Why You Need A Great Work Culture - Especially Right Now

8 Essential Steps to Build a Culture That Will Thrive (Not Just Survive) When Times Get Tough

I read a quote a few years back from Richard Branson that stuck with me. “Clients don’t come first, Employees come first.  If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.”  I’ve always loved this quote because it makes perfect sense.  Unfortunately, it’s not always the reality in business.  And quite often, the Shareholder has assumed first position.  During this time of crisis however, I see many companies reorganizing the list, and very clearly prioritizing their people - paying for extra benefits, implementing hazard pay and new bonuses, allowing flexible working arrangements (some are obviously forced to so), and so on. Many leaders are doing an outstanding job of meeting the needs of their people during these challenging times. But, will these behaviors and actions last?  

In August of 2019, around 200 CEOs jointly signed a document stating that shareholder value would no longer be their primary objective. The statement read that they would now be committed to investing in employees, delivering value to customers, dealing ethically with suppliers, and supporting outside communities. Six months later a virus would sweep the world and change everything. I certainly applauded the statement these CEOs made at the time, but it’s disappointing that the primary objective for many of these organizations drifted so far towards the shareholder constituent to begin with.  

So, if Richard is right (and I definitely believe he is), how do we ensure we remain committed to our people, and create a culture that will not only survive, but thrive in any challenging situation we face? I’ve discovered 8 things that have served me quite well:

1. Be Honest, Care for One Another, and Commit to Connectedness. Can you create a great culture with a single “kick-off” meeting to begin the year, a year-end holiday party, an annual Employee Appreciation Day, or an Employee Satisfaction Survey in Q4? Probably not. And as of today, you can’t even do most of these things, anyway. People leaders have to be present now more than ever, and they have to connect with people early and often (and on a much more personal level). Your people know what you truly care about, by the questions you ask them, the notes you send, and the things you pay closest attention to. Today, most of us are doing a better job at this.  But is this our normal mode of operation – starting conversations asking about one another’s families and their health, how we are feeling, whether or not we are worried, etc.  

Bottom line, if we really care, we need to demonstrate it, and it shouldn’t fade back to “normal” once the threat of a virus goes away. Love is a weird and strange word to use in business, but are we demonstrating love for one another at work? That’s a path to a great culture. 

2. Communication Needs to Improve. We need to commit to creating an environment where two-way communication exists. Leaders must ensure that their people know what is going on, where the team is heading, how it’s performing, and what is expected of everyone on it. As John Maxwell says, leaders must define reality, set a vision, help the team develop plans, value teamwork, and give them hope. You can’t do these things without excellent communication. Town halls, newsletters, market visits, one-on-ones, skip-levels, and time together with customers (in the trenches) are not only valuable, they are imperative! Fortunately, emerging technologies are making all of these things much easier to enact, even though many of us are not in the office right now. Don’t fall into the trap of communicating less right now but find new ways to communicate more.  In addition, we must create environments where people feel comfortable, safe and free to ask questions – even challenging questions.  And our answers need to be honest answers.

3. Make work fun. If you’re not laughing out loud, celebrating wins, or making fun of your own mistakes, then you’re probably not having fun. “Work hard, play hard” can be a real thing. As an example, I follow Clemson Football and I love paying attention to Dabo Swinney, their Head Coach. He coined a phrase “the fun is in the winning.” Basically, he’s made the decision that the “grind” of practice and the game of football, which is obviously extremely hard, has to be pursued in the spirit of fun. When they win, they have dance parties in locker room, pizza parties with fans, and so on. In this ESPN piece you can see where they even installed a miniature golf course, whiffle ball field and a giant slide in the walls of their football operations complex. How are they performing on the field? Five straight college play-off appearances, two National Championships within the past five years, and the number 1 recruiting class for 2020 high school athletes. Meanwhile, some of his contemporaries look miserable when they win, and their focus seems to be on “process” and “grind” only. I think we have to ask ourselves, what type of environment do you really believe the most talented people in your industry will want to be a part of?

4. Talk a little less and listen a little more. I heard a story about Nelson Mandela and his approach to leadership in one of Simon Sinek’s podcasts. Mandela’s father was a tribal leader, and a very esteemed man in his time. He would hold tribal council meetings, and people would come in and present their ideas and issues to him. He would spend hours listening before he would say a word. His model was to listen first before passing any opinion or judgement. Basically, be the last one to talk – that’s how you learn. As leaders, if you show your opinion at the start of the meeting, you’ll influence the viewpoint of everyone in the room before the discussion truly gets started. Today, in a world of Zoom, WebEx, Skype, Microsoft Teams, Facetime, Google Hangouts, or whatever your video tool of choice is, you have to work even harder, and be even more aware. If not, you’ll end up watching yourself talk on video for 40 minutes, see 1 or 2 chats on the right side of the screen, hear from 2 of 10 people, and wonder what just happened when it’s over. Ask a few really good questions, empower the conversation, and then just listen!

5. Create an environment where Innovation is Rampant. Commit yourself and your team to be a spirit of constant innovation. Remember, new ideas that lead to new products and solutions all require energy, and usually a lot of extra energy. But, they also bring excitement. Very few people (if anyone at all) wants to spend their day trying to “eek out” a little more margin from an existing product. However, people love being part of something new, fresh and exciting. I personally remember a time when I was asked to play a critical role in the launch of our first retail product at Amex, The American Express Gift Card. We had never sold a card on a retail store rack, so everything we were doing was groundbreaking. A few billion dollars in sales later, our work was highly celebrated. However, along the way, we failed on several occasions, but our Senior Executive Team was always supportive of our progress. Honestly, this was one the best experiences (so far) of my career. This pandemic is creating the need for new services, products and paths for connecting with your customers.  What do you have your team working on right now?

6. Focus on what your customers need, not on what the competition is doing. If you’re manically focused on being better than the competition, then you’ve probably already lost. Focus on making your team the greatest version of itself. Listen to leaders of great companies and teams talk about their mission. Their focus is virtually always directed on being the best they can be, not measuring themselves against their competition. This doesn’t mean putting your head in the sand and ignoring the marketplace, but don’t limit your potential greatness by attempting to replicate what your competitors are doing. Also, establish reward mechanisms for your team when they create amazing experiences for the customer. In these very challenging times for the travel Industry, I am so grateful that my airline, hotel, and car rental partners are all protecting my travel statuses, offering refunds, and doing everything in their power to support my needs. A time will come when I will travel again, and I will remember who took care of me.

7. Consistently Invest in Personal Growth (For You and for Your Team). First, all of us should be committed to personal and professional growth. Yes, we have to execute the job at hand, but we need to invest in ourselves. That means that our teams and our leaders need to know we take this seriously.

Your leader needs to be actively engaged and excited to see you grow. If not, you need a new leader. Let me repeat: Your leader needs to be actively engaged and excited to see you grow. 

And for our people, it’s not only our responsibility, but we should do all in our power to encourage and enable them to reach their hopes and dreams. That means not only investing in things that will make them better as our employees, but in things that will make them better for what’s next. My last three leaders at American Express all took this very seriously – Brendan Walsh, Susan Chapman-Hughes, and Kelly Fisher Collamore. They often were more interested in me on a personal level and what I was learning than just discussing my results - that’s inspirational!

8.  Everyone, at every level, matters. Take a peek at this video by Denzel Washington (with a cameo from Will Smith, too). It’s Incredibly inspirational and moving, and I love the way he talks about pulling others up with you. I’ve admired Denzel for a long time – It’s obvious how much he cares for others. During my career, I’ve tried to emulate this – ensuring that everyone on the team knows how valuable they truly are. At times, I’m certain I’ve failed at this, especially when I was a newer leader. Over time, though, I grew to realize that I actually produced far less than virtually everyone else on my team. My role as the leader was simply to help set a vision, empower the team to do what they do, and then reward and promote their success! For all of us, let’s work harder to ensure that we get this right, especially right now. It’s pretty crazy that we are just now referring to the UPS driver, the cashier at the grocery store, the nurse at the hospital, and the worker at the food processing plant as “essential.” Perhaps they always were, and now we’re finally noticing. Let’s fix this!  

So, for the 200 CEOs that made a bold statement last year, I truly hope during these crazy times that they stay the course and achieve great success with their employee initiatives in delivering far more than only profits moving forward. For me, I hope to work with, partner and engage with organizations where employees are seen as the absolute top priority, the greatest asset of the organization. I want to be part of teams that dazzle their customers with amazing support and service, and in return enjoy business relationships that thrive and prosper.

And then, we’ll have that Dance Party!