In the world of commerce, the word fulfillment refers to the processes that handle, execute and fulfill customer orders. It entails successfully fulfilling the value chain that delivers on the promises we make to those who buy our products and/or services.
When applied to the human element of business (and life in general), fulfillment refers to the achievement of a desirable goal or state of becoming pursued by an individual or group of people. This can be a lifelong quest — or a short-term pursuit. Either way, it gives achievers a sense of accomplishment, a feeling of “having arrived.”
In one of the training experiences my company has provided, we taught a group of CEOs how to rappel. This was a new skill for these gentlemen, and most of them were a bit nervous about the process of descending a near-vertical rock face of about 40 feet. They were right to be uncomfortable. We refer to rappelling as a “mission-critical” experience, meaning that if it is done improperly, you could die!
We taught them using the See, Hear, Say, and Do training method. On a very short first rappel, they watched us — the See portion of the training. Next, the short rappel was repeated, while we told them exactly what we were doing at every nuance of the process — the Hear phase. Then, we repeated the short rappel again (several times), having each participant tell us each step in the rappelling process — the Say portion of the training. Finally, in the Do phase, we had each CEO execute the same short rappel, repeating the process until all participants had succeeded. Only then did we move to the 40-footer. Each CEO succeeded, and all had a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Our rappelling training fits both of the fulfillment definitions I’ve mentioned here. Our group of CEOs wanted to learn how to rappel, and by virtue of our value chain, we delivered that outcome. It was also a “bucket list” item for each of them. By fulfilling our value chain, they were personally fulfilled, having developed a new competence that they could confidently use at future times in their lives.
Both of these measures of fulfillment are essential to the long-term success of your company and both are a function of the competence and confidence of your people.
In order to achieve high levels of competence and confidence, your organization must maintain a focus on three critical items:
1. Your Value Proposition: This is the promise inherent in the product or service you are selling. It should provide a clear set of demonstrable benefits that your customer desires — and that you will consistently fulfill.
2. The Operation to Fulfill Your Value Proposition: This includes your entire value chain. For your company to be successful, your operation must be both effective (delivering the customer benefits promised in your value proposition) and efficient (fulfilling the value proposition with a minimum of waste and at a reasonable cost).
3. The Competency of Your People: Your operation delivers your value proposition only when your people become highly competent in overseeing and performing their essential roles.
Leaders should make sure that they have developed mechanisms whereby competency can be confirmed to assure that new employees are growing from novices to competent individual contributors. Where competency development may appear to be stalled, leaders should remember that human beings learn in a variety of different ways. Indeed, seven distinct learning styles have been identified:
• Visual Learners learn best from images and pictures, including videos of operating processes.
• Aural Learners prefer to learn from the spoken or recorded word.
• Linguistic Learners learn best from the written word, from books and manuals.
• Kinesthetic Learners prefer “hands-on” training that allows them to engage physically with operations and processes.
• Logical Learners learn best from flowcharts, schematics, and detailed cause-and-effect explanations.
• Social Learners prefer to learn within groups of people wherein interaction provides both active experience and review.
• Solitary Learners learn best when working alone in a self-study mode.
Individuals often exhibit their best competency development when leaders provide a mix of training to accommodate these diverse learning styles.
Leaders who are attentive to building the competence and confidence of their people build the foundation for delivering fulfillment of their value proposition, and customer fulfillment as well. Perhaps most importantly, they also facilitate the career fulfillment of their employees.
Richard Tyson is the founder, principal owner and president of CEObuilder, which provides forums for consulting and coaching to executives in small businesses.