New Year’s Resolutions: Create Successful Teams and a Sound Strategy

Dan Key, SVP, Operations & Supply Chain at Axalta Coating Systems spends a lot of time analyzing successful teams and how they win. He has found that many of them have similar characteristics.

• They have a system, they hire people that fit that system, and they develop that system over time.
• They mix A+ players with a lot of B players that know their role in the organization.
• They’re not afraid to let people go (not even the A+ talent), but rather see it as an opportunity to change and improve.
• They define a sound strategy that everyone on the team can understand.

As we make our New Year’s resolutions to improve our organizations in 2018, consider some of Key’s tips to creating successful teams and a sound strategy.

Believe in the Bell Curve

Everyone wants to get top talent, but this is not a reality. In reality, the bell curve exists. 10-20% of your talent will be superstars, but it is important to build a strong support base as well. The other thing about the top talent is that they have other options – and sometimes it’s best to let them go. 75% of employees who accepted counter-offers by the company they were trying to leave ended up leaving anyway in 6 months. This will happen more and more, as 91% of Gen Z employees do not expect to stay with a company longer than three years. It’s great to have superstars, but it’s best to build a system and a culture that can function without those superstars.

Define the Right Goals

Keep goals at a high level and make sure they are not overly prescriptive. Keep in mind that if you write these goals down, give them to people, and base their annual appraisal around them, then that’s what they’re going to do (at all costs). Make sure you build in room to be flexible and respond to market changes.

Keep your Strategy Simple

When you have a sound strategy, everyone from the shop floor to the top floor understands it. Those on the top floor should be able to explain this to those on the shop floor, and vice versa. If there is a disconnect, you don’t have a sound strategy.

In order to create this connection, you need to keep your strategy simple. As Key says, “write the ten commandments, not the Bible.”

The message has to be clear and effective and you must use multiple channels to communicate it. Every time you hold a town hall, start and end with the strategy. Find champions to sell the strategy, use visual aids in the workplace, and send emails. No one way is the right way.

Generis Group wishes you a Happy New Year! We hope to see you out at one of our 2018 events!

• American Manufacturing Summit | March 27- 29 | Lombard, IL
• American Supply Chain Summit | April 9-10 | Dallas, TX
• American Packaging Summit | June 6-7 | Chicago, IL
• American Biomanufacturing Summit | June 14-15 | San Francisco, CA
• American Pharmaceutical Outsourcing Summit | October 2-3 | Cherry Hill, NJ
• American Medical Device Summit | October 24-25 | Lombard, IL
• American Automotive Summit | November (exact date TBD) | Detroit, MI
• American Aerospace & Defense Summit | December 12 – 13 | Glendale, AZ