MANAGING CHANGE

[CliqueofOne]

To all employees.


MANAGING CHANGE
_______________

Change is not easy for people, and with our company constantly evolving, I
want to share with you my thoughts on how we can all best prepare for and
handle change.

Our new CN culture is built on my five principles. You know what they are,
but it's worth repeating them and commenting on what each one means, because
this is what we're all about:

Service
_______

- Service is what we sell, and serving the customer is why we are in
business
- Poor service drives away revenue and drives up operating and capital
costs
- Service is doing what we say we'll do, every time, which means:
- We meet our schedule and service commitments - and the customer's
trust in CN rises
- Customers can plan their operation better, operate more efficiently,
and reduce costs
- Greater customer satisfaction


Cost Control
____________

- It's not about cost cutting it's about a cost-effective operation
built on finely tuned processes
- A finely tuned process has fewer disconnects, creates fewer defects, has
lower operating costs, and uses fewer assets
- Finely tuned processes are the key and the connection between asset
utilization and cost control


Asset Utilization
_________________

- Every process requires assets and CN has many processes across many
functions
- We need to identify underutilized assets and maximize their use or
eliminate them
- The more efficient a process, the fewer supporting assets it requires


Safety
______

- Safety is the right thing to do and is everyone's responsibility
- Doing our jobs right, following the basics of safety - every day and in
every way - is every employee's responsibility
- The more we remove uncertainty from our operation and processes, the
safer our operation
- The more we focus on the right and safe behaviours, the safer the
environment for all employees


People
______

* Passionate people power CN. And our people power increases when we:
- Recruit the right people
- Develop them with the right skills
- Motivate them to do the right thing
- Provide leadership

* People need a work environment where:
- Expectations and outcomes are clear
- Barriers are removed
- People are rewarded for the right outcomes and the right behaviour

Everything is built on the foundation of people. Without people, none of it
happens.

My main focus with our CN people is to influence their behaviour: to encourage
everyone to do the right things at CN - for example, doing their jobs safely
every day, maximizing their job performance every day, working together as a
team every day, etc.


Most people's behaviours are influenced by two things:
______________________________________________________

1) What they have to do:
-------------------------
knowing what performance/behaviour is expected of them and having the
necessary skills and experience to perform the job.

2) What's in it for them:
--------------------------
knowing what is rewarded in the organization. In other words, what are the
positive consequences for employees when they perform as required and what
happens to them (negative consequences) if they don't perform.

My goal is to reward people through positive consequences for doing the right
things at CN. These positive consequences include pay, special recognition,
treating people with respect and continuously thanking them for a job well
done.

The reality is 90-95% of our people at CN perform according to our
expectations and will be rewarded accordingly. The remaining 5-10% have to
face the appropriate consequences and be given the opportunity to change their
behaviour and improve their performance.

Now, if someone doesn't perform at the desired level, I first want to ensure
they know what the job requirements are and have the necessary skills and
experience. Assuming people know what and how to perform, if they fail to
consistently meet the job expectations, there will have to be negative
consequences. For the small percentage of people who do not correct their
unacceptable behaviour, the consequences can range from counselling up to
dismissal, if necessary.


High expectations and performance improvement
____________________________________________

Facing high expectations and needing to improve continuously is the way of the
world nowadays, and is the reality at CN. No matter where you look in
business, in sports, in technology - you have to do better than the year
before. A generation ago, running a four-minute mile was the top headline
around the world. Today you might not even qualify for a major track meet
with that time.

I set high expectations for myself and the management team at CN. This is
driven by the increasing expectations of customers, shareholders, regulatory
agencies, and the rest of our stakeholders. These expectations have to be
shared with all CN employees, so we can keep making the changes we need to
continue being successful.

Living in a continuous improvement culture can feel stressful, but the vast
majority of CN employees have already proven they can thrive in this
environment. That's how we got to be the top of our industry. But while all
employees have a responsibility to continuously improve, the company has a
responsibility to help employees deal with change.

Managing change starts with people understanding it, and leads to them
welcoming it.

At CN, we are taking action through activities such as our "ABC"
change-management training. This training has started at the higher ranks of
the company, and is currently being extended to managers with unionized
employees, starting in a few days. These customized 3-day sessions for all
first line supervisors will be mandatory. We're investing in tools such as
our on-line PMP to help all employees manage their careers better. It also
provides for greater accountability for managers. As well, we're going to
communicate more about change, and that includes clarifying roles and
responsibilities for both the company and employees.

In order for people at CN to embrace the five principles, we need to educate
our employees about how they should apply these principles in their jobs. In
addition and most importantly, we need to ensure the proper mix of positive
and negative consequences are consistently applied to support these
principles.

I expect it will take about 2-3 years for all CN employees to embed these
principles in their everyday duties. With 20,000 plus people at CN working
towards living these five principles, we will maintain our leadership position
as the best railroaders in the business for years to come.


E. Hunter Harrison
President and CEO

04/21/2004
[:(][:(!][xx(]

[bnsfkline]

Great, now we have a railroad president on these forums........


as MikeyGaw says


"I am CN of the borg, you will be assimulated, resistance is futile"

[Anonymous]

So how many more people are they laying off?
[}:)][}:)][}:)]

[wallyworld]

Transformation…blah,blah,blah….......Sell.........….blah,blah,blah……Service….blah,blah,blah… ....I would rather read my lawn mower manual again. All of these corporate missives are written by the same in house Borg who loves cloning popular conceptual clichés from management books off the Barnes and Noble shelves. This is the corporate equivilent of writing an essay based on Cliff Notes .. I will expect a paycheck in the mail from CN if I am expected to swallow this as a posting…