Team Talk
With his emphasis on communication, Walt Payne helped strengthen blue Diamond Growers’ standing in California’s almond industry
Graham Allen
Allen Communications
When Walt Payne
took the role of president and chief executive officer at Blue Diamond Growers, he vowed
to strengthen communications throughout the organization, especially with the growers who
own the cooperative.
His determination "to listen and
communicate effectively" has earned unofficial personal kudos over the past six years
and numerous local and national awards for the cooperative. Now comes official recognition
of Payne's role as chief communicator.
Payne was named 1998 CEO Outstanding
Communicator of the Year by the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) at its annual
meeting June 9 in Santa Fe, N.M. This prestigious national award is the only one of its
kind in the cooperative business community. The annual honoree is chosen for his or her
support of a co-op's communicators and active participation in communication efforts that
meet exceptional standards.
The CCA award recognizes chief executive
officers who integrate communications into their cooperatives 'planning and management
processes, demonstrate support for their communications staff, possess extraordinary
personal communications skills, and maintain a record of successful communication programs
All of that matches the approach that Payne has
taken as Blue Diamond's CEO.
Payne became CEO in 1992 during a period when
the co-op was experiencing a decline in profitability and membership.
A 20-year veteran of Blue Diamond's sales and
marketing department, Payne had joined Blue Diamond in 1973 as director of marketing and
planning. Working his way up in the company, he had become president and CEO in 1992.
Prior to joining the California cooperative, he had worked for EXXON and played
professional baseball with the Boston Red Sox Organization from 1957-1960. He had earned a
bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree in marketing/finance, both from
Stanford University.
With his background, Payne knew he had his work
cut out for him as Blue Diamond's CEO. Immediately, he set about correcting the problems.
Sweeping away barriers
First, Payne swept away the barriers between
business groups and individuals that blocked the flow of information and hindered
effective decision-making. He eliminated layers of management and championed the formation
of project teams that cut across departmental and functional lines, forcing people to work
out solutions to business issues face-to-face.
"If we were to improve our business
performance, it was essential that we improve communications between people and
departments that had become too narrowly focused," Payne explains. "We had
become functionally oriented, with too little inter-departmental communication or
cooperation."
It was slow going at first, he admits, while
people from different departments and disciplines got used to working and talking - with
one another. Corporate cultures don't change overnight; they evolve. But faced by a severe
competitive challenge, Blue Diamond's people and leadership made a serious effort to adopt
more effective, efficient ways. Memos gave way to frank discussions and creative
decision-making. Ideas and suggestions flowed up, down and across the organization.
Camaraderie replaced isolation. The value of the team approach became apparent to all.
"The team approach's power for problem
solving began to have an effect," Payne recalls. "We discovered deep wells of
ingenuity and talent in our organization. Our project teams developed new and more
efficient ways of doing things. In the first year, and every year since, our performance
improved."
Operating costs per pound of product shipped
dropped and worker productivity soared. Grower margins climbed. In a few years, Blue
Diamond's grower payments were once again at or near the top of the almond industry.
But perhaps the most dramatic change came in
grower perception of the people and company that serves them. While Blue Diamond was
becoming more efficient and returning to a competitive position in its industry, Payne was
restoring contact and communication with its membership. Exchanging his executive attire
for boots and an open collar, he walked the orchards with growers, met them in coffee
shops and in their living rooms, in small groups on their own turf, and in co-op meetings
across the state. He listened to their concerns. He acknowledged their ideas and
suggestions. He answered their questions and "told it like it is," pulling no
punches and gilding no lilies. He was accessible; he was honest; he was responsive.
As this breath of fresh air swept across
central California, growers and the competition took notice. Bit by bit, member defections
slowed and new sign-ups and renewals increased. In just a few years, the combination of
competitive returns, a willing listener, and credible communicator reversed the slide.
Blue Diamond's membership and crop share began to grow.
Turnaround
California's almond growers again regard
Blue Diamond as the handler of choice. That shift in perception is in part due to Payne's
personal efforts as lead communicator, but also is a credit to the sea change in corporate
thinking that he initiated. No longer is there a "we" and a "they"
mentality when employees refer to grower-members. Everyone at the co-op now sees his or
her role as a member of a grower-employee team that supplies customers with the best
possible products and service. And they relish their roles as communicators, sharing ideas
in team meetings, and creating new solutions to business challenges through discussion.
Good listening and clear communications
underlie all of Payne's efforts to strengthen Blue Diamond and position it for the
challenges of the 21st century. In 1992, he set high communications standards for himself
and everyone else at Blue Diamond, while, at the same time, cutting costs - two goals that
"may seem mutually exclusive," he admits. "But the people in our
organization that make those things happen did not think so. We work hard at
communications. Everyone contributes to the effort: the chairman, the board, and the
staff. Sweat equity is what I would call it."
The result is a well-informed membership and
staff, and an enviable reputation in the community, where Payne plays a leadership role on
a variety of boards and commissions, helping achieve community goals and consensus,
through effective communications. 
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