????說起來，為新到貨的T恤衫貼標簽不是大公司的高管們該做的事，但是哈雷-戴維森（Harley-Davidson）的渠道戰略總監邁克?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售網點工作了好幾天，這段經歷讓他受益匪淺。

????在處理一項摩托車零件保修服務的過程中，佩頓獲得了這幾天中最深切的感悟。“我發現，經銷商往往要將同一信息輸入兩次，兩種系統不兼容導致了大量重復工作。”他指出，“如果只坐在總部的辦公室里，就會對經銷商的情況想當然，也就不會知道我們的系統和流程有這么的難用?！?/p>

????幾年前，哈雷-戴維森的管理層就開始認識到，由于公司業務的持續擴張（2009-2013年新增118名經銷商，目前僅在全美就有697名經銷商），管理層級越來越復雜，業務流程和項目也越來越繁瑣。盡管公司自認為非常關注客戶需求，可經銷商們牢騷滿腹，員工對公司的認同感也非常低。

????針對這種狀況，公司舉辦了經銷商的內部交流活動，讓他們互相交流和借鑒好的做法。當時擔任哈雷-戴維森制造部門主管的基斯?萬德爾迫切想要了解銷售一線出現的問題，他決定一大早就去對經銷商進行走訪。

????一位經銷商直截了當地向他發問：“你究竟有沒有使用過系統？”萬德爾承認自己沒有，并表示他應該嘗試一下。

????此后不久，萬德爾一連好幾天時間都在一家經銷店工作，馬上就體驗到了哈雷經銷商們遇到的挑戰。他意識到，站在經銷商的角度換位思考，這種簡單的實踐對于彌合公司各層級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，高管會在周末和節假日等門店最忙的時期到那里待上幾天。最終，這種自發行為演變成了一個體驗項目，員工都能報名參加。

????佩頓表示，這個項目令“員工的敬業度在過去幾年間發生了翻天覆地的變化”。萬德爾的確有他的一套，能夠在實踐中找到變通的方法，為企業帶來巨大而積極的影響?，F在，他已經成為了哈雷公司的首席執行官兼總裁。

????基思?費拉齊是法拉奇綠訊營銷咨詢顧問公司（Ferrazzi Greenlight）的首席執行官，也是《不要吃獨食》（Never Eat Alone）和《誰在支持你？》（Who’s Got Your Back?）的作者。大衛?威爾基是企業高管交流平臺World 50的首席執行官。（財富中文網）

????譯者：南風

????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.