A few years back, I was standing in a courier shop, filling out the paperwork to send a Christmas present off to my aunt in Montreal (last minute, of course) when I overheard the clerk behind the counter berating a customer for filling out his form incorrectly. It wasn't so much what she said, as the tone of her voice. Clearly, the customer was making her job more difficult and she wanted him to know it.
Curious, I looked up and was suddenly struck by a vision of irony. There on the wall behind her, in large six-inch letters, was the company's mission statement. I'm paraphrasing, but essentially it said that they were committed to providing the best customer service experience available from any business in any industry. And as if to emphasize the point, at the bottom was the giant signature of the company's president.
Well, I'm not one to let a good bit of irony pass me by, so when it was my turn at the counter, I casually made reference to the sign on the wall and asked the clerk what she thought of it. Her reply said it all. "When you've been at a place like this as long as I have, you learn to ignore stuff like that". Wow!
Now this is a large enough company that I'm certain their people have been through customer service courses. Probably more than one. And the packages all seem to make it to their destinations, so their systems are likely fairly solid. So what's the problem?
In a word, it's "culture". Culture is the compass that guides the daily behavior of people in an organization. Its influence over a business is huge, and yet rarely is it paid much attention to.
One of my teachers is fond of saying, "culture eats process for breakfast". What he means is that while systems are important for driving business value, people are critical. In the case of the courier company, while there likely were existing customer service policies in place, they clearly had little impact on the clerk in question. On the other hand, had the clerk been personally driven to give exemplary customer service, a few poorly documented policies wouldn't have kept her from doing just that.
Every business has a culture, including yours. The question is, "how do you get your culture working in your favor?"
To answer this question, we need to start at the beginning. And every great culture begins with great people. Great people for your organization, that is. And great people for your organization are those who share your corporate values. For example, Brian Scudamore, founder of 1-800-Got-Junk?, says he doesn't try to motivate his people, he hires people who are already highly motivated and then plugs them into an environment that nurtures and supports this attitude.
What describes your ideal culture? Whether you're a fun, energetic team of graphic artists or a cautious group of detail-oriented accountants, you need to be as explicit as possible when you're seeking to build your team, so that you don't waste time meeting people who won't fit in.
To build and keep the type of all-star team you need to grow your value and get your business to the next level, you also need to develop a workplace that offers people the opportunity to grow. In other words, you need to give your people a reason to go to work on Monday morning, other than just to collect a paycheque.
Done properly, this is what Dr. Anthony Williams, VP Corporate Learning for Coast Capital Savings, calls a "teaching organization". A "teaching organization" is one in which people are encouraged to not only learn from each other, but to play an active role in educating, supporting, and helping everyone else to improve as well. The result is an environment where everyone is inspired to look for opportunities to make things better.
At Wardell, for example, we have weekly meetings where everyone is responsible for teaching something to everyone else. Usually it's on topic, to do with business, but sometimes it's something on a personal level that everyone can learn from. When we leave the meeting, everyone has contributed something of value to the company and to each other.
