Streamline Training & Documentation: Semper Fi

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Semper Fi

To mark the Memorial Day weekend, I'm highlighting lessons one can draw from how the US military handles training. (I introduced this theme with a post on Michael Abrashoff's experiences as captain of the USS Benfold.)

Today's thoughts come from work Jon R. Katzenbach and Jason A. Santamaria described in a valuable 1999 article in the Harvard Business Review. The question was how to energize frontline workers. As Katzenbach and Santamaria describe the situation:

Because their work is monotonous and their chances for advancement are limited, most frontline employees work for a regular paycheck and nothing more; they never emotionally connect with their employers, let alone care about the company's long-term performance. Yet their impact on the customer's experience — not to mention the company's profits — can be enormous.

Research carried out jointly by McKinsey & Company and the Conference Board, found that the Marine Corps uses five practices that businesses can adapt to their own needs.

Overinvest in cultivating core values — For the Marines, the core values are honor, courage, and commitment, and they are reinforced heavily in recruitment and training.

Prepare every person to lead — "The Marines don't distinguish between followers and potential leaders; they believe every member of the Corps must be able to lead." Not only does training everyone in leadership have direct importance for preparing for the unpredictabilities of battle, but it also has a strong positive impact on morale.

Learn when and how to use teams — "A real team ... draws its motivation more from its mission and goals than from its leader. Members work together as peers and hold one another accountable for the group's performance and results."

Attend to all employees — Working with everyone, including those who are performing below expectations, can pay off by substantially reducing the costs of employee turnover.

Encourage self-discipline as a way of building pride — "The Marines respect discipline as control and punishment, but they also see it as an opportunity to build pride. ... [I]n their approach to discipline, the Marines are demanding that everyone on the front line act with honor, courage, and commitment. When people do so — on their own and as a group — enormous energy is unleashed."

In adapting the Marines' practices to civilian settings, the key considerations are making sure you have a meaningful set of core values that really do guide your organization; you have effective leadership training for employees at all levels; you know when a team approach is suitable for getting a task or project done, and when a leader-led group is more effective; your supervisors are trained in managing employees at all levels of performance; and, last but not least, you have a top-level commitment to encouraging self-discipline and group-discipline.

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Labels: Military training, Organizational culture

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