Positioning Systems Blog

Imagine a number that by increasing it by just 2% you could increase your bottom line by $70 Million in profit. That’s what Brad Anderson former CEO at Best Buy discovered and established when he determined what the company’s core score should be. 

 

Anderson realized what author Aubrey Daniels knows and preaches in his books Oops and Bringing Out the Best in People. You can increase performance by as much as 40% if your employees are actively engaged in the business. 

 

Brad Anderson’s influence on the success of Best Buy is documented in Marcus Buckingham’s book, The One Thing You Need to Know.   Anderson determined whom hispeople should serve, and that their strength lied in the intelligence, insight and creativity of their front line employees. The next step was to identify one score that would track their progress toward a better future: number of engaged employees.

 

How do you determine whether your people are engaged or not? Best Buy used questions from Gallup Research’s book First Break All the Rules, the Q12, as they are known by Gallup Researchers. These questions include, “Do you know what’s expected of you at work?”; “At work does someone seem to care about you?”; and included, “Do you have a best friend at work?” 

 

Brad Anderson believes in the balanced scorecard that we hear so much about, and in fact he requires his managers to create balanced scorecards. He realized however that balanced scorecards are for managing, not leading. He realized that the most important score was how many employees in each store felt fully engaged in work. Customers would be well served, and front line employees would be intelligent, insightful and creative only insofar as each employee was being managed superbly. The terms of the First Break All the Rules 12 question survey ensures that clear expectations are established, employee’s roles fit their talents, managers care about them and praise them when they excel, and they have the sense that they are learning and growing at work.

 

Best Buy’s success can be measured in a variety of ways. So can your business. Brad Anderson’s bet was that if each store could increase the number of its engaged employees it would see an increase in the more traditional measures of corporate success. At the time of the printing of Marcus Buckingham’s book, The One Thing You Need to Know the numbers borne him out. Just a 2% increase in employee engagement resulted in an additional$70 million in profitability. 

 

What’s your core score?   What one thing in your business do you need to focus on and communicate to your people? What is the one thing your people can focus on to help your business dramatically improve?

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Positioning Systems helps business owners and entrepreneurs transform their business.   We provide the tools and coaching to help you take control of your business -- rather then having your business control you.