Does this approach to financial transparency, education and sound metrics work? That is the real question.
About five months ago, I met with Josh Hutchins, owner and manager of Two Men and a Truck in Fargo, ND. The industry has narrow profit-margins, which heightens the need – and the tension – to focus on key metrics. We had a great conversation over the course of two hours, during which I recommended The Great Game of Business to him. We connected again three months later when Josh wanted my help finalizing the 2025 bonus plan for his company.
Josh had read Jack Stack’s book three times in those three months. With the help of the book and his own business acumen, he had developed a good bonus plan that would pay his team quarterly based on their success. I helped tweak a few things: using the same three metrics across the teams and payout planning (less in the first two quarters, more in the third and the balance in the fourth quarter).
We also talked about the importance of the weekly huddles. The one week look back of what happened and the four weeks look ahead with the most focus on the current and next week.
When we reconnected about a month later, Josh said he felt a bit disappointed because the team didn’t seem very engaged in the huddles – he was still doing the bulk of the talking. I suggested that whenever a manager brings in something new, it takes time to get folks to understand the process. And often the process needs both repetition and some adjustment. I also encouraged him to have people from each of the teams bring their numbers to the huddle and do the reports in person.
How are they doing six weeks into the new year? Amazing. Josh shared a few outcomes that demonstrate the value of metrics, giving people a stake in the outcome and open communication.
- The team raises the questions about when the numbers are not what was expected.
- They aren’t blaming; they are asking each other: What happened? What can we do about it?
- He isn’t getting frustrated or angry about when things are missed. The team sees and is catching the issues themselves.
- The first quarter in their business tends to run at a loss – it is just the cycle of this business just as it is the cycle of other businesses affected by weather in the upper Midwest. Interestingly, they had their best January ever and ran a profit; small as it was, it was better than a loss, obviously.
- The team is working together better.
Happier employees, happy customers, happier owners. We all win when we all win.
