Growth requires change management

An organisation wanting to keep up with development has to keep an eye on qualifications.

The development from being a printed paper to an electronic media plus a printed paper has turbocharged the need to enhance the employees' qualifications at the Den Blå Avis (literally 'The Blue Paper') presently celebrating its 25th anniversary.

'With Den Blå Avis on the internet we have experienced very strong growth, and as a natural consequence light is being shed on new strategies.’ HR manager Lotte Sodemann explains. She has examples of processes changing from one week to the next. 'This is especially the case within sales, where employees have to communicate greater information volumes and more products to the customers.' Lotte Sodemann keeps track of 120 full-time and 80 part-time employees from the main office in Århus. There are 55 media consultants in corporate sales servicing professional advertisers on dba.dk and Den Blå Avis. Recently the mainstay of the working tasks has been moved from receiving advertisements to advertisement sales and on to media planning. 'When things happen this fast there is a great need for tools to manage change. The managers need to make the employees see the value of their work changing, and they need to be able to help the employees, when they are working on their own qualifications.' When Lotte Sodemann underlines the role of the managers in this context, it is linked to the fact that her task basically ends when the new employee has been hired. 'The HR department delivers competencies.' she says. 'We must find the right and skilled employees. And then we must make training programs available for competencies to keep up with development and the changes.' 'Basically it revolves around upgrading the skills of our current employee resources. I need to know, where we are, and where we want to go. This is where I need to have the finger on the pulse, but we do not go as far as planning on an individual level. We move habits and attitudes in groups of people. Making a group evolve in one direction or the other is a longer process. You don't do that in one day in the classroom.'

A wish for people: On a daily basis it is the individual manager who has the major responsibility, and therefore needs to acquire the necessary background as coach and mentor for their employees. 'A manager and executive must have a wish for people. And be able to work with people,' says Lotte Sodemann. Den Blå Avis found its partner within human resource development via a tender. This was TACK International, and according to Lotte Sodemann it has been the right choice. 'They do not use standard programs, but they have a colossal tool box. They understand us, they know us - so some of the tools are left in the box - and it's great that they are able to move with us. We are a perpetually changing organisation, and a partner that is able to follow suit and still contribute with new input is simply a necessity for us.' Everybody knows Den Blå Avis - and that is no cliché: The brand has a degree of knowledge of 98%. But that does not mean recruiting happens by itself, because the knowledge of Den Blå Avis as a workplace and organisation does not match the knowledge of the product. OK, there is a quite famous and highly profiled owner (Karsten Ree), who apparently likes cars and animals and boats. But other than that?

The blue Spirit: 'We talk to a lot of people, and our employees experience Den Blå Avis having a really good name with our customers,' says Lotte Sodemann. 'Everyone is impressed by our professionalism - once they've seen us. But we still need to do something extra to stand out compared to the well-known workplaces. We are very aware of the need for branding ourselves as a workplace. Some initiatives are going on and much more is in the HR strategy for next year.' Lotte Sodemann goes to technical colleges to promote sales jobs at Den Blå Avis to market economists or B.Sc-s. in Economics and Business Administration. But to a larger extent the extra effort in recruiting also concerns IT people and other specialists. 'It is about showing our face as an organisation.' says Lotte Sodemann, who thinks that her company has a lot to offer thanks to the particular 'Blue Spirit', which has evolved and among other things is reflected in a huge turnout for the annual Skanderborg Festival. 'Every year we have our own Blue tent camp with a fantastic atmosphere. On the Saturday we meet for an exclusive Blå Avis party in the middle of the festival with delicious food and free drinks, and everybody wears the sponsored 'Blue Festival T-shirt'. The rest of the time we have fun in spontaneous groups with lots of good music and pleasant times together. Attendance is high, 85% of the employees, and this is something we've done for many years now.'

MANAGER, SALESPERSON: TWO THINGS BUT THE SAME TOOL

Christoffer Axelsen is a pioneering type, and therefore he did not need much time to think it over, before saying 'yes' to shifting from a sales job at Den Blå Avis to a job as sales manager. That was in April 2005. Before that Christoffer had tried to start over again three times in the company - first as a newly employed media consultant in December 2002; one year later as an entrepreneur with a new product area; and finally as all-round media consultant again. 'Being a manager is quite different from being a salesperson. But sales management is also about selling. The most important element is your employees,' says Christoffer. 'I started out as a sales manager round about the time Den Blå Avis began the process with TACK International, so I have been there almost the whole way. We were three new managers who took the course as 2 sales executives, and there I got all the basic tools for running a sales division. I really had things put in place, and actually I still take out the course material folder once in a while to check up. But I should add that my boss has really been an extremely god mentor and very skilled and implementing theory into practice. And even tough people say management is a lonely job, there are three of us, who started as managers at the same time, and we're good at seeking advice and guidance from each other.'

Manager for colleagues: 'It was of course also very special to step into the manager role in front of your colleagues. Among other things I discovered that it's hard to sell to salespersons.' The focus now for Christoffer Axelsen is on the 16 employees; to know them and to guide them. Sure, it's about selling goals and messages to them; but it's more intensive than any other type of sales Christoffer has tried previously - and that's some; he has worked as a salesperson before, during and after his training as market economist. Christoffer and his manager colleagues received special training besides the concerted training, including focused one-on-one coaching with Jens Dalgaard, and they learned to see the employees from 'above'. 'That was our new situation; being forced to look at their potential as salespersons. That's after all the reality you are in.'

Tools for communication: DiSC has proved to be an extremely good management tool for Christoffer Axelsen, who uses it to avoid clashes in his communication. 'I have learned to reflect on who people are and how they are. This makes it possible to avoid clashes, when you are communicating your messages, and in this way interviews with employees on objectives and results become win-win situations.' This is immediately applicable both in positive and negative situations. For example, if you have to give negative critique, i.e. a rebuke, the situation may easily get out of control and be about something else, if you haven't prepared a clear strategy. That's especially true for the interaction with those person types that are far from my own. I am more of a dominating and 'parrot' social type, and if do not think about it, I can end up dominating, if the other person has a more closed and rigid profile. And is looking for more security. And that is not good in a situation, where you are trying to make the person express their opinions and feelings. It probably comes as no surprise that salesperson groups have a majority of d and i types, i.e. result and appreciation-oriented individuals. 'Especially i types,' says Christoffer, who has gotten used to the need for paying attention to whether people are being to laid back, when things go well. 'In the beginning I wondered about the deviations, but it is simply the nature of that group. I have to accept that - without letting it get out of hand. This is what I do.' 'I make sure DiSC is implemented into everything, that questions are asked, and I make people reflect and think about what they have been through on the courses. When we hire new people they are taken through the same process, but only after three months, as their profile changes in the beginning.' 'It is a powerful tool for insight so it needs to be applied with thoughtfulness and insight.'

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE JOB GO HAND IN HAND

Allan Jørgensen started at Den Blå Avis right after his training as multimedia designer at Århus Erhvervsakademi (Aarhus Business College) - but not as a multimedia designer. 24 year old Allan Jørgensen works as a media consultant, i.e. as a salesperson and customer adviser in marketing on electronic market places - an area where Den Blå Avis is the market leader. '75% of the work is canvassing, 25% is counselling and guidance,' says Allan. 'All solutions and sales are customised. The work is very independent. I have frameworks and goals, but in a way I run my own small company. This requires a certain work ethic, but that suits me fine.' What also really suited Allan was the coaching and training program that started right after he began in the company. With trainers and expertise from TACK International the company launched a development process with the aim of developing stronger skills and increased adaptability; required elements to win in a competitive and rapidly developing market.

Team player: In addition to a range of concrete tools the program gave Allan the opportunity to pursue his interest in personal development: 'I could be described as a 'social competitive person' - I always play to win, but I prefer team sports. I would like to know, which effect I have on people, and I am interested in finding out who other people are and how they react,' says Allan. He has played football on top-class level and handball. Personal coaching and a thorough introduction to the DiSC model for analysis and predicting the behaviour of others - and understanding his own - gives Allan new insights. In spite of his newly acquired vocational training the encounter with the training program was an entirely new world to him. 'You have to give it a shot and accept the criticism you get. It is very exciting to try new working procedures. My coach observed me during the process and commented on what he saw and heard. He concentrated on the chemistry between me and the customers; he said that I would soon enough learn to tackle all the rest. He was very good at making me phrase what I was learning.' 'For example, one topic in coaching could be: Why do you start by asking a customer you don't know a closed question? The customer will tell it himself, if he does not have time. In this way the coach made me think about what I am saying in stead of following a script, and to ask open questions allowing me to listen.'

System and overview: 'Sales are manipulation - I want to sell something, no reason to hide that. But you can't sell to people without them getting something from it,' says Allan. For Allan the course has meant that some elements now have an expression. Order, system and overview have been achieved. And encountering the DiSC model was an eye opener. 'You learn to use words for things you are familiar with regarding yourself, and the next step is that you will see, how you affect people. In this way you are able to adapt your communication to the situation. It works in all contexts - not just in sales, but also at the cafe table and on the football field. I am sure you can get a judge to side with you, if you take his DiSC profile into consideration.' The competencies from the course are now a part of the monthly interviews Allan has with his superior. And DiSC expressions like 'a typical DI' now figure in jokes so much a part of the working day.’

A MODEL FOR MORE THAN MANAGEMENT

'Psycho-logy' means 'understanding the mind.' The word is self-explanatory in describing why psychology is the most important factor for success within sales. People need to understand each other if anything is going to happen between them. This goes for managers and employees, between colleagues and in all other aspects of life - but especially within sales. Regardless of the product's excellence and a proven demand, psychology has to be in place between the buyer and seller. TACK International - supplying training to Den Blå Avis and others - applies the DiSC model, which describes the psychological profile of human beings. And that is something people can use. 'I know an excellent salesperson in consumer goods,' says Jens Dalgaard, who is a course director, coach and head of TACK INTERNATIONAL A/S. 'He went and saw a potential customer maybe twenty times without any result. Recently I had the opportunity to watch him, and later we talked about what I had observed. The next time around he got the order.' 'The customer's profile indicates he has a need to feel, he is the one in charge. The salesperson made a small adjustment to the sales effort: 'Our product does not have to be the 'house brand’; we would be quite happy to get in and be placed next to other brands. Think about it.' This made the customer feel, he was the one in control of the situation; not the salesperson. And then he was easier to convince.' As opposed to the early 19th century European psychologists Freud and Jung, who were mainly concerned with sexual and mental deviances respectively, the founder of the theory behind the DiSC model, the American psychologist William M. Marston (1893-1947), was concerned with how normal people function. His model 'crosses' two conditions that are basic conditions for all human beings. Whether you have the sensation of being strong or weak in relation to the surroundings, and whether you perceive the surroundings as favourable or unfavourable. The four 'corners' described by the two dimensions is the basic model for behaviour and personality, and the many variations of possible mixed conditions depicts the classic person profiles. 'The DISC model describes people's psychological profile. And that is something people can use.' Jens Dalgaard, TACK International. In the model the D stands for 'dominance', i for 'influence', S for 'stability' and C for 'competence'. Type D behaviour has focus on creating results and overcoming resistance. Type 'i' achieves results through persuasion. S wants to work with others, and C wants fixed boundaries in order to do something good. The more careful analysis looks at the person's temperament, what motivates the person, how the person assesses and impacts others, how the person's behaviour may contribute in organisations, what behavioural patterns you tend to exaggerate, how you react to stress, where you have to look for the elements creating fear and finally: What you can do to perform better. 'The most important prerequisite for understanding other people's profile is to know your own. I always begin the part of a course, where I am talking about DiSC and profiles by saying: I think my profile is so and so. As people get an insight into the model, they can reflect on whether this matches what they experience, says Jens Dalgaard. 'There is an important point in the fact that you do have a personality profile, which you cannot run away from, but on the other hand you can work on your personality and improve things that need improving.' Jens Dalgaard points to the fact that today's 'why generation' sets great demands on executives' and managers' ability to accommodate the request for answers, i.e. enter into dialogue. People no longer do time and project tallies just because they 'have to'. And there is a potential conflict, if an employee with a very big D is involved. 'You cannot change people, but you can change their understanding and work on their skills. This is the manager group's responsibility, and therefore more important than ever.' 'At Den Blå Avis we make the new managers meet in order to give them a mutual frame of reference, and we continue to meet on a regular basis. What has happened to them as managers since the last time? What's the best they have achieved, and what has the management-related challenge been? Specifically they each find a person in their division, describe the relevant job and link a role profile, i.e.a DiSC profile, to the job. Then they describe the challenge related to managing for the relevant employee.' 'This provides time for reflection, which they do not always have during the normal workday,' says Jens Dalgaard. 'It's a sort of breathing space for them.'