Jon Teraoka
CEO
W.I.S. Logistics Inc.
New Berlin
Industry: Third-party logistics
www.wislogistics.com
Jon Teraoka manages a trucking company and says the key to his company’s growth is the high level of customer service that his employees provide. Teraoka says he empowers his people to provide that service and resists the urge to micromanage them.
“Does your company’s culture allow your employees to step forward and take responsibility for their jobs without fear? Allow them to make decisions, create and implement process, provide constructive feedback and…make mistakes?
“As owners and managers of our business, we tend to want to delegate when things are normal, but micromanage the high and low times, even if it’s not necessary. Don’t get me wrong, someone has to drive the bus, but do we have to sit in every seat as well?
“Our employees need to be able to make decisions, create and implement process, provide constructive feedback and develop a stronger team, without being second-guessed each time, even when – maybe especially when – it really matters. Micromanagement may be our reaction to high-stress times, but to many employees, it can look like a lack of trust.
“Will they make a poor decision at some point? Yes. And no one wants to encourage careless mistakes. Still, fear of making any mistake, ever, gets in the way, and must be overcome by management. We encourage responsibility by letting employees make decisions. And when things go wrong, when they can’t fix the mistake themselves, we must be willing to listen, support their decision (right or wrong) and provide the guidance that leads them to make better decisions next time. Period.
“We should allow our people to do the jobs we hired them to do, without micromanaging, but with support and coaching. Given the chance, our employees will almost always exceed our expectations!”
