Commitment: An important company value.

Making a commitment involves dedicating

yourself to something. This is one of your
most important company values.
Making a commitment obligates another that person to do
something, as well. Many companies contract consulting firms.
Many companies talk about their important company values.
The consultants lean on these and, through rigorous studies,
reviews, and establish plans to enact improvements.
Then, they never follow through to put in place the
recommendations. Why is this? Why put in all that work for
nothing? After all, this is an important company value.
I believe that they don’t want to make the
changes necessary to make the improvements
the company needs.
Too many companies hope that by some stroke of luck, things
will improve and they will be the beneficiary of that good
fortune. A famous saying is: “The harder I work, the luckier I
get”. I experienced that with my former company. The more
potential clients we met with, the more business we received.
When we saw fewer potentials, we received less work.
One of my favorite companies followed this axiom. My
company and I worked with them on many projects over the
course of 12 years. Our work involved all one-time
improvements they were seeking to make. Their staff focused
on day-to-day operations.
I cannot think of one project we worked on for which they did
not accept our findings. Our recommendations were all
enacted. We assisted based on the workload of the employees.
The key to their success was that they followed through. Then,
they reaped the benefits of the services for which they had paid
us.
They didn’t accept everything we
recommended at face value. They leaned into
their important company values of
communication and commitment.
Occasionally our findings were challenged. The project team
needed to understand the data and the information we
developed. Once they did, then they accepted our
recommendations. The executives knew how it would affect
them when implemented. There were no excuses as to why they
couldn’t make the recommended changes.
One of the projects that I worked on with this company was
developing a five – year operational strategic plan. The project
team had never done anything like this and didn’t know how to
develop one. I helped them to create one. A team member was
assigned to learn the process. That person was then responsible
to develop future plans.
Another project involved upgrading their thermoforming
process. Whoever had developed it had left the company and
they had no internal expertise. I worked with them on
developing a new process. It included new equipment and
layout of the department. There were regular reviews
throughout the project.

This company is very successful and has

grown by leaps and bounds and is over a
billion dollars in annual revenues.
Additional facilities were added through expansion and
acquisition. If they can be so successful why can’t others? Here
are some reasons that explain their success: :
• Clarity about what’s really going on – People who don’t
follow through don’t understand the problem(s) they are
 facing and don’t acknowledge that they are, in fact, the
problem. This company realizes that they have problems.
They value the time and money they are spending to do so,
take responsibility to do something with the information
they receive, and want to see results.
• This company is busy, proactive and attentive. Although
there may be many daily activities, they find time to work
on issues. If they can’t do both, they hire outside help. This
is a force multiplier.
There are no excuses about not having enough time to
make changes.
• They value investing in their company and carefully spend
their money. Financial independence is one of their
important company values. They realize that it takes an
investment to correct and improve things and are willing
to make that investment. Once they have, they make sure
that they get value for their outlay. Time and money have a
value to them. They expect a return on both.
Business Commitment Mechanism

Being committed also impacts your

employees.
I have always gone by the 20 – 60- 20 rule. 20% of your
employees are committed to the company and need little or no
motivation to get things done. They are your superstars.
The other 20% are the employees that need a stick of dynamite
to get moving. Even then they resist doing things outside their
norm. They have little attachment to important company
values.
That leaves the 60% who are waiting and watching. If they see
their leadership committed and reward those who are, they will
commit too. If they see indifference or a lack of commitment,
they will join the lower 20% and do the minimum.

A leader’s goal is to move the middle 60%

towards their superstars.
Managers certainly don’t want them to be in the lower 20%.
That doesn’t mean that they will all become superstars. When
the need arises they will work a little harder spending the time
necessary to get things done.
A well-functioning, successful business depends on
motivating this middle group of employees.
It also keeps the superstars properly committed. If over time
they see that there are no penalties for slacking, they may
become less involved. That could be fatal to accompany or
organization. So how does a leader keep this from happening?

There are five steps that a leader should take

to prevent a downshift.
• Develop and promote your vision – You must have a
vision for where you want your business to go. Your
employees’ work needs to help you achieve your vision
statement goals. For the employees to take ownership in
achieving the vision, they need to believe in it. They know
that you are committed and are
“Walking the talk”.
• The vision must be reinforced. This must be sincere.
Employees are smart people. They can see through
something that is superficial and must also know what
their role(s) will be and what your expectation of them is.
Employees who see the impact of their positions tend to be
more committed to the business’s success. They observe
how their mistakes can damage growth and will work to
minimize these.
 • Don’t micromanage employees’ work – Freedom is
critical to the employees’ ability to develop ownership in
their work. Micromanagement stifles creativity,
engagement, and ownership. Micromanaging limits their
ownership in projects and tasks. Instead of
micromanaging employees you should encourage them to
complete tasks how they want. Give the employees the
opportunity to share their opinions and ideas on how to do
their jobs. Employees who are heard and respected are
committed and engaged. Engagement and respect are
other important company values that great organizations
cultivate.
• Be involved with the employees – Determine what
the workers are looking for. Conduct regular review
meetings with them. How the company is progressing
towards this should be discussed. The employees should
provide updates on what and how they are doing.
Improvement ideas should be solicited.
• Provide incentives – Hard work and initiative should
be rewarded. Proper incentives should be utilized. These
can include Career advancement opportunities,
Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs),
Bonuses, and Gainsharing.

Successful companies are totally committed

to success.
They seek counsel, listen to what they are told and know what
they don’t know and aren’t afraid to admit it. They challenge
assumptions and recommendations. This is not to be difficult.
They do so but to be sure they understand. They want to be sure
that the work they are contracting for is thorough, accurate and
complete.
Where do you stand about Commitment?
This is one of the most important company
values.
Have you established a vision and are you unswerving in
making it a reality?
Are you “Walking the talk”?
Are you supporting this to your employees?
Do you think that you have control over your destiny? Or, do
you believe it is out of your control?

Successful companies have strong leaders

that have and are committed to, a vision.
They communicate this to their employees and assure that each
person knows their role in achieving this. They accept no
excuses for lack of execution and stay the course. Good leaders
are not distracted by the next great business idea. The leader is
always looking to see how the business environment is
changing. In that way, they stay ahead of the change curve. You
need to check your organization and leadership. You need to
ask yourself if you meet these points. Decide if it is time to
evaluate where you are coming up short. Then change what you
are doing and how you are going about profitably growing your
business. Make sure that commitment permeates your
company. This is one of the most important company values.
Make sure it exists and thrives on your own.