The Inc. Network

Opening the Books
It's my goal to have a completely open company. I've started sharing sales and budget figures with my employees, but they seem skeptical. How can I make this tough transition easier for everyone?

Michael Shaughnessy

President

Expressit Courier

Boston

If you want to open your books, start by educating yourself. For the philosophy and culture of open-book management, read Inc.'s April cover story, "A Company of Businesspeople" ([Article link]). For a how-to, read Jack Stack's The Great Game of Business (Doubleday/Currency, 1992, $24), or attend a "Great Game of Business" seminar held by Springfield Remanufacturing Corp. (SRC; 800-386-2752). Network with other attendees; contact some of the case-study companies you learn about, and ask what's worked for them.

It's smart to develop employee learning programs before you crack the books; otherwise, staffers won't understand the numbers or their context. Invite an accountant in to teach "Financial Management 101," then apply those concepts to your industry and your company. Or SRC can teach you and your employees how to quickly become financially literate through its on-site interactive seminars ($250 per participant). "Teaching the basics first makes the knowledge transferable," notes Leslie Danziger, CEO of research-and-development company LightPath Technologies, in Tucson. (See "Opening the Books at a Start-up," Financial Strategies, March, [Article link].) Let employees know that education can help make them more adaptable to change inside and outside the company.

Organizational change shouldn't be taken lightly, so seek help and encouragement throughout the transition. Tom Irmiter, president of Irmiter Contractors and Builders (ICB), in St. Paul, Minn., leans on a 3M executive, a board of directors (complete with a psychologist), and some of ICB's own large customers to help sharpen the company's vision, support its employees, and modify its open-book policy. Irmiter rereads Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline (Doubleday/Currency, 1990, $19.95) to be sure the open-book policy still meshes with his company's continuous-improvement efforts. He's also inspired by Stephen Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and Principle-Centered Leadership (both from Simon & Schuster, 1990, $12 each). Those books taught him the merits of employee involvement, moving him to initiate quality circles and staff meetings in which managers ask employees, What do you need from us to help you get your job done? By walking that talk, Irmiter and his managers have helped ICB's revenues double during the past 20 months, to reach $2 million.

Hiring the Other Half
I'm a landscaper thinking about bringing a partner or second-in-command on board. How should I attack the process? What should I be looking for?

Bruce Koprucki

Owner

Chaparral Wood Art

Chaska, Minn.

Hiring is tough enough, but sole proprietors have it tougher because survival trains them to become skilled at compensating for their weaknesses. Often, a sole proprietor's instinct is to hire his or her clone, but because owners are often blind to their own personal shortcomings, they "risk hiring someone who makes the same mistakes they do," explains consultant David Kurlan of Westboro, Mass. Instead, seek someone whose attributes complement yours -- preferably someone who constructively challenges the way you think about your business goals. "There has to be synergy," says Ed Laflamme, founder of Laflamme Services, a commercial landscaper in Bridgeport, Conn. "It's as if you're creating a third person."

Before you start hunting, assess yourself. Jot down your personality traits and your strengths and weaknesses in managing your company. In what areas (sales? finance?) can you afford to be less hands-on? Seek objective help if you can't tell. Ask yourself, In a perfect world -- with me as I am -- who'd be the best fit? Then list the specific skills you'd want your partner to contribute and weave a tight job description for that post. For more drills and other vital prehiring tips, read "Hiring Without the Guesswork" (February 1992, [Article link]).

Now, advises Laflamme, "get inside people's heads." Laflamme explores the depths of candidates' trust, motivation, persistence, education, and skill. His blueprint for hiring is simple: business savvy is always welcome; nice people finish first ("People do business with people they like"); fancy degrees can't camouflage inexperience; and nine-to-fivers should be avoided. For a roundup of the issues faced by employers seeking to fill a key slot, see "Looking Out for Number Two" (July 1991, [Article link]).

You'll share close quarters with this person, so although it's key to see him or her in a relaxed mode, never let informal interviews take the place of formal ones. "Friendship can neutralize your effectiveness as a working team," observes Kurlan. "You can't be tough when you need to be." And stay in the driver's seat during any type of discussion. Laflamme recalls the time an interviewee invited him to lunch: "He took me off guard, told me how great he was. It was a disaster." And interview your top picks a few times; otherwise, you might not get an accurate idea of their willingness to shoulder risk. Multiple meetings will also help you gauge a candidate's vision, ethics, character, and direction.

For the latest in hiring law, call the Bureau of National Affairs' research arm, BNA Plus (800-452-7773; 202-452-4323 in Washington, D.C.), to request its $35 package of recruiting guidelines, testing techniques, model hiring policies, and jargon-free employment law.