is a central theme of the company’s overarching purpose and is reflected in the company’s beliefs and drivers.

People Development • Train on how to lead a high performing culture

• Create formal and informal mentoring programs

• Develop rotational options for all-stars

• Establish/enhance comprehensive professional development planning

• Establish/enhance comprehensive performance review process

• Development focused on understanding the business, continuing education, etc.

Barry-Wehmiller University delivers professional growth and development opportunities to colleagues in several different ways, including classroom, online, and hands-on training. Some of the course subjects include communications, people-centric leadership, and Lean principles.

Gundersen has established a comprehensive approach to people development. The hospital utilizes internal and external resources in its people development processes. Development opportunities such as online learning courses, outside speakers brought in for specific topics, tuition reimbursement and even nursing emotional health/nurturing programs are available

Customer And Supplier Collaboration • Establish strategy to treat suppliers as an extension of the organization

• Regular cadence of customer visits by senior executives

• Create customer and supplier advisory council

• Develop customized surveys for customers and suppliers

• Conduct “learning conferences”

• Host open houses for customers and suppliers

Barry-Wehmiller has developed a “Culture of Service” course aimed at helping people understand how they can better serve internal and external customers. The company is also currently developing a Customer Experience School for colleagues in customer facing roles to have more training on customer fundamentals.

Lincoln Industries utilizes a Supplier Advisory Council to keep the business connected to the needs of suppliers and the trends in the supply chain industries. The Supplier Advisory Council also provides a unique perspective on areas where Lincoln Industries can optimize its supply chain.






Vitality

Physical, Emotional, Social, and Financial Well-Being; Personal Purpose

• Determine how well-being will be resourced

• Create an internal well-being brand with communications

• Make corporate policies/practices well-being friendly

• Training/ accountability for maintaining a well-being culture

• Create a well-being incentive program

• Provide state-of-the-art well-being programs in all focus areas

• Provide opportunities to get involved in the community

The primary goal of the well-being programs at Raven Industries is help the company achieve its purpose. This goal is a key guiding principle in the types of programs that are offered.

Lincoln Industries has created a tiered incentive program to help drive participation in well-being activities and programs. The company offers programs for every realm of well-being, and the colleagues who achieve the highest level in the incentive structure are eligible for a company paid trip to climb a 14,000 feet mountain in Colorado.

Barry-Wehmiller also invests significantly in programs and initiatives aimed at improving colleague well-being. From stocking fruit baskets in cubicles to healthy recipe contests to pedometers, Barry-Wehmiller has found ways to reach many of their colleagues and positively impact well-being.



The Outcomes AchievedAs is presented in Figure 5, the case study organizations were purposeful in their assessment of their cultures, took actions to optimize the performance of their people, and thus created a high-performance culture that drove top and bottom line performance. Their success did not come overnight. It took hard work and constant attention, but it ultimately paid off.

It all ties together. By creating the right organizational foundation and leadership, people have the opportunity to thrive. People who thrive have higher vitality and are more engaged in life, including when they are at work. By putting more energy into their people, rather than more aggressively managing operations, the case study companies improved their performance and surpassed their competitors.

As is presented in Figure 6, they did this by transforming themselves in a way that naturally reduced unnecessary spending, created operating efficiencies, improved the engagement of the workers and suppliers and delighted customers. All of this, when combined with their unique and compelling business strategies, resulted in top and bottom line growth, the true measure of business performance.

BY CREATING

THE RIGHT

ORGANIZATIONAL

FOUNDATION

AND LEADERSHIP,

PEOPLE HAVE THE

OPPORTUNITY

TO THRIVE.



RebalanceCorporateMetrics

Pull 10 Transformational Levers

Assess The

Big 3EvolveTheCulture

FIGURE 5

Measurement

Vitality

Engagement

Organizational Foundation

Leadership

Busines

s Tra

nsform

ation

Measurable Outcomes

ReducedAbsenteeism

OptimalBusiness

Performance

ReducedHealthcare

CostsHigher

CustomerSatisfaction

ImprovedEngagement

ReducedTurnover

LowerWorkers’

Comp

FIGURE 6

People, Not Aggressive Management, Drive Optimal Business Performance


The Commitment Required As has been discussed, building a high performance culture is not easy and the devil is in the details. One of the most important details is the commitment required, because it is significant and long term. The case study companies accomplished it by taking continuous action on many fronts, continuing to measure the results of their actions, and by committing to it for life.

The commitment must start in the C-suite. The CEO and his or her immediate team must own it. Of course managers throughout the organization must ultimately embrace it and thus own it, too. Finally, the entire organization must believe in the value of a high performance culture and live it with pride through the work they do.

The case study companies are exemplary when it comes to the commitment required. Some of the traits they exhibit are:

• The CEO owns the responsibility for the company gaining and maintaining a high performance culture. He or she must pay attention to it every day. This responsibility cannot be delegated.

• A means to measure the people metrics of high performance culture must be in place, and given equal importance to operational metrics. Managers failing at the people metrics pose just as big (if not bigger) risk to the organization as managers failing at operations.

• The effort must be comprehensive and adequately funded. In the effort to build and maintain a high performance culture, there can be no short-cuts. Once all of the initiatives that will be undertaken are identified, adequate budget must be in place for effective implementation.

• Everyone should be expected to help build and maintain a high performance culture. It should be clearly stated in the vision and mission statement of the organization, and in its stated core values. Managers must be held accountable for achieving it, and workers must embrace it at all levels.

• Everyone who embraces the mission must be rewarded for it, with those who are exceptional receiving special recognition.

• There must be a commitment to never let off the throttle. A continuous improvement attitude helps the high performance culture continue to evolve, improve, achieve new things, and bring a sense of pride to the organization and all of its people.

ONE OF THE MOST

IMPORTANT DETAILS

IS THE COMMITMENT

REQUIRED, BECAUSE

IT IS SIGNIFICANT AND

LONG TERM.



Common Barriers

As might be anticipated, and even often mentioned by the case study companies, there are many possible obstacles to success. Some of the most common are:

• Inertia around the status quo—in other words, there is a lack of enthusiasm to advance beyond where the organization is at present.

• Failure to recognize when the old paradigm is no longer in the organization’s best interest.

• The misconception or even uninformed perception that average is good enough—when this happens often opportunity is left on the table.

• A disbelief in the potential value of the opportunity—said differently, not believing that the investment of time and resources in developing a high performance culture will more than pay for itself (possibly driven by risk aversion).

• An inability to quantify the cost of doing nothing or conversely the value of taking action.

• Wavering C-suite support.

• Failure to develop the assessment and measurement tools that quantify the current and future people metrics and culture - In other words, flying blind.

• Aiming low—not taking a comprehensive enough approach to be successful.

• Under resourcing efforts crucial to building a high performance culture, such as actions under the 10 Levers.

• Not holding managers accountable for continuous improvement of people metrics, and the corporate actions that drive them.

• Not rewarding high performance behavior.

• Creating an environment where the effort seems disingenuous. In other words, high performance is given lip service but the actions that drive it are not initiated. Examples include a failure to have an adequate employee well-being program, inadequate compensation and benefits for the industry, failing to address work environment issues, etc.

• Failure to communicate the importance of a high performance culture and the actions being taken to achieve one to workers (as well as failure to get their buy-in).

AS MIGHT BE

ANTICIPATED,

AND EVEN OFTEN

MENTIONED BY

THE CASE STUDY

COMPANIES, THERE

ARE MANY POSSIBLE

OBSTACLES TO

SUCCESS.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

ABOUT PERFORMANCE pH,

VISIT:

www.performph.com


30 w w w . w e l c o a . o r g ©2 0 1 3 W e l l n e s s C o u n c i l o f A m e r i c a

http://www.performph.com


Final ThoughtsThere is significant opportunity for American businesses to have better top and bottom line performance, yet much of this potential remains untapped. The case study companies presented above have demonstrated what can happen when purposeful effort is focused on developing a high performance culture. They also found that the efforts and resources they put into their cultures paid for themselves many times over.

Building a high performance culture is not easy, but it is within the reach of virtually any company in any industry. What it takes is the vision, fortitude, resources, and the commitment to move from good to great. Is your organization ready for the journey?

BUILDING A HIGH

PERFORMANCE

CULTURE IS NOT EASY,

BUT IT IS WITHIN THE

REACH OF VIRTUALLY

ANY COMPANY IN

ANY INDUSTRY.






About The Companies Gundersen Health System

Gundersen Health System is a comprehensive healthcare network based in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Gundersen’s services include one of the nation’s largest multi-specialty group medical practices, teaching hospital, regional community clinics, affiliate hospitals and clinics, behavioral health services, vision centers, pharmacies, and air and ground ambulances. For more information on Gundersen, please visit www.gundersenhealth.org.

Barry-Wehmiller

Barry-Wehmiller is a diversified global supplier of manufacturing technology and services across a broad spectrum of industries. The company’s emphasis on making a positive and lasting impact on the individuals and families who are touched by their association with Barry-Wehmiller rests at the heart of the company’s leadership practices. To learn more about Barry-Wehmiller, please visit www.barry-wehmiller.com or check out CEO Bob Chapman’s Truly Human Leadership blog at www.trulyhumanleadership.com.

Raven Industries

Raven Industries was founded in Sioux Falls, SD, in 1956 as a manufacturer of high-altitude research balloons for the American space program to help solve a great challenge in space exploration. Today, Raven is a diversified technology company that embraces an integrated approach, where all operations support each other, sharing knowledge and best practices. To learn more about Raven Industries, please visit www.ravenind.com.

Lincoln Industries

Lincoln Industries, formerly known as Lincoln Plating, was founded in 1952 by Dale LeBaron. Over the following two decades, what began as a small custom shop specializing in made-to-order solutions for consumers shifted to an organization focused on serving the needs of regional businesses. Lincoln Industries uses its metal finishing and supply chain management expertise to focus on your issues—corrosion, wear, aesthetics, heat, friction—to create the best solution. To learn more about Lincoln Industries, please visit www.lincolnindustries.com.




Wellness Council of America [WELCOA]17002 Marcy Street, Suite 140

Omaha, NE 68118Phone: 402.827.3590 | Fax: 402.827.3594

www.welcoa.org

Performance pH10712 Eldorado CircleNoblesville, IN 46060

Phone: 888.875.3488 | Fax: 402.475.9565 www.performph.com

T H E W E L L N E S S CO U NC I L O F A M E R I C A P R E ...Case StudyA WELCOA OPTIMIZING BUSINESS...

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