Field visits can and should be more than addressing the latest sales promotion or signage change. This is another opportunity for management to reinforce the company culture through thoughtful dialogue and support. This can be a time to lend an ear, get a feeling for the vibe of the workplace and the engagement of the staff. No, these things aren’t on a scorecard and you won’t be reporting back about them, but they’re important in building and fortifying a cohesive culture.

Lend an Ear

Management can wear on the best of us. It’s a tough job, so management needs frequent support. It’s not great having to say “no” all the time. It’s rough being the one the buck always stops with. Lend support by lending an ear. This isn’t an opportunity to get the dirt, it’s an opportunity to connect and maybe create a professional bond that benefits everyone.

Offer Feedback

Use a little emotional intelligence and experience to gauge whether they’re looking for guidance, or not. If they’re open to it, offer support. If you don’t have any words of wisdom, simply offer words of encouragement and suggest they connect with someone in the company who might actually be of assistance. If they aren’t open to your help, there’s really nothing worse than unsolicited advice. Just leave a card and be sure they know you’re a trusted professional resource, should they need one.

Reinforce the Company Culture

We get the drive to get in and get out, but you’re not doing anyone any favors with that strategy. Instead, go in with a focus on being a role model. Be the manager you would want to see reflected back at you. It’s important to remember that a strong company culture is intended to empower your team to make decisions and deal with situations that your controls and systems don’t cover. That’s what we want out of this -no one is expecting you to go the extra mile, inject emotional intelligence into your visit, or simply make your visit more thoughtful and personalized. You do it anyhow, that’s reinforcing a positive company culture.

Remember the Positive

We all know why the field manager is there, to manage compliance and reinforce brand standards. However, it can be easy to neglect to mention what the location manager is excelling at. Even if it’s not your job to dole out proverbials pats on the back, what is the point of not doing so? Why not make face-to-face recognition a part of your visit. Again, even if it’s not part of your report and no one in the world knows you recognized that location manager’s job well done, it doesn’t matter. The location manager knows, and that matters.

Action Card isn’t for the field manager whose goal is to not get fired. Action Card is for the field manager who believes in discretionary effort at work. Our technology makes field visits a paperless breeze, leaving time to listen, offer advice and reinforce the company culture. Want to find out how Action Card fosters all of these things? Call us today..