Culture Counts

Submitted by: Perculcha, LLC

Culture Clash
"Thank you Gene, I appreciate you’re telling me about this.”
"I have to tell you Jess, if it weren’t for the fact that you own the place, I probably wouldn’t go back.”
"I’m really sorry you had those experiences, you can bet that I’ll be looking into this further.”
"Thanks, Jess, and good luck!”

Jessica Fillbrook hung up the phone and let out a deep sigh. She had just spoken with her good friend, Gene Ashwall, who told her about a bad experience he had recently had at her wine and cheese shop. Gene told her that he visited the store on that past Saturday afternoon and was wandering around when he overheard the two employees working that day making fun of a customer who had just left the store. They thought it hilarious that the customer couldn’t pronounce a certain type of wine and didn’t know what type of cheese to serve with the bottle she wanted to purchase. Gene heard this banter by the employees when he was on the other side of the store. He became angry not just because of the employee’s attitudes towards the customer and their lack of professionalism, but also because he knew that their behavior ran contrary to that of Jessica’s.

To top it off, in the 35 minutes that Gene spent in the store, not one employee greeted him or asked if he needed assistance, nor did they say goodbye to him as he walked out the store. Even though he had no interaction with the staff, Gene wondered what they said about him once he had left, since they had made fun of that other customer. On a prior visit, although an employee offered him assistance, Gene mentioned that when he showed an interest in a certain bottle of wine, the employee told him that his selection was not as good as another, higher priced bottle, which Gene ultimately purchased. When he arrived at home, Gene researched the two bottles of wine and learned that the one he had preferred was rated higher than the more expensive one he had bought.

Jess was perplexed by this information. After opening her store 3 years ago, regularly putting in 60+ hour weeks, she decided about six months ago to hire a few employees to cover the evening and weekend hours. Her first two hires were made by referral, and Jess thought them both to be excellent employees. Her last two hires were made by placing a help wanted sign in her storefront window and placing an advertisement in the local paper. Both of those employees had wonderful experience with glowing references and were very knowledgeable about the industry. The two employees in the store during Gene’s most recent visit included one of those hired by referral and one hired through the more conventional methods.

Since all of her employees had prior knowledge of the products sold in Jessica’s store, she didn’t feel that there was much she needed to train them on, so she quickly put them to work after showing them her inventory and timekeeping systems, cash registers, and opening and closing procedures.

This is the first complaint Jessica had received about her employees, but she had noticed that repeat business had dropped slightly over the last quarter, which she thought a bit odd as she had expected business to improve during that time of the year.

In analyzing Jessica’s situation, it may appear on the surface as though her problem is one of customer service. While this may be true, it is likely not the root cause. Employees project the personality, or culture, of a company and, in this case, they appear to be projecting one of pompousness and laziness, where customers are ridiculed for their lack of knowledge and are not valued or appreciated.

Shaping Culture
When Jessica moved forward with her hiring plans, she had put no thought into how she wanted her new employees to project the values of the company. In fact, although she had created mission, vision and goal statements when she created her business plan, she hadn’t looked at them since opening her store. While she knew what type of company she wanted and how it would differ from other wine and cheese shops in the area, she hadn’t put those things in writing in the form of a values statement and certainly hadn’t communicated those things to her new staff. As a result, the employees acted according to whatever prior experiences they had with previous employers and their cultures.

As it turns out, one of the employees who was working the day Gene was at the store had previously worked at an upscale store which was geared towards wine enthusiasts who typically had a great deal of knowledge of both wines and cheeses. It was unusual for that store to see customers with little or no prior knowledge of wine and/or cheese and, when such customers came in, they became the joke of the day with the staff. The other employee had worked at a store that had a “hands off” sales policy. They were told never to approach a customer and to wait for the customer to approach them. The employee who tried to sell Gene the expensive bottle of wine formerly worked at a store where employees were rewarded based on their sales numbers. It was easy for these employees introduced in to Jessica’s store the cultural norms experienced in their former jobs, because no existing culture was in place. This hybrid culture created by Jessica’s employees differed quite significantly from the image and reputation she wanted for her store.

Is it too late for Jessica and the reputation of her store? Absolutely not; however, she will need to act fast in order to nip the problem in the bud and take charge of shaping the culture she wants for her company.

The following are some tips for shaping your company’s culture:

• Create a value or culture statement
  Value statements speak to the guiding principles of a company. Culture statements speak to the workplace environment. Both help to guide employees towards desired behaviors, but will only be effective when the behaviors are communicated, encouraged, practiced, and rewarded.
  
  
• Mirror the behaviors you want to see in others
  Employees will know that the value and/or culture statements are important if they see you demonstrate them on a regular basis. If you don’t walk the talk, they won’t either.
  
  
• Get to know your employees and their perceptions
  Talk with employees about their prior work experiences and work with them in identifying perceptions or behaviors brought from other employment experiences. Talk with them about those areas where their past behaviors may conflict with desired behaviors you want for your company and how they may go about changing them.
  
  
• Positively reinforce desired behaviors
  The more positive reinforcement employees receive for desired behaviors, the more likely it is that those behaviors will stick.
  
  
• Call employees on undesired behaviors
  If an employee demonstrates an unwanted behavior, confront them about it rather than ignore it and hope it goes away. Let them know what you observed and how it differs from the desired behavior. Ask them why they felt compelled to behave in that manner and discuss with them ways in which to prevent that behavior from occurring in the future as well as ways in which to begin using the desired behavior.
  
  
• Share the company’s mission, vision and strategy with employees
  The more employees know about the purpose and direction of the company, the more likely they are to work with you towards achieving those goals.
  
  
• Keep culture in the forefront when making workforce related decisions
  Think of your desired culture when planning to hire, when managing performance, and when developing benefits, compensation and rewards strategies. This will ensure alignment between your workforce management architecture and your desired culture.
  

It doesn’t matter what business or industry you’re in, culture always starts with you. When you established your company, you may have had an idea of how you wanted to act towards customers and what kind of work environment you wanted for your employees. However, once they enter the picture, if your intent hasn’t been effectively communicated, employees will decide for themselves how to act when performing their jobs and interacting with your customers, leaving you to pay the price when their actions differ from your interests. Why take that chance? By following the tips listed above, you can create a culture that is right for your company.

Next month: Culture maintenance and change

Megan Rounds is the owner and Chief Workforce Architect for Perculcha, LLC. Perculcha specializes in Workforce Management Architecture^TM, which consists of a blueprint of a companies' current and future workforce goals and needs from which a Workforce Management Plan is designed. When executed, the Workforce Management Plan creates a foundation and structure for your workforce that aligns with your company’s vision, values and growth strategies. A Workforce Management Plan takes much of the guesswork out of the cultural creation of your company and puts you in control of the kind of workforce you both want and need for sustainable success.

, MA, SPHR
Owner/Chief Workforce Architect
Perculcha, LLC
952.496.1444