Creating a Top Team: The Fab5 secret
The key of employee engagement can be found in the development of the greatest NCAA-basketball team ever.
Family
In july 1990 number 4 ranked highschool basketballplayer Juwan Howard decides to join the University of Michigan. Just a couple of hours later his grandmother dies. Howard, being raised by his grandmother, is devastated. Michigan coach Fisher, his wife and assistantcoach Dutcher decide to travel to Washington to support the young recruit. “To see coach Fisher and coach Dutcher be there for me was the greatest thing. For me it was like I found a new family,” admits Howard in the ESPN documentary about the Fab5.
Ambassador
The moment Howard finds out that his new coach travelled to Washington to be there for him, engagement spurred in his heart. It is Howard that starts, as a ambassador for the team, recruiting other Highschool Top Players. According to assistent coach Dutcher, Howards new found passion for Michigan-team is the reason why Jimmy King and Ray Jackson joined the Wolverines and later on Jalen Rose and Chris Webber (the number 1 ranked player) wanted to become a part of that team.
The chemistry of the coachingstaff and the teammembers is of the charts…and it still is after ugliness raised it’s head on the Fab5.
Go all-in
If you wan’t your employees to be engaged, show that you are engaged to your employees. Everyone want’s to be part of something bigger then themselves. Companies are able to provide in this basic human need. But you can’t be skimpy and drop a few nice perks in for your employees and think that this will spark the fire. If you really wan’t to grab the jackpot, you first have to go all-in. Yes, you can never be certain if your investment will deliver the maximum ROI. But if you don’t go all-in, you know for sure you will lose to the competition.
A few years ago a schoolboard gave their janitors a smartphone so that they could acces their email wherever they were. Smartphones where a luxury item in those day’s, it was a bold move from the board to invest so much in their lower educated staff. But this bold and simple gesture gave a enormous boost to engagementlevels. The janitors felt by receiving a smartphone that they really meant something to their superiors and to the school. Sickleave-days dropped, retentionrates went to zero and overall performance went up.
Value
Your employees will create value when you first show them that you are convinced that they are of value to the company. You can only show this by being sincere and put the action where your mouth is. Companies that manage to do this are going to be ahead of the competion for a long time.
For what it’s worth:
Replacing a employee costs 44.870 dollar source: US Bureau of Labour Statistics 2010
You liked this article? Also try Employee Engagement Starts From the Inside Out
12 Reacties op “Creating a Top Team: The Fab5 secret”
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- - juli 3, 2012
Very well written!
Great story, excellent point.
It’s a great article. Too bad there are far too many short cited companies and managers that are afraid for their jobs to fully engage and motivate their teams.
Nice post, very pleasant to read with great examples. Thank you
Excellent write up!!
This is easier to achieve in small private companies than in public corporations. But it is not impossible. The best boss I ever had went round, on arrival, and demanded to meet and talk to the secretaries as well as the officers – that was a first! Then when I had my 5 minutes with him, we discussed some point or other. I din’t know whether either I or my point had made any impression. A week later I passed him in the corridor of another building. I wasn’t sure if he would remember me, but he stopped me and asked a follow-up question to the discussion we had had. Wow! I would have done anything for him out of personal loyalty thereafter, and the rest of the staff felt the same way.
Great Advice.
All relationships are personal in the end
Indeed, this is the motivation….act as if the employee is the company……..well done.
Sooooooo true !
awsome post!
Awesome … Great story, excellent post.