Charles Plumb tells a story about 'knowing your people' to audiences throughout the country. Charles, a 1965 Naval Academy graduate, was enjoying dinner with his wife at one of their favorite restaurants when a man at a nearby table exclaimed “You’re Plumb? You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the Aircraft Carrier Kitty Hawk? You were shot down in ’69? My God, it’s good to see you!”
Indeed, Charles Plumb had flown jets from Kitty Hawk. After 75 missions, his plane took a hit that brought it down in enemy territory. He was able to eject himself and launch his parachute before being captured. He spent the next six years in solitary confinement.
Plumb didn’t recognize his friendly stranger. “How did you know that?” he said.
The man responded, “I packed your parachute! I guess it worked!”
Plumb couldn’t sleep that night for trying to place the man’s face. His name didn’t ring a bell either. He wondered how many times he might have passed him on the Kitty Hawk, how many times they might have spoken to each other. Plumb couldn’t shake the nagging truth: He didn’t remember the individual responsible for saving his life in Vietnam because fighter pilots didn’t typically have much to do with the boat crew. But the sailor sure knew Plumb. Plumb thought about the many hours the sailor must have spent carefully folding the silks of each chute. The sailor was fully aware of how important his work was – and who it was for. And Plumb didn’t even remember this guy!
Charles Plumb’s story is true. There are similar stories within every organization. That is, don’t we all have someone that “packs our chute” each day? It may be the customer service representative, an assembly line worker or the supervisor who manages a department. CEO’s, general managers and perhaps other members of upper management are sometimes like those fighter pilots in that they don’t have much time or much to do with the rest of the crew. Are you or other members of top management out of touch with the contributions your employees' make? Are you going through the motions of running your company without acknowledging the human beings that make it possible?
Don’t feel bad. We have all done it. It is easy for this to happen, but it doesn’t mean that it is OK to stay that way. Employee recognition is a fundamental component of what is fast becoming the oxymoron of the day in corporate America “employee loyalty.” People want to work for someone that appreciates their efforts. Appreciation is shown through monetary rewards, but the truth is, people work for people and if they are not treated with respect and dignity, you will never have enough money to captivate their loyalty.
What do we need to do different in dealing with the people who “pack our parachutes” every day?
1 . We need to expect our managers to know their people. Not only know their first and last names, but know something about them, such as who they eat with, are they married; what’s their spouse’s name; and if they have children – what are their names? They should know what interests them beyond their job.
2. You need to ask all of your people what they like and dislike about the company and their job. Most of our clients ask us to conduct employee opinion surveys of all their employees so that through this confidential means, employees can tell management what they like and dislike. One of the most effective ways of demonstrating an interest in a person is to ask them their opinion. An opinion survey will accomplish this. Granted, you can’t satisfy everyone and their desires, but the least you can do is listen and then let everyone know how they rated the company and in those areas that you can do something about, action plans should be developed.
3. Sending a letter to the home costs 39¢ and a little bit of time. When was the last time you sent your employees a hand-written letter thanking them for their performance or recognizing their birthday or employment anniversary date? One of our clients, who has more energy than most people, has written birthday cards to all 600 employees within his organization each year for many years and often with a personal note to the particular individual.
In conclusion, 2007 can turn out to be a great year for your company if you remember who packed your parachute.