Ignite the Caring Spirit

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet Natasha Crawford, a new employee in our training and development department. Natasha joined Booz Allen about 6 months ago after graduating from the 'Training Futures' program run by Northern Virginia Family Service. Training Futures is a 17-week program that helps unemployed and underemployed men and women learn the skills that enable them to get better jobs. It has a very impressive success rate. Ninety-two percent of each class is placed upon graduation, and after a year, eighty-eight percent are still employed with the same company.

Both Natasha's manager at Booz Allen, Vernita Parker, and her department director, Ed Cohen, volunteer as instructors in the Training Futures program. Ed and Vernita also coordinate internship opportunities for students in the program so these men and women can get real world experience and references, and they established a scholarship program for Training Futures.

I was impressed with Natasha's personal success story and her determination to succeed-both in the Training Futures program and at Booz Allen.

But, at a broader level, I was intrigued with the commitment her bosses, Ed and Vernita, had to the program. I wondered how you spark this kind of interest. Does it 'just happen'—or is there something else going on? What are some 'lessons learned'? How do you ignite a caring spirit in the work environment, especially one that is as demanding as ours? Key Steps in Igniting a Caring Spirit in Your Company.

To find out, I traced our involvement in the Training Futures program and in some other efforts related to community service, benefits programs, and employee activities—the kind of programs recognized by the CARE Awards. In virtually every case, I found the same three-step sequence:The efforts start small, with a single idea or expression of interest.

• This 'small start' attracts additional people and resources, causing it to take root and grow.
• Finally, having attained critical mass and momentum, the effort generates organizational pride and recognition and actually spawns other positive developments.

You can think of these three steps in terms of lighting a fire. So, if you'll indulge me the metaphor, here's what I think it takes to 'ignite the caring spirit:' First, strike a match. Second, stoke the flames. Third, send smoke signals.

Strike a match

Someone needs to spark the effort-with an idea, a cause, a first step, maybe just a vocal expression of interest. Usually, I've found that the person who strikes the match isn't someone at the top of an organization. Sometimes, it's not even someone from your own company.

When I traced our involvement in the Training Futures program, I found that it evolved from discussions with Mary Agee and George Lane after Booz Allen won the CARE Award last year.

How did we come to enter in the first place? It turns out that one of our contractors, Madeline Fried, who was helping us with an employee survey about dependent care, suggested that Booz Allen submit a CARE Award application. From what she had seen, she thought we'd do pretty well. She struck the match.

Here's another example. Our involvement with the Arthritis Foundation's Jingle Bell Run fundraiser started in a similar way—one employee who had a special interest in the cause, went to our Community Relations department and asked for sponsorship money to field a Booz Allen team in the race.

Last year, 340 employees ran in the Jingle Bell Run and raised thousands of dollars for the Arthritis Foundation. We've set a goal to exceed that by at least 10% this year. But, without that spark 10 years ago, we might still be sitting on the sideline.

Stoke the flames

That's the leader's job. We need to create an environment where sparks happen and catch fire.

We need to show support and encouragement, inspire our employees to "go for it," and let them know that we're proud of the pursuit, no matter the outcome. By that I mean, we can't set up expectations for always being #1 or perceived penalties for falling short. If we do, our employees might be afraid to strike a match, lest they disappoint us.

We need to let our employees know we appreciate their initiative and believe their effort is worthwhile. And we need to provide the resources to help them succeed. In the case of the CARE Award, only a modest amount of support and encouragement was needed until we were notified that Booz Allen was a finalist.

At that point, our employees who prepared the application asked me to get personally involved, and I was happy to participate in the due diligence interviews. Subsequently, when Northern Virginia Family Service programs—such as Training Futures and the 75th anniversary gala—came to light, additional funding and support were needed from my office.

Here's another example of how we can stoke the flames. One of our principals, Jeff Schaffer, approached me last year about an effort to make our firm a better place for individuals with disabilities. In terms of leadership support, Jeff needed funding for things like audio tapes, closed-captioned videos, and assistive computer technologies—for additional sign-language interpreters—and facilities improvements. Subsequently, he and others asked for more of my time—to serve on boards and speak at a conference. We stoked the flames by adding a lot of fuel and support at the top. But Jeff struck the match, and without his initiative, this important effort wouldn't have caught fire.

Send smoke signals

The last part might at first sound self-serving. But telling your employees, recruits, clients, and others about successful efforts isn't just "tooting your horn," it has clear benefits-for the program at hand and others to follow.

Positive publicity—whether about winning the CARE Award, or being named to Working Mothers list of "best companies," or having an employee recognized as Manager of the Year by the National Business & Disability Council—inspires other good ideas and validates our employees' actions and choices.

Sending smoke signals attracts others with similar interests and inspires new match-strikers. In every recruiting package, we include not just the typical information about the firm and benefits programs, we also include our Community Service brochure, a flier about winning the CARE Award, and other articles that reinforce the values we want to be known for. Our recruiters tell us these materials attract lots of positive attention.

But it's important to keep smoke signals in perspective—to remember that the cause is a lot more important than the visibility. Natasha Crawford seems to intuitively understand this. Not too long ago, a reporter from The Washington Post was interviewing her and others about the Training Futures program.

After a minute, she politely excused herself and told the reporter, "I need to get back to work now."

So, in sum—and with apologies to the Boy Scouts and Peterson's Guide to the Great Outdoors—here are the three steps to build a fire and ignite the CARING spirit: 1) Strike a match; 2) Stoke the flames; 3) Send smoke signals.

Congratulations to this year's CARE Award winners: Computer Associates, Fannie Mae, FGM, Vastera, Litton PRC, and USAA.

I look forward to trading fire tips with you!