An Open Book

在Pool Covers公司，安装工也可以看到管理者投射在墙上的那些有关公司的信息。在9月份的公司例会上，公司经营的相关数据被投射在墙上，所有员工一起评估了公司的财务状况。泳池盖布安装工克里斯托弗·达灵(Christopher Darling)特别关注到了这样一个数据：9月份用于新建工程的泳池盖布销量比8月份剧跌了49%，比正常的季节性下滑提前了两个月，而且下滑幅度要大得多。此外，员工们还了解到，公司的合作银行拒绝了公司为度过淡季难关提出的贷款申请。管理者向员工询问，除了裁员之外，有没有其他的方法能够帮助公司度过难关。会后，达灵做出了一个决定：如果公司需要裁员，他会主动提出下岗。他不像别的有些同事要还贷款要养活家人。10月份的例会上，他和其他六名安装工提出，他们不愿意看着公司绞尽脑汁地筹钱支付工资给无所事事的员工找活干，他们可以主动下岗。达灵今年25岁，在加利福尼亚费尔菲尔德(Fairfield)这家公司工作了18个月，负责安装泳池盖布。他说，“如果所有人都留下，大家都不好过。你总不会想要成为麻烦的制造者吧，你肯定希望自己是麻烦的解决者。”裁员并非易事，在公司25年的历史中这还是首次裁员。不过大家都看了财务报表清楚了裁员是公司最后一根救命稻草，被裁的时候多少也好受了一点。若非如此，被裁员工一定会非常痛苦。良性循环Pool Covers公司的例会不是管理层为了缓和裁员给员工的打击而采取的临时举措，而是公司开卷式管理模式(open-book management，又译财务资讯共享管理)中的一项固定内容。这种管理模式的做法是把公司的财务数据公布给员工──同时讲解一些商场的致胜之道，并提供激励措施鼓励员工提高业绩。Pool Covers从1994年开始一直采用这种管理模式。公司首席执行长比尔·皮肯斯(Bill Pickens)说，在这种开卷式管理模式下，员工“了解到企业是如何运作的，认识到经营成功需要付出怎样的努力。他们掌握了所有的信息。出现现在这样的局面不是他们的错也不是我们的错。他们很清楚，他们被裁不是因为惹了哪个人，他们是为了公司的生存而被裁的。”他希望，以后可以将这次因经济不景气解雇的这拨员工全部再招回来。Pool Covers是一家雇员所有企业，皮肯斯说，如果不考虑目前的经济衰退，从1997至2007年，公司的估定价值平均每年提升23.8%，开卷式管理模式功不可没。开卷式管理模式的众多拥趸认为，使用得当的话，这种管理模式可以使得企业盈利更多更容易管理。通常说来，这种模式在中小企业更为可行。在这类企业中，企业文化的改变公布那些无需对公众公开的信息一般不会像大企业那么容易招来质疑。不过这种模式也面临着一些问题。许多小企业主无法做到将公司的财务信息与员工分享。要让员工理解这些信息，并能够应用于日常决策之中，实施起来很困难，而且很耗时。此外，这种做法固然可以提高员工对企业的忠诚度，但是当经营状况不佳时，让员工了解财务信息可能会导致人心惶惶。HUI公司是威斯康星州基尔市(Kiel)一家生产医疗车工业推车及电脑推车的企业，十多年来该公司一直采取开卷式的管理模式。公司总裁丹·鲁丁格(Dan Ruedinger)说，“你不能简单地拍拍脑袋说，‘我们要公开信息，’然后从财务部门挑几个人，告诉他们要公开公司的财务数据。必须要经过相当的深思熟虑才行。”共享什么Daniel Baxter摆在企业面前的一个问题是：要向员工公开哪些信息，公开到何种程度。通常说来，最好是专注于一些关键数据，比如销售量和发货量，或者，就更进一步，给每个员工分配一个任务指标，将其与公司的总目标挂钩。许多采用开卷式管理的公司不会公开每个员工的工资收入，而是给每个团队确定一个工资总额。如何向没有财务背景的人传递财务及相关信息也是一个棘手的问题。理想的做法是，要给员工提供培训，鼓励大家采取积极的行动，并有最高管理层的支持。北卡罗来纳州格林斯博罗市(Greensboro)的音乐教育出版商Kindermusik International公司实施开卷式管理已经整整十年了，公司董事长兼CEO迈克尔·多尔蒂(Michael Dougherty)说，在他的公司“有过很多失败的教训，出错的时候比顺利实施的时候多。”每天，公司的50名员工要参加各自所在团队的15分钟例会，讨论当天的工作计划以及前一天的问题和成绩。每个人还会说明各自负责项目面临的问题，讨论其他部门能够提供什么样的帮助。公司执行助理兼特别项目经理康妮·斯格尔(Connie Schor)说，“你会发现随着沟通的深入，自己跟团队越来越合拍，对同事的工作进度也有了进一步的了解。”每周，员工还要参加一次时长一小时的公司会议，讨论本周的经营成果下周的目标以及开源节流的方法，同时还可以了解到公司本月绩效及全年预算的实施情况。每季度，全体员工参加一次为期半天的会议，讨论公司的发展回顾各部门的工作业绩。每年大概有两次，公司会为员工进行短期培训，向他们讲授如何读懂资产负债表损益表以及其他的财务知识。最近有员工提出了一个节约开销的方法：将公司以往为期5天的客户年会改在网上进行，这样不仅全年可以组织多个系列会议，还可以为公司节省5万美元的支出。公司打算把节省下来的资金用在新产品开发和网络工具上。多尔蒂说，“这事儿如果问我的话，我会说，‘这样的会我们年年都开。’不过那些具体负责此类业务同客户关系更为密切的人就知道，有其他更好的法子可以实现同样的效果。”多尔蒂说，“用这种方法管理公司要多花很多时间。对于我来说，年初对员工说，‘这是我们今年的计划。’年底再对他们说，‘这是你们的奖金。’会简单得多。”不过，他又补充道，“我们一直认为，你让优秀的员工了解到更多的信息，就能更有效地发挥他们的主观能动性。”多尔蒂说，正是由于实施了开卷式管理，公司员工得以在2002年从投资者手中买下了公司，并偿付了60%的债务。2002年，当Dorian Drake International Inc.公司开始让员工参与公司的财务管理时，有些员工发现，有几个部门在提前或准时付款给供货方时从对方那里要到了折扣──有1到 2个点。他们决定在这个上头好好做做文章。在员工们的努力下，所有的部门都争取到了这样的折扣，另外他们还采取了其他一些举措，结果就是，在实施开卷式管理的头一年，公司由原先的销售3,200万美元亏损50万转为盈利20万──而销售额没有任何的增加。这家总部位于纽约州White Plains的公司为制造厂商提供海外营销市场物流以及其他服务。公司这种透明化管理导致了一种同事压力，员工们必须要对彼此负责，大家都更加地关注费用支出以及本人的工作效率。比如，销售代表会更加关注客户的付款情况，而不是把精力全都花在提升销售额上面。那些每年要出差12至14周的销售代表也会尽量住便宜的酒店，选择在淡季去拜访客户，以此节省费用。公司总裁兼首席运营长小爱德·多里安(Ed Dorian Jr.)说，“我把开卷式管理作为一个契机……向员工传递这样一个信息，‘我们信任你们，不仅仅是你们的动机，我们还相信你们有能力帮助我们。’这几乎就是在恳请他们的帮助。”站得更高 看得更远还有一个问题：当公布的财务数据不如人意时，如何向员工作交待。Kindermusik公司人力资源部主管金伯利·佳琴科(Kimberly Diachenko)说，两年前，公司面临困难不得不裁员时，那些被裁的人“都知道这跟个人的表现无关。我们尽可能地撑了最长的时间，他们都认识到，要让公司生存下去，这是唯一的办法。”不过，多尔蒂说，当销售额下降时，“很难营造出积极的干劲十足的工作氛围。”Kindermusik公司努力从更高的商业角度看待公司业绩，他们将自身的业绩同相关公司的经营状况及整个美国经济进行对比。多尔蒂说，“随着时间的推移，在这种管理模式的实践过程中，我们向员工传授了微观经济学一点点财务和宏观经济学方面的知识。”HUI公司将现有业绩同一年两年三年五年前的业绩做比对，向员工展示公司的发展走向。鲁丁格说，“如果你一个季度亏损了25万，很多人就会俨然世界末日来临，却不会去想，上一个季度赚100万了呢。”Laural Lorber


The installation technicians at Pool Covers Inc. could literally see the writing on the wall. At the company's monthly meeting in September, employees reviewed financials together, projecting the numbers on the wall.One figure stood out to pool-cover installer Christopher Darling: Sales of pool covers for new construction plunged 49% in September from August, two months ahead of the typical seasonal dropoff and much steeper. What's more, employees learned that the company's bank turned down the loan request that the company needed to get through its slow season. Managers asked employees for alternatives to layoffs.After the meeting, Mr. Darling made a decision. If there was to be a layoff, he would volunteer. Unlike some co-workers, he didn't have a mortgage or a family to support. At the meeting in October, he and about six other installers said they would take a layoff rather than see the company struggle to meet payroll and find work for idle crews.'If everybody stayed, we would all have felt the crunch,' says Mr. Darling, 25, who had been installing pool covers for the Fairfield, Calif., company for about 18 months. 'You don't want to be part of the problem. You want to be part of the solution.'The layoffs -- the first in the company's 25-year history -- weren't easy. But seeing the financials and knowing the cuts were a last resort took at least some of the bitterness out of an otherwise painful experience.In the LoopPool Covers' meetings weren't some emergency measure that management engineered to soften the blow of layoffs. They are business as usual for the company's open-book management, a practice that involves sharing financial information with employees -- as well as teaching them about the measures of business success while offering incentives to improve performance. Pool Covers has been using the practice since 1994.Because of open-book management, employees 'understand business. They understand what it takes,' says Bill Pickens, the company's chief executive. 'They've got all the information. It's not their fault and it's not our fault. They know they're not getting laid off because they made somebody mad. They got laid off so the company can survive.' He expects to rehire all the employees who were laid off in the fall. And the current downturn aside, Mr. Pickens credits the approach with helping the assessed value of Pool Covers, an employee-owned company, grow an average of 23.8% a year from 1997 through 2007.Proponents of open-book management say, if done well, the practice can indeed make companies more profitable and easier to manage. And it typically is easier to implement at smaller companies, where cultural change and releasing nonpublic information is often less problematic.But the approach is not without challenges. Many small-business owners can't get over the hurdle of sharing their company's financial information with employees. It also can be difficult and time consuming to communicate that information in a way employees will understand and be able to use in their day-to-day decisions. And while the approach can build employee engagement, knowledge of financials when business is bad can create anxiety among workers.'You can't just say, 'We're going to be open book,' and pick someone from your accounting group and then tell them they're going to start presenting the financials of the company,' says Dan Ruedinger, president of HUI Inc., a Kiel, Wis., manufacturer of medical, industrial and computer carts and other custom products, which has been using open-book management for more than a decade. 'It has to be fairly well thought out.'What to ShareOne issue for companies is determining exactly what and how much information to share with workers.It's often best to focus on just a few key measures, such as sales and shipments, or, taking it further, assign each employee a target metric and tie it to overall company goals. Many open-book companies don't disclose individuals' salaries. Instead, they group compensation together.Coming up with a way to communicate accounting and related concepts to people without a financial background also can be tricky. Ideally, training is provided and behaviors reinforced and backed by top management.'There's been a lot of trial and error, and there's been more error than success' at his company, says Michael Dougherty, chairman and CEO of Kindermusik International Inc., a Greensboro, N.C., music-education publisher that has been practicing open-book management for 10 years.Every day, each of the firm's 50 employees attends a 15-minute team meeting, where they discuss plans for the day and the previous day's problems and successes. They also talk about issues that they're stuck on and how other departments can help.'The more you do it, the more that you find that you are in tune with your team and you know what your fellow team members are doing,' says Connie Schor, an executive assistant and special-projects manager at Kindermusik.Each week, employees also attend a one-hour companywide meeting to discuss the week's financial results, coming goals and ways to cut costs and increase revenue. They also get an update on where Kindermusik is in terms of its goals for the month and budget for the year. Each quarter, all employees attend a half-day meeting to discuss the company's progress and review highlights from various departments' work. About twice a year, the company offers a short refresher on how to read a balance sheet and income statement, among other things.One recent cost-saving idea that employees came up with: hold a year-round series of live virtual meetings online, instead of the company's usual five-day annual customer convention. That will save Kindermusik $50,000, which it plans to use for new-product development and online tools. 'If you'd asked me, I would have said, 'We've always done the convention,' ' Mr. Dougherty says. 'But the folks who are closer to the event and closer to the customers know that there were other and better ways to achieve the same goal.'Mr. Dougherty says, 'It takes a lot more time to run a company this way. It would be a lot easier for me to just say: 'This is what we're going to do,' and at the end of the year say, 'Here's your bonus check.' 'But, he adds, 'we've always felt that the more information you can give good employees, the more effectively they're going to make decisions on their own.' Because of open-book management, Mr. Dougherty says, employees were able to purchase the company from investors in 2002 and pay down 60% of its debt.When Dorian Drake International Inc. started letting employees in on the company's financials in 2002, some workers realized a few departments were getting discounts from vendors that they weren't -- including 1% to 2% off when bills were paid early or on time. So they decided to do something about it.By working to get the discounts for all departments, among other things, employees helped the company go from a $500,000 loss on sales of $32 million to $200,000 in profit in its first year of open-book management -- with no increase in sales.The transparency at Dorian Drake, a firm that provides manufacturers with sales, marketing, logistics and other services overseas, has produced a peer pressure that makes employees accountable to one another and has created a new sensitivity to costs and personal productivity. Sales representatives pay greater attention to whether a client actually pays a bill, for instance, rather than just trying to rack up sales. And sales reps, who travel 12 to 14 weeks a year, also try to choose less-expensive hotels and visit clients off-season when costs are lower.'I saw open book as an opportunity...to send a message to our staff that said, 'We trust you. And we not only trust your intentions, but we trust your ability to help us,' ' says Ed Dorian Jr., president and chief operating officer of the White Plains, N.Y., company. 'It was almost a plea for their help.'The Bigger PictureAnother issue: dealing with employees when the information they are seeing isn't good.When Kindermusik downsized amid a rough patch two years ago, the people affected 'knew it was nothing personal,' says Kimberly Diachenko, the company's human-resources administrator. 'We struggled for the longest time, and they realized that it was the only way for the company to survive.'Still, Mr. Dougherty says, when sales are going down, 'it's a hard situation to create positive energy around.'Kindermusik has tried to set its performance into the broader business context by comparing itself with the results of related companies or the overall U.S. economy. 'Over time, we've ended up teaching microeconomics, a little bit of accounting and a little bit of macroeconomics,' Mr. Dougherty says.HUI shows employees company trends, comparing performance with previous one, two, three and five-year periods. 'If you lost $250,000 in a quarter,' says Mr. Ruedinger, 'people tend to think that the world is coming to an end and don't necessarily have the perspective to realize that you might have made a million dollars in the previous quarter.'Laural Lorber