The Challenge: To decrease turnover and stem the rise of absenteeism.

The Solution: An integrated approach to creating a new corporate culture, boosting internal morale and engagement, and revitalizing the existing performance management process.

The Results: Turnover reduced by over 25% and absenteeism is under control.

When Gil Morris became president and CEO of Hilti North America several years ago, he was faced with a dire situation. Employee turnover was at an all-time high (as much as 35 percent in some areas), while profitable growth was minimal at best. In response, the organization led some initiatives and put in place things like ISO 9000 certification, training programs, and leadership development.

In addition, Morris implemented some of his own initiatives—he eliminated the executive parking spaces, created customer satisfaction measures and updates, restructured the organization, and introduced new strategies. While these initiatives were starting to make an impact, it was still very programmatic with no cultural context.

That may be why Morris was willing to listen to an odd-sounding proposal pitched by the company’s director of organizational development, Craig Erickson. “Gung Ho! the company,” said Erickson, “and we’ll see a turnaround.”

Listening closely, Morris learned that Gung Ho! was not another version of Feng Shui or the latest in new age cuisine. It represented an approach to building company morale that had the potential to stem the costly tide of defectors.

Erickson had a good sense of what was causing Hilti’s employees to be unhappy. He had almost jumped ship himself. When he arrived at the company in 1995, Erickson found a culture that did not value its people and had only one clear goal. The priority was to “make the numbers,” doing whatever it took to make that happen. As a result, employee surveys indicated a high level of dissatisfaction and a low level of morale.

Erickson quickly recognized that a route other than the company’s “program of the month” approach to training was needed to make a difference. With two masters degrees in human resource development and organizational development, and 17 years experience, he knew what should be done to make things better, but the organization lacked the leadership that could empower him to put his knowledge and skills to work.

Prior to his employment at Hilti, Erickson developed an abiding admiration for Ken Blanchard when he read The One Minute Manager, coauthored by Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. He subsequently sought out Blanchard’s seminal research on Situational Leadership^® II and used it as a training model.

Erickson was attending a training session at Blanchard’s global headquarters in San Diego, California, when Ken and his wife, Margie, invited the class participants to their home for an informal dinner. It was there that Ken shared an advance copy of the book he was writing with Sheldon Bowles—the future best-seller, Gung Ho!

“Ken and Sheldon just nailed it,” Erickson says. “Gung Ho! provides the cultural context necessary to make other training programs work. Without a real commitment to change there’s really nothing to get passionate about.”

This was the essence that Erickson knew was needed at Hilti. And when Morris arrived bringing new leadership and new insights, Erickson wasted no time suggesting that they “Gung Ho!” the company.

“I sat down with him, told him what I was all about, and what was possible at Hilti,” Erickson recalls. “He listened; and I sensed that he was a person who cares about people. Morris said ‘let’s go for it,’ and, believe me, that’s what we’ve been doing for the past two years. We want Hilti to be a benchmark organization for Gung Ho!”

Integrating Blanchard materials, Hilti has developed 10 workshops that will be offered over three to four years to each of the organization’s teams. These include: Worthwhile Work, Situational Leadership^® II, Situational Self Leadership, Building High Performing Teams, and Raving Fans. Beginning with the CEO’s executive team, then a sales division, and followed by a product team, the program was introduced throughout the company.

Erickson feels the most important aspect of Hilti’s new approach is that the organization began its cultural change at the top. “For Gung Ho! to be successful here meant that the leader had to be our CEO, rather than coming from human resources or the training department,” says Erickson.

As its cultural context began to change, Hilti North America changed its recruitment, orientation, and training programs. In addition, the organization has changed its performance management system and its reward and recognition programs.

Erickson says he has a clear “before and after” picture even if it is a bit too early to really quantify what the change has meant to the bottom line.

“Employee surveys indicate we’re doing much better. And now, we’re beginning to incorporate a customized Gung Ho! Assessment Tool, as well as a Leader Action Profile, Team Development Stage Analysis, and Raving Fans Index, to more effectively measure where we are and how close we are to getting where we want to be.”

After two years of developing and implementing the Gung Ho! cultural change, or as Erickson says, “…getting our geese in a row,” Gung Ho! is ready to be introduced throughout the 102 countries where Hilti does business.

“I believe in the idea: When a student is ready to learn, the teacher appears. And that’s what we’re doing with our international divisions and customers,” Erickson explains. “My passion is to create a culture of successful teamwork, which is sustainable over time, and that is what’s happening at Hilti. You know, when you spend your time doing what you love, you’ll never work another day of your life. I just don’t work anymore!”