If you think going back to the floor is solely the domain of television documentaries, or that it's only useful as a publicity tool, then you're missing out. The reality of senior management spending time working at the grass roots of the business is that, for very little outlay, it's a valuable way to motivate and focus staff and to keep management in touch with the day-to-day functioning of the business.
After all, if communication between departments is erratic, or non-existent, how can you hope to have a strong identity the public will respond to - and, in doing so, help you to beat your competitors?
The Greene King Pub Company was so impressed by what it learnt from its inaugural back-to-the-floor trial that it repeated the exercise last month. Last year, the day was held on 21 June, the summer solstice, and has become known within the company as the "Longest Day". This year's Longest Day was held not on the solstice but on 5 June, and involved 184 staff from head office leaving the sanctuary of their Bury St Edmunds head office to go and work in one of the company's 240 pubs across the country.
Before last year's inaugural Longest Day, most head office staff had never worked behind a bar, and those manning the pumps had never met the people they regularly spoke to on the phone. As a result, there was a potentially divisive barrier between head office and the pubs - colleagues who needed to work as a team.
Julian Bradwell, Greene King's human resources director, feels that the exercise helps show the management staff why their efforts are important - because they allow pub managers to get on with their jobs of managing. "The day gives us the opportunity to talk to people and find out what we can do to improve," he adds.
In-house research following the inaugural Longest Day showed that there was no doubt relationships between shop floor and office staff had been strengthened, with 93% of the Bury staff claiming they had gained from the experience. The pub staff felt the same - twice as many pubs took part in the Longest Day this year.
And it wasn't only relationships that were strengthened. As a result of the event, some company procedures were improved. For example, the day of the weekly financial close-down has now been changed.
The Longest Day gave pub managers the opportunity to point out to senior management that the traditional procedure of preparing the week's takings on Saturday night after closing, in time for Sunday afternoon's cut-off, wasn't fostering a feel-good factor. With this insight, the management team took the not-inconsiderable decision to move the cut-off date for banking by a day.
"It sounds simple, but getting our various divisions to agree to the move was complicated," Bradwell says. "It also meant our payroll staff had to start working from 7.30am to 8pm on Tuesday."
With management turnover down by 16% over the past 18 months and overall staff turnover below 30% a year, it appears that the lessons learned by office staff have been well received.
"One thing our pub managers told us was that they hated ringing through to head office only to get the answering machine," Bradwell says. "We've got rid of it now, so there's always someone around to pick up. It's these simple changes that count and, thanks to the Longest Day, we're now more aware of the issues facing our pub staff."
Putting it into practice
Jenny Marshall, a human resources manager based at Greene King's Bury St Edmunds head office, spent a day behind the bar at the Lansdown pub in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, as part of this year's Longest Day.
What did you get from the experience?
Having taken part in Longest Day last year, I think this year I was more focused on what I wanted to get out of the event. Coming from a retail background, I spent most of the first year's event worrying about pulling a decent pint.
As a human resources professional, I was particularly interested in how landlords Nigel and Carrie Turrel balance their working life and, as we are keen to hold on to them, what we can do at head office to help. It also reminds you where the company's profits are made.
Do you do anything differently as a result of Longest Day?
I was reminded once again how important communication is in the business. Just because we in the office know exactly what's going on, we can't assume our pub teams, which can often be geographically isolated, are up to speed.
Having experienced the other side of the operation, I've come to realise what a different environment it is, with its own set of challenges and problems. As a result, I've learnt to keep my mouth shut when I visit one of our pubs, thinking and looking around before passing comment. If you are up against it behind the bar, you won't appreciate someone from head office turning up and bemoaning the fact that there are three empty crisp packets in the car park.
Would you take part again?
Definitely - I really enjoyed it. In the lead-up to the first year, we were all nervous and trying to get placements in the local area. This year, the staff at head office really embraced the scheme and we made an effort to get out and about, with one colleague even flying up to work in a Hungry Horse pub in Scotland.
Trading Places
Not just the 1980s Eddie Murphy film, Trading Places is also the name for the five-star InterContinental Hotels Group's back-to-the-floor format.
The scheme has been running for the past five years and, promoted internally, allows employees to approach their training manager to request a temporary job switch with a team-mate in another department. The training manager then assesses their needs and objectives before setting up the swap, which typically lasts between a few hours and a day.
Involvement in the scheme is completely voluntary, and InterContinental claims the placements lead to better understanding between employees. "Understanding means you'll grant other departments enough time to do their work," says Susanna Lau, regional public relations manager for the InterContinental London. "We've certainly found the scheme a great way of fostering genuine teamwork within our hotels."
Despite the decision to participate being left in the hands of employees, the scheme has already attracted 40 applications for a swap this year.
"It has a good morale-boosting effect and helps us in developing teamwork and communication," says Iain Millar, area training manager for London. "We have even had people enjoy their experience so much they changed departments."
Key benefits of going back to the floor
- It builds stronger working relationships between team members who may be separated by geographical distance or job type.
- It creates understanding and appreciation of the roles of head office and pub managers within the business, and of the challenges each faces.
- It generates business efficiencies and improvements. For example, after trying to use the company's electronic tills during the Longest Day, Greene King's management immediately took the decision to simplify their layout through a software upgrade.
- It's low cost, as the business already has in place the equipment and personnel required for the exercise.