There are times when you’ve experienced something new and it takes a while to understand what it was and how it became important in your life. Lessons come in so many different ways and sometimes in very unexpected ways.
It was a very hot day in August many summers ago. I had just landed a great job at UPS unloading 53-foot trailers that would feed a sorting conveyor belt manned by about 12 people. The pace of my work was important as the rate was extremely specific – 1,200 pieces an hour or one parcel every three seconds.
It was a demanding, yet well-paid production position and while it was the bottom of the ladder, I was grateful to have it to help me get through college and start on my journey.
One day our shift manager, only about 10 years older than me at the time, asked when I could clear my schedule to have lunch or breakfast with him for what was called a “TLA,” which stood for “talk, listen and act.” He explained that he wanted to get to know me better and wanted to explain more about the company and how we could make it even better.
He really took time to get to know me and other team members on a personal basis. He scheduled regular TLAs to keep up to date with each of us. He knew where we were attending college and what our majors were. He knew about our families. He knew our hobbies and favorite sports teams. He also knew what we liked about our jobs and the parts that we found challenging.
He knew that several team members were only there for a short while, knew others would stick around for a few years and yes, knew that some, like him, would make a career at UPS. He asked for our opinions and ideas for improvements. He also was not shy about asking us to make some changes to improve our efficiency and productivity. He encouraged us to bring our best each day.
He knew all of this because he took the time to ask, invest and act. And he was intentional in building a culture and not just settling for what he got.
In later years, I learned that he did this on his own budget. He personally spent his time and his money on each of us. Other managers at that location did not make this effort. And out of all three shifts, he had the best production and accuracy numbers and the least turnover. He had built a winning culture.
I have borrowed this TLA concept during my career and continue to share it often. If you want more and better, you must do more and better. Winning cultures are a real strategic advantage in any business or organization. But where do you start?
Like with any important journey, the first step is to clearly understand where you are and then chart your course. Often simple questions can yield the most helpful information. The power of asking relevant questions and truly listening — not just waiting to respond — can unlock incredible value to your business.
What is your culture?
When I ask business leaders the simple question, “What is your culture?” I’m often met with hesitation or vague responses such as “We work hard, put in long hours and try to do the right thing.”
While those are fair and honest responses, they do reveal that culture is often something left on the back burner and not clearly defined.
A definition I like is “Culture is what we do, what we don’t do and how we do it.”
In my business coaching conversations with tire dealership owners and leaders, some describe culture work as “soft skills” or “touchy-feely.” As you might guess, some of those types of business leaders represent the largest opportunity for improvement! Everything counts.
Some recent conversations with clients have started with them telling me, “We want help in developing a culture.” My response is always direct. I share that all business and organizations already have a culture in place. It develops either with intention, purpose and skill or simply by default or culture on autopilot.
Culture creates the experience that both employees and customers feel when they interact with a business or organization. As you think about the businesses you interact with, there is a good chance the ones you enjoy the most are also the businesses with the best culture. Employees who don’t like what they are doing or are disengaged will carry that over to the customer experience. You own your culture, like it or not. Since this is your culture, you can decide to change it. The choice is up to you.
The automotive segment, like all businesses, is facing some economic factors somewhat out of your control, like inflation, labor pool, cost of borrowing, price increases, supply chain challenges and changing customer needs and behaviors.
While these factors do indeed create some unique challenges, the good news is that the issues are all about the same for your competition. How you choose to respond can create a real strategic advantage for your business that takes the challenges head-on and creates solutions instead of excuses. How you prepare and execute will have a dramatic impact on the results you get.
Build to win
One principle that I preach is this — what you do is 10 times more valuable than what you were going to do. But where do you start? Here are six important steps to building a winning culture that delivers exceptional value to employees and customers.
1. Accept the reality of where you currently are and decide to change it. Leaders are responsible for setting the culture their teams follow. While culture is everybody’s responsibility to support and execute, leaders have the ultimate responsibility to set it and chart the course. Leaders also have the most influence and responsibility to model the right culture. If you ask for behavior and actions that are not supported by your culture, you will be challenged to deliver on them. In a recent article in “Inc Magazine,” Chip Conley writes that in terms of priorities, customers actually come in second behind employees as the employees create customers’ experiences. Some may disagree with this, but it is hard to overestimate the importance of engaged employees driving a successful culture.
2. Drive responsibly for business changes. An April 2022 Gallup survey revealed that employee engagement has dropped from 36% in 2020 to 34% in 2022. And to even make this more challenging, Gallup reported that 17% of employees are “actively disengaged.” Again, this is across many business segments and the playing field may be fairly even. Business leaders who drive change to develop a winning culture will have a measurable advantage over the competition. The power of getting 1% better each day is dramatic. Even 1% better each week will produce market-leading results. A better culture drives better results.
3. Be consistent, committed, provide clarity and be patient. This process takes patience as you need to ask your employees and team members some very direct questions and be prepared to listen to the results. Building a better culture starts with how well you understand your team. Do your teams clearly understand what is required of them? Lack of clarity creates confusion and lack of execution. Employees need to understand what is important to the business, but what is important to them? Why is it important and what can you do as a leader to address it? Stephen Covey supports this in his book “Seven Habits for Highly Successful People.” Habit number five, according to Covey, is to seek first to understand and then to be understood.
4. Connect frequently, ask, listen and act. While building culture, getting there can be informal as long as it is sincere and consistent. A few effective formats include team meetings before work starts to keep everyone on track; after-work dinners to celebrate achievements; company picnics for all; TLAs with one-on-one development discussions; a written survey to all employees and spur-of-the-moment discussions during the course of general business. Just having the conversation is a great start and a competitive advantage.
5. Ask relevant questions and listen. Gallup asked some straightforward questions of their study participants: Do you have clarity of expectations? Do your opinions count? Do you have opportunities for development and advancement? Do you feel valued and does your work have value? Are you enthusiastic about coming to work? How do you feel about the workplace culture? Would you recommend your employer to a friend? What would you like to change?
6. Evaluate and implement. Once you have your team’s feedback, review and implement the suggestions and ideas that work. Be candid about the ideas that are not in alignment without being critical. Some organizations offer rewards, such as a gift card or lunch, for the entire team to celebrate the implementation of a new process or idea. A simple thank you also goes a long way. Continue to encourage candid and open feedback from your team.
By deciding to improve your culture and adopting the six steps above, you will be well on your way to inspiring your team and achieving better results.
Greg Ring is an accomplished, executive-level professional with more than 20 years of tire industry experience in operational development, sales, management, leadership and public speaking. He has worked with all levels of organizations, including C-suite executives at Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies. Ring can be reached at GR Consulting LLC via [email protected].
