????說(shuō)起來(lái),，為新到貨的T恤衫貼標(biāo)簽不是大公司的高管們?cè)撟龅氖?，但是哈?戴維森（Harley-Davidson）的渠道戰(zhàn)略總監(jiān)邁克?佩頓偏就這么做了。去年,，他在公司位于賓夕法尼亞州的兩家銷(xiāo)售網(wǎng)點(diǎn)工作了好幾天,，這段經(jīng)歷讓他受益匪淺。

????在處理一項(xiàng)摩托車(chē)零件保修服務(wù)的過(guò)程中,，佩頓獲得了這幾天中最深切的感悟,。“我發(fā)現(xiàn),，經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商往往要將同一信息輸入兩次,，兩種系統(tǒng)不兼容導(dǎo)致了大量重復(fù)工作?！彼赋?，“如果只坐在總部的辦公室里，就會(huì)對(duì)經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商的情況想當(dāng)然,，也就不會(huì)知道我們的系統(tǒng)和流程有這么的難用,?！?/p>

????幾年前，哈雷-戴維森的管理層就開(kāi)始認(rèn)識(shí)到,，由于公司業(yè)務(wù)的持續(xù)擴(kuò)張（2009-2013年新增118名經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商,，目前僅在全美就有697名經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商），管理層級(jí)越來(lái)越復(fù)雜,，業(yè)務(wù)流程和項(xiàng)目也越來(lái)越繁瑣,。盡管公司自認(rèn)為非常關(guān)注客戶(hù)需求，可經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商們牢騷滿(mǎn)腹,，員工對(duì)公司的認(rèn)同感也非常低,。

????針對(duì)這種狀況，公司舉辦了經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商的內(nèi)部交流活動(dòng),，讓他們互相交流和借鑒好的做法,。當(dāng)時(shí)擔(dān)任哈雷-戴維森制造部門(mén)主管的基斯?萬(wàn)德?tīng)柶惹邢胍私怃N(xiāo)售一線出現(xiàn)的問(wèn)題，他決定一大早就去對(duì)經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商進(jìn)行走訪,。

????一位經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商直截了當(dāng)?shù)叵蛩l(fā)問(wèn)：“你究竟有沒(méi)有使用過(guò)系統(tǒng),？”萬(wàn)德?tīng)柍姓J(rèn)自己沒(méi)有，并表示他應(yīng)該嘗試一下,。

????此后不久,，萬(wàn)德?tīng)栆贿B好幾天時(shí)間都在一家經(jīng)銷(xiāo)店工作，馬上就體驗(yàn)到了哈雷經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商們遇到的挑戰(zhàn),。他意識(shí)到,，站在經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商的角度換位思考，這種簡(jiǎn)單的實(shí)踐對(duì)于彌合公司各層級(jí)之間日益拉大的差距很有必要,。

????其他幾位高管也紛紛效仿,。逐漸，這種做法變得流行起來(lái),，高管會(huì)在周末和節(jié)假日等門(mén)店最忙的時(shí)期到那里待上幾天,。最終，這種自發(fā)行為演變成了一個(gè)體驗(yàn)項(xiàng)目,，員工都能報(bào)名參加,。

????佩頓表示，這個(gè)項(xiàng)目令“員工的敬業(yè)度在過(guò)去幾年間發(fā)生了翻天覆地的變化”,。萬(wàn)德?tīng)柕拇_有他的一套,，能夠在實(shí)踐中找到變通的方法，為企業(yè)帶來(lái)巨大而積極的影響?，F(xiàn)在,，他已經(jīng)成為了哈雷公司的首席執(zhí)行官兼總裁。

????基思?費(fèi)拉齊是法拉奇綠訊營(yíng)銷(xiāo)咨詢(xún)顧問(wèn)公司（Ferrazzi Greenlight）的首席執(zhí)行官,，也是《不要吃獨(dú)食》（Never Eat Alone）和《誰(shuí)在支持你,？》（Who’s Got Your Back?）的作者,。大衛(wèi)?威爾基是企業(yè)高管交流平臺(tái)World 50的首席執(zhí)行官。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：南風(fēng)

????審校：Patti

????Putting labels on a new shipment of t-shirts may not seem like the best use of a senior executive’s time, but for Mike Peyton, director of channel strategy for Harley-Davidson, the days he spent working at two Harley stores in Pennsylvania last year were an eye opener.

????Peyton’s most profound realization came when he had to process a warranty claim on a motorcycle part. “I realized there’s lots of double work—the dealer has to enter the same info twice—because one system doesn’t communicate with the other,” he says. “Sitting in the head office, it’s very easy to make assumptions about how dealers do things—with no knowledge of how difficult it can be to use our systems and processes.”

????A few years ago, Harley-Davidson HOG -1.79% executives began to see that the company’s steady growth (it added 118 new dealers between 2009 and 2013 and now has 697 dealerships in the U.S. alone) had led to more complicated layers of management and a mushrooming number of complicated processes and programs. Although the company considered itself to be keenly aware of its customers’ needs, its dealers were not happy. Employee engagement scores were very low.

????So Harley began to form informal groups of dealers who could share business practices and learn from each other. Hoping to pick up some insight into the problems the front line faced, Keith Wandell, who was then head of Harley manufacturing, decided to go to an early dealer meeting.

????When a dealer turned to him and asked bluntly, “Have you ever actually tried to use that system?” Wandell admitted he hadn’t—and that he probably should.

????Soon afterward, Wandell spent several days working at a dealership and got a crash course in the challenges that Harley dealers face. He realized that the simple practice of walking in the dealers’ shoes was essential to bridging a widening gap between layers of the company.

????A handful of other executives followed suit. Gradually, the practice—in which executives spent several days at stores on their busiest days, weekends and holidays—caught on. Eventually, it became institutionalized as a program that employees could sign up for.

????Peyton says there’s been a “dramatic shift in employee engagement just in the past couple of years” because of the program. Wandell has proven he has a knack for figuring out changes in practices that will deliver a big, positive impact on the business, and he’s now Harley’s CEO and president.

????Keith Ferrazzi is the CEO of consulting and research firm Ferrazzi Greenlight and the author of Never Eat Alone and Who’s Got Your Back?. David Wilkie is the CEO of World 50, a private community for senior executives to share ideas.