Taking the long road to financial success

The CX Network Weekly is the LinkedIn Newsletter from CX Network. Each week we share our take on a key development in experience management, with links to CX Network resources that can inform, inspire and help your organization’s response.

This week’s edition looks at what it takes to be successful in CX and why financial success should be the result of running a good business, rather than the goal.

A long time ago in America, author and radio host Earl Nightingale shared his secrets to success. They were based on his experiences of growing up during the Depression, serving in the Marine Corps and leading the sales team in his insurance company. Earl wrote and spoke extensively about personal development and how to create a meaningful existence, and his lessons easily transfer to life and business. Today, however, they also hold meaning for those in CX. In one of his most famous broadcasts, Earl said:

“Success is not the result of making money, making money is the result of success.”

So, this week, we have a story about a company that has taken the long road to success – and generated lots of money in the process – by placing the employee at the heart of the business.

The company is the family-owned Timpson Group, a British dry cleaning, watch repair and key cutting specialist with a portfolio of brands, including Max Spielmann, Johnsons the Cleaners, Snappy Snaps, Jeeves of Belgravia, The Watch Lab and pub chain Flock Inns.

CEO James has been at the helm for 22 years and leads the company with a belief that if its 5,600 employees are happy and management is guided by simplicity (which also makes employees happy), everything else will fall into place. In short, the more James spends on colleague?happiness, the more money those colleagues make for the company.

To do this, James has stacked everything toward employees – they are hired on personality alone, managers are judged exclusively on how much their teams like and respect them, there are staff incentives and 19 holiday homes around the UK that employees can use for free. Timpson recruits ex-offenders and gives them a chance to turn their lives around through steady employment, there is a pet bereavement policy and a ￡100 cash bonus for any employee who successfully quits smoking. This list continues.

It sounds expensive, but has this EX policy helped Timpson to make more money? Yes, it has. Last year’s financial results aren’t due for another few months, but in the year to 1 October 2022, Timpson doubled comparable profits to ￡36.5m and sales rose to ￡297.4m. It’s an increase of about 40%.

Leading in this way takes courage, but it clearly pays dividends (to the tune of ￡12.8m for the Timpson family in 2022). James has written several books and there’s a new one out this month, which explains this story in detail. For now, here are 3 links curated to help you channel the courage it takes to do things differently and put your people first.

Here’s something to inspire you…

Here’s something to inform you…

Here is something to help you…