Driving a High Performance CultureJeff Gau | CEO | Marco

About Me United States Air Force

University of North Dakota Graduate

Joined Marco in 1984 as a sales representative

Corporate Sales Director

Appointed President/CEO in 2004 

About Marco 1930 1973 1975 1985 2001 2002

2005 2010 2013 2014

The Typewriter ShopMarcoCopiersVoice and Data Networks100% ESOPAudio/Video SystemsDocument Management/WorkflowManaged ServicesLean Continuous ImprovementCloud and Carrier ServicesManaged Video Conferencing Corporate Headquarters - St. Cloud, Minnesota

Local, Regional and National Sales, Service and Support Minnesota

Alexandria Bemidji Brainerd Detroit Lakes Mankato Marshall Minneapolis/St. Paul Rochester St. Cloud Thief River Falls Willmar Worthington

North Dakota Bismarck Dickinson Fargo/Moorhead Grand Forks Minot

South Dakota Aberdeen Pierre Rapid City Sioux Falls Watertown

Iowa Cedar Rapids Decorah Des Moines Fort Dodge Mason City Quad Cities Sioux City Waterloo

Wisconsin Eau Claire La Crosse Madison

Marco Locations

Marco’s 10-Year Growth (2003-2013) Average Annual Growth

Organic Growth - 55% of Total Revenue

Acquired Growth - 45% of Total Revenue

Revenue Profit Stock Value

28% 54% 42%

Employee Growth: 2003: 141 employees

Today: 750 employees - 165 sales representatives and 430 certified systems engineers and technical representatives

Building a High Performance CultureWhat does good look like...

Industry – Are you performing in the top 10%?

Financially – Are you achieving double digit top and bottom line growth?

Strategic Focus – Are you growing in the “right” areas?

Employees – Are you attracting and keeping good people?

Customers – Are you adding and retaining good clients?

Here’s How We Drive Performance

❶ Stack the Bench

❷ Validate Performance

❸ Look Around Corners

❹ Execution

❺ Fail Forward Faster 

❶ Stack the Bench Understand yourself first so you can understand others better

Play to your strengths Sales driven, innovation and execution

Augment your weaknesses Operations and processes, information systems, finance and admin

Create careers – not jobs Provide a career path for every single employee Develop a talent management and mentoring system

❶ Stack the Bench Always be recruiting

Even when you don’t have a position Restaurants, sporting events and social activities

Pay matters Pay at the top quartile – it’s actually cheaper Consistently assess compensation (third party and employee survey) People value work-life balance

❷ Validate Performance – Employee Satisfaction

Best product, best service and best price

Q#29: I have pride in what I do. 604 of 624 employees agreed or strongly agreed

Q#40: My supervisor trusts me to do a good job without watching over my shoulders. 590 of 624 employees agreed or strongly agreed

Q#56 Management is competent at running the business.609 of 624 employees agreed or strongly agreed

Satisfied Employees = Satisfied Customers

❷ Validate Performance – Employee Satisfaction

Here’s our report card: 2014 Results Best in 26 Year History (with 86% response rate)

YEAR FTEs Work Satisf. Mgmt. Training Continuous

Improvement Benefits Comp Avg.

2014 725 4.32 4.29 4.13 4.16 4.17 3.92 4.182013 630 4.26 4.20 4.02 4.07 4.14 3.85 4.112012 407 4.22 4.17 4.03 4.04 4.02 3.74 4.062011 342 4.15 4.07 3.90 4.10 3.97 3.78 4.022010 306 4.08 4.07 3.99 4.11 3.93 3.72 4.022009 252 4.17 4.05 4.02 4.10 3.88 3.82 4.032008 267 4.17 4.02 4.07 4.08 3.99 3.83 4.052007 243 4.21 4.15 4.10 4.13 3.83 3.87 4.072006 211 4.18 4.16 4.05 4.07 3.93 3.78 4.032005 192 4.06 3.94 3.94 3.99 3.92 3.57 3.90

❷ Validate Performance – Customer Satisfaction

Our survey process:1. Keep it short – 12 questions

2. Mail the survey; don’t email it

3. Follow-up with personal phone call (83% response rate)

4. Respond to issues and improve (CAR)

5. Consistently track, review and share results  

91% Recommend

❸ Look Around Corners Develop an attitude toward growth and opportunity

Be active in your industry and peer groups

Get in the field and listen to customers

Pay attention and listen to people in their 20s Influencing decisions Changing the way we do business

Be innovative – it could be right in front of you Take a play from Amazon Package something you do differently (Managed Services) Try something new (Cloud and Carrier Services)

Stay current with communication and adapt Twitter is the new newsstand Texting is today’s conversation YouTube is the #1 search engine Video is the new voice Allow social media in the workplace

❸ Look Around Corners

❹ Execution … the Hard Part Promote a culture of bold ideas – and actually do it

Everyone has good intentions Talking about it does not get it done

You don’t need to know every detail to move forward Managed Print Services Managed IT Services

Be willing to make upfront investments

Put the cost in front of the revenue Managed Services call center

❹ Execution … the Hard Part Pay people (consultants) to hold you accountable

Training Marketing Service Strategy

Best efforts vs. Determined results Customer satisfaction metric dropped to 88% recommend Determined to get to 90% recommend

❺ Fail Forward Faster Widely known philosophy of mine and the company’s

Failure is a part of business and leadership You’re going to screw up, might as well be okay with it Just don’t do it all the time Part of building a culture of innovation

Been there, done that; doing it again Help Desk – 1980s initially Telemarketing Training

Take risks, but never risk the company $1.2 million acquisition before $10 million acquisition

How have we failed at Marco?

Failure: Retail Storefront Marco was going to be the next Super Store (late 80s)

Retail office supplies, office furniture Moved corporate headquarters to Division Street storefront

Weren’t very good at working nights and weekends

Zero experience in retail

Didn’t fit our go-to-market strategy

Decided to exit and never looked back

Driving Performance - TakeawaysStack the Bench

Evaluate your talent - who is missing and who could be promoted?

Validate Performance Prove employee and customer satisfaction; share and leverage results

Look Around Corners Get involved in your industry; pay attention to the millennials

Execution Don’t just talk about it, do something

Fail Forward Faster You’re going to fail, get over it

More on Leadership Check out my blog on Leadership Culture: ALeadershipCulture.com Some Posts of Interest:

Fail Forward Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable 5 Ways to Tell You’re Not a Leader Do you Carry a Briefcase or a Backpack?

For employee or customer survey example: jeffg@marconet.com

Thank you!