“Where people are found conflicts are found”, no doubt of that. Therefore, we shall start from the premise that “managing people always implies, to a greater or lesser extent, managing conflicts”. From this point of view, the principal task of a company’s board of directors is to establish and perform practices which minimize conflicts at an internal level. In this post I will share with you some of those habits that have given me the best results during the 22 years I was in charge of retail chains as their Managing Director. I will not cease to repeat that the advice and practices you will find below have been applied only to the retail sector, hence, they may possibly be useful only within this context and not in others. In any case, I believe that sharing my experience is convenient because I am sure that at least the Retail Managers who adopt this approach could prevent conflicts in their companies.
Make it clear that anyone can grow
In big companies we usually find an unwritten practice which consists in assuming that managers which belong to certain functional areas -such as Finances, Operations or Marketing, for example- have more possibilities of reaching a Managing Director position than those belonging to other areas –like HR or Legal. This cultural custom normally leads to tension between the company’s departments. Personally, I’ve always liked creating companies where anyone could grow, regardless of the business area to which they’re devoted to. In the Retail sector, besides having a very good performance in your functional area, a profound knowledge of the business is necessary. And, as the logical thing is to be a good worker in your direct work, the one who reaches the Managing Director position is he or she who has the profoundest knowledge and better implication with the business globally understood, that is understood as a POS network supported by a head office. And it’s also who lives it more.
Avoid conversations between two
I’ve always tried to summarize my directive and now consultant experiences with the following principle: “If you don’t have the solution, you’re part of the problem”. This adaptation of Les Luthiers’ famous sentence has prevented me not only from having people in my office complaining about others, but also from people distracting themselves from their work. Therefore, I’ve always tried to avoid conversations where two persons talk about a third one who is not there at that moment. It’s clear to me that the problems must blossom and not shut off, because the latter could be worst. Moreover, I believe that the proper way to treat problems should be in meetings, held in or out the office, and attended by all the implicated parties. My way to solve these inevitable quarrels is practicing team building activities with all the Directors. Besides, these activities are also very helpful in building an accurate mindset of the business out of which we all make a life of: our POS.
Make them understand what the true business is
Related to the previous point, a personal conviction I have always had is that when friction exists within a Retail chain it’s because the teams are really far from the POS. Even though some have called me loony for this, I’ve always liked that managers and other head office professionals spend time working with POS employees. For example, “One day working in a restaurant” was one of the initiatives I carried out as Burger King Spain and South Europe’s CEO. Also, another teambuilding activity, this one for the 40 managers with the highest positions in the company, was named “One week in a road”, in which we spent seven days visiting and working at the restaurants. This kind of initiatives makes the realization that all of us are part of the same business possible in head office employees. It also makes them more flexible and helps them empathize with their coworkers. For instance, after enduring a rush our Finance employees start to understand why the cash desk cannot be closed in the agreed hour. Of course, none of this would be possible if the general directors “don’t practice what they preach”. I remember a story related with this: a headhunter had wanted to meet with me for a while, but my schedule was full. Therefore, I suggested getting lunch together. He asked where, and I told him that in the Burger King of Hortaleza Street in Madrid. That day I had to work in that restaurant, and when he arrived I was mopping the floor. I still can clearly recall his surprised expression when I approached him and told him who I was.