People first

12.12.2005
Information technology manager Farzad Golshani holds his staff in high esteem, and one way he shows it is not to seem like he's too high on himself.

"Even though I am a vice president, I am a very informal person. I don't act like a typical manager," says Golshani, vice president of IT infrastructure at Transamerica Retirement Services in Los Angeles. "I go to their cubes and say hello on a daily basis. I try to establish trust between me and the people I work with." That trust has returned handsome dividends. "I have about 15 direct reports, and they are very loyal and very committed to what we do here," says Golshani.

One illustration of this is a project that Golshani's team recently completed. A vendor brought in to evaluate feasibility before the start of the project said there was no way it could be implemented in the time allotted. "But we did it on time, within the budget, and the quality of the job was very good. I think everybody, including the vendor, was very surprised," Golshani says.

He cites employee loyalty -- the fruit of trust, personal involvement, staff empowerment, delegated tasks, and the responsibility and freedom his people have to do their jobs -- as the source of this success.

Steeping staff in business

At Watkins Motor Lines Inc., Dennis E. Michael helps team members understand the business by bringing it to them. "In our quarterly department meetings, we always have an outside presenter, usually from another part of the business, to explain what they do," says Michael, vice president of IT and strategic planning at the Lakeland, Fla., company.