I met Stony earlier this month on a flight from Newark to Houston. He was on his way home to Mobile, Alabama. I was on my way to deliver a keynote presentation to the Texas General Counsel Forum in San Antonio.
Stony was working in the New York area for 9 days replacing all of the hydraulic lines on the largest dredge on the planet, which was temporarily dry-docked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Its next assignment: hitch a tow to Central America and then deepen and widen the Panama Canal.
His employer is the largest hydraulic maintenance contractor in the US. As we conversed during our flight, it became clear to me that Stony was highly experienced, well trained, motivated, and clearly proud of and very good at what he does. For his organization, Stony represents the “tip of the spear,” or the front line – where the heavy lifting, blocking and tackling, and money of the business is made.
I asked if he had time during his stay to visit Manhattan. He answered, “No – and it’s too bad, because I’ve never been in the city and I’d really like to see it. We worked 12-15 hour days, so there wasn’t any time.”
When I followed up and inquired where he stayed while working in Brooklyn, he told me that his team stayed in a hotel in New Jersey approximately 50-60 minutes from the work site.
“Wow,” I said. “You were working 12-15 hour days and had to commute an hour each way? I’m sure there are plenty of reasonable accommodations much closer to the Brooklyn Navy Yard.”
Upon hearing this, Stony paused, thought for a moment, and then through a frustrated smile said: “Well, you know how Corporate works.”
The truth of Stony’s situation is his belief that “Corporate” doesn’t care. Unfortunately, there is ample evidence to support him. After all, who in their right mind would put a work crew in a hotel an hour away from a 12-15 hour per day job when there are plenty of closer (and affordable) alternatives? To his credit, he never complained to me about it; he just shrugged it off as if resigned to his fate.
As our flight touched down smoothly in Houston, I knew that there had to be much more to the story. I wondered what else Stony knew that none of the people at “Corporate” cared to ask him about – and I wondered what that lack of open communication was costing all of them.
Who are the “Stonys” – the most experienced, most valuable, most dedicated front line employees – in your organization or department? What can you learn from them? Do you have mechanisms in place to regularly solicit their input and feedback or does communication in your organization tend to flow only 1-way – from top to bottom?
High performing organizations have deliberate 2-way communication and feedback mechanisms in place to tap the collective wisdom of their front line staff. Find the Stonys! Then start asking the right questions to further engage them and learn from them.
