2012-10-15 12:23:57
CEO S. Kenneth Kannappan discusses how he discovered the key to motivating
employees while working at his first job.
CEO's Notebook
S. Kenneth Kannappan, 41
Present life: CEO of Plantronics, a $400-million maker of telephone headsets
based in Santa Cruz, Calif.
Former life: In the summer of 1978, after he graduated from high school,
Kannappan worked for an electronics-repair shop in Northbrook, Ill. "It was
$3.50 an hour. There was very poor ventilation. But at the time, jobs were not
plentiful. Lining up summer work was difficult," he says.
Lessons learned: "It was more of an example of how not to manage," Kannappan
says. "For example, when repairing something, we all took supplies from the
same supply bin, and when we were done repairing, we all put our finished
products in the same 'finished' bin. So there was no individual accountability
for using supplies or performing quickly. People in general were not motivated
to work to the maximum level that they could."
Kannappan attributes that lack of motivation to management's failure to
communicate. "There was no explanation of the company's goals and how
everyone's efforts fit in. The job was simply about obtaining income. Employees
never came to management with suggestions on how processes could improve, and
management didn't ask.
"The way I believe you motivate people is to make it clear not only what goals
the company is trying to achieve but also why the goals are important to
society. Our products, for example, help people drive safely while talking on
mobile phones. That's a societal benefit we want our people to under- stand,"
he says.
Kannappan constantly canvasses his workforce of 2,400 for suggestions. Feedback
from employee-satisfaction surveys led to changes in his company's vision-care
policy, retirement plan, and training budget. The company also conducts monthly
town-hall meetings at its 19 offices and holds a summertime management
conference. At one such conference, "we talked about the best and worst
managers we'd ever had," says the CEO. "The worst ones generally were the ones
who monitor all the time. The better ones just communicate to employees a clear
and exciting goal, point the way, and let them run."