Trains, trucks, and recognition: reflections from class 3 of TLC
It’s September and I’m back in school — well sort of. I’m enrolled in the fall ‘21 cohort of The Leadership Consortium, an interactive learning experience led by Harvard Business School faculty with classmates from IBM, Google, L’Oreal, Hubspot, and many more.
While it’s only week 3, I feel like I’ve already learned so much. Not only from the impressive lecturers but also from hearing from other students as we dive into the weekly cases and readings.
Today, we heard from HBS Professor Ananth Raman on the topic of operational transparency. We looked at a case from 2005 about Tessei, a subsidiary of the East Japan Railway Company responsible for cleaning its Shinkansen “bullet” trains.
If you know me, you know that I’m a big fan of Japan and have been fortunate to spend a considerable amount of time in Tokyo — going on exchange during my MBA at Keio Business School and also traveling there while working for Toyota as the editor-in-chief of Scion Magazine. During my visit, I’ve taken a number of trips on the Shinkansen and have always been impressed by the service, efficiency, and comfort of the experience.
So the Trouble at Tessei case was such an interesting one to dive into. It detailed how seasoned executive Teruo Yabe had to find a way to improve the morale, efficiency, and negative reputation of the Shinkansen’s cleaning crew. No easy feat considering they were responsible for cleaning an entire train in exactly seven minutes with an average crew size of 22 members.
After lengthy discussion of what might be the root cause of the company’s challenges, we learned that Yabe was able to turn around the company by changing the primary objective from cleaning to hospitality. That subtle pivot was accompanied by setting up the front lines for success by giving employees license to determine how to make things better. The newly empowered staff added in additional enhancements to their cleaning routine which included bowing to customers at the beginning and end of their routine.
Another tactic was to promote transparency of good deeds by introducing ‘Angel reports’ to acknowledge the little things that tend to go unnoticed and changing the crew’s uniform from a neutral tone to a bright red or Hawaiian shirt.
That last point reminded me of a story I was fortunate to tell in Scion Magazine on the trucking subculture Decotora or “decorated trucks”. Like the cleaning crew at Tessei, the open road is a lonely place for truck drivers who spend endless nights away from their families performing a seldom-respected yet essential job to ensure people have access to the produce, packages, or materials they need.
I had the opportunity to not only capture a few of these trucks on film, but also to meet several owners who kindly invited us into their homes for a meal. Speaking with them, I learned that every truck has a name, often of the owner’s wife or children as a way to feel closer to their families while on the road. The elaborate lights, painted murals, and embellishment were all meant to draw attention to the driver, a way to recognize them even in the darkest of nights.
Like the cleaning crew and decotora, to be seen, noticed, and recognized can give meaning to a job that seems thankless, make a disengaged employee feel valued, and empower people to rise to the occasion.
As I reflect on today’s class, I know that I can get better at recognizing my team and those around me. Not just for the big things, but for the little things that make all the difference.
How do you set up your team for success? What are some of the ways you make sure your employees are seen?
