The Company Culture Challenge

By David Russell and Robert Betzel

Zappos was broke in 1999 and in 2009 sold itself to Amazon for $1.2 BILLION. How did they do it? Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh says they succeeded then and now because of his laser focus on developing a superior company culture.

The question is, how can YOU do it? This book, The Company Culture Challenge, does more than tell you how. It gives you a step-by-step strategic plan to transform your organization into a high profit leader as you learn how to fully engage your employees and serve your clients so well they can't live without you.

Where did it come from? Sick of ideas and random strategies offered by other authors, entrepreneurs David Russell and Rob Betzel developed this 7-step process to transform any company culture into a team of people who take ownership for making certain clients are happy. And happy customers drive faster growth and higher profits.

Do not wait. This system is a game changer for any leadership team willing to implement it. In The Company Culture Challenge, these two business zealots have done the work for you. Leaders who follow their straightforward step-by-step system will transform slackers into superstars and casual customers into loyal evangelists. This is crucial information for companies of all sizes because customers have more options than ever, and you need them to think only of you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: eBookIt.com
• Release date: Apr 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9780977165940

David Russell

David Russell is a long-time member of the arts community in Vancouver. He has worked on stage and television, including performing as a company member with the Vancouver TheatreSports League for more than 15 years. Russell has written freelance for a number of publications, including Maclean's, Vancouver's Sun and Province, the award-winning online news site The Tyee, and others. He lives in Coquitlam, British Columbia.

Book preview

Guru

First Deal With Your Addiction

First Deal With Your Addiction

Stage 1

Sisyphus Revisited

Ding-ding! Daniel jerked in his seat, responding to his cell phone alarm and scattering the papers on his desk with flailing arms. Slowly rotating his head towards the wall-mounted clock, he realized it was already midnight. It was the third time this week he would not escape the office before the next day. That brought the count up to seven times this month and it was not even Valentine’s Day yet.

Groggily, on his way out, Daniel glanced at the wood carving tacked above his door: "’There is no substitute for hard work.’—Thomas A. Edison." It was a keepsake from his father, given years ago. With a sigh, he hit the lights and locked the door.

While trying to keep his eyes on the road, Daniel took stock of his situation. Hard work had been what brought him here. He had founded his own small company twenty years ago and was presently one of the premiere local competitors in his field. Now, as the economy started an upswing, he was hiring—again.

Though this was good news, the process had almost become routine for Daniel. It had been two decades and the only two defining factors he could think of for his company were fluctuating employee numbers and his insane work ethic. He felt like Sisyphus, the mythical character, pushing his boulder-of-a-company up a hill, knowing no matter how hard he strained, it would eventually all just come crashing back down again.

Daniel knew the economy played a role in business, but he wanted an economy-proof company. His firm was prone to sinking in good times and bad while he struggled to prioritize his time. He seemed to react to problems that were symptoms rather than implement systems to eradicate the disease that kept his company from growing. He wondered if Edison should have advocated something more than just hard work.

. . .

The prior year had been typical for his business: up and down. His ten employees last February had swelled to eighteen by August and then back down to eleven by December. He hired good people and they left for perceived better opportunities. He hired and fired other people because they were great actors during interviews, but poor performers on the job. Yet throughout the ups and downs, there was one constant: He worked almost all the time. What was the problem?

Daniel tried to come up with new ideas as he drove home in the dark, but his mind was blank except for a deep desire not to live the next decade like he had lived the last one.

He pulled into the driveway and trudged to the door. He went through his nighttime routine and slid into bed next to his wife, Kristy. Thankfully, it was Friday night. He could sleep in tomorrow and be with his family for a bit before getting back to work.

. . .

Daddy! An enthusiastic scream woke him in the morning. Daniel barely opened his eyes before a crimson blur named Marietta careened onto the bed, all enthusiasm and giggling.

Daddy! You’re home! ArewegoingtoplayLegosnow!?

Netta! Daniel exclaimed with a morning groan and a weak smile, Of course, but first let’s eat breakfast. Daniel gathered his daughter in his arms and padded to the kitchen in his robe and slippers. He pulled some strawberries out of the refrigerator and popped a few waffles in the toaster oven. He was starting to wake up now. He was putting the strawberries and waffles in front of Netta when the wonderful aroma of fresh coffee met his nostrils. He thanked God that Kristy had set the coffee maker timer last night. Netta was already halfway through her breakfast by the time he sat down.

Let’s play in the couch room today, Daddy! Netta exclaimed after she had wolfed down her breakfast.

Alright, give me a minute, kiddo. I still have to finish eating and wash up, said Daniel, stabbing what was left of a waffle and shoving it into his mouth.

Can I be excused? Netta asked.

Of course! Go wash up and get dressed. I’ll meet you in the couch room, replied Daniel. Netta started singing and bounded off.

Coming out of his bedroom dressed, clean-shaven and ready for the day, Daniel met Netta in the hallway and hoisted her onto a piggy-back ride. They found the back corner crowded by several tubs of Legos. Marietta squirmed down and ran over to the multicolored boxes. Daniel came over and joined her on the floor.

While they were working, Marietta continually asked questions about her father’s week.

Daddy, did you go to work yesterday?

Yes honey, I did.

All day?

Uh-huh.

Was it fun?

Daniel paused, then replied, Parts of it were fun, I guess.

Only parts were fun? Kristy inquired. She had her own career which shifted to part-time after Marietta was born. She joined them in the couch room and set a stack of papers down on the coffee table. She sat down and casually read as her two loved ones played. Is that sales person still giving you grief?

Daniel sighed, set down some Legos and leaned back against the wall. Not any more. I fired him because we lost another client after he offended her on the phone.

Who does that leave?

We are back down to eleven employees, about the same size as last year, said Daniel. Do you know that statistics prove it costs an average of one year’s compensation to replace an employee? I figured it out last night and my company has lost 73 employees over the last ten years. That means we’ve lost at least $3.5 million in the last ten years.

Were you clear about your expectations for this guy you just let go?

"Of course! I told him what to do. He nodded and assured me he understood. Then when he messed up, I explained what to do again, and he promised not to repeat the mistake. I just don’t get it. I hire Dr. Jekyll and get Mr. Hyde. These people seem so great in interviews, but often they don’t work out.

If I want to be honest with myself, and you, the business is going nowhere even though I’m working as hard as I can. Remember that wood carving my dad gave me a long time ago?

"The Thomas Edison ‘no substitute for hard work’ one above your door?"

Yeah. That’s been my mantra for, well, forever… It’s not working, babe. We’re not growing. We’re not shrinking, but we’re not growing.

Daddy look! Marietta exclaimed, holding up a newly constructed hover car made exclusively of red bricks. It’s a car!

Wonderful,! replied Daniel, taking the car and flying it around with a wooshing sound. He looked back towards his wife. Kristy was shuffling her papers and flipping through one of her workbooks. She was in the middle of a three-year part-time MBA program, hoping to go back to work full-time when Marietta started first grade next year. How was marketing class yesterday?

It was really cool, actually. We learned about different entrepreneurs and how they transformed average companies into world-class organizations.

Huh?

She chuckled, Some of this information might interest you. She paused and peered at Daniel over horn-rimmed glasses, Honey, we’d really love to see more of you around here. You‘re working all the time. Netta’s growing-up fast and quite frankly, I miss you.

Daniel frowned. I miss you guys too. This ‘work hard’ mantra is not working on its own. There has to be a better way. He sighed. Can I look at your stuff from class?

Sure. We covered some pretty interesting profiles of different entrepreneurs, said Kristy, giving him the class handouts and her notes. There was even one guy, Tony Something, who basically grew his company, Zappos, from bankruptcy to a value of, like, $1 billion in less than ten years. He actually sold it for $1.2 billion in 2009, and the company grew through the 2008-2009 recession. It was all based on something called ‘company culture’. That seems to be a buzzword in my classes nowadays. Sound familiar at all?

Daniel shrugged. Zappos? No, I don’t think I’ve heard of it.

No, I meant have you heard of how building a strong company culture can positively impact your company? Kristy was gaining enthusiasm as she shared what she had learned the prior day. Zappos sells shoes online. Amazon bought them and Tony’s one regret is that he did not focus on building a strong company culture earlier. It took him about five years into the business to realize how powerful a strong company culture could be. He’s not the only one who’s proven that company culture is a sustainable competitive edge. There are others.

Daniel scratched his chin. I heard the term in my business classes decades ago. It always seemed to be like more of a soft skill to me, like feng shui or something like that. He sold a stinking online shoe company for over $1 billion? Are you kidding?

Nope, Kristy winced, they were totally broke ten years ago.

Wow. Maybe this company culture thing is something to consider. I just don’t know when I’d have time to do anything about it.

Well you have time now, Kristy replied, and if it can make a difference, then you just have to make it a priority in your schedule. Everybody in business has the same amount of time in their day. You just have to focus on what’s most important, instead of what seems urgent. As a mother who also works part-time and is taking classes, I do this every day. She winked at him and took Netta outside to play so Daniel could review her class handouts and notes without interruption.

Daniel was frustrated at work and knew he needed to do something different. As he scanned the information Kristy left behind, Daniel thought there might be some answers from these entrepreneurs. Their stories were convincing and he started to dream about what would happen if he applied their principles to his company.

He grabbed his laptop and researched company culture on the internet. Again and again, he found examples of world-class organizations increasing profits, growth and employee satisfaction because their primary focus was a strong company culture dedicated to providing superior client service.

Daniel started to rack his brain. Did his company have a culture? Of course it did. Every business has one, even if they do not spend any time clearly defining it and training employees to live it out.

There was one major difference between his company and the examples of these other entrepreneurs: They made company culture a priority whereas he never spent any time on it. Daniel slumped in his chair as he realized his company culture was represented by inconsistency, good intentions, poor management and hard work. The result was his company was going nowhere and only being sustained by his ridiculous work hours.

As he read more, Daniel learned that Zappos was quite a success story. Tony had succeeded in building a $1 billion company in nine years because his employees fully understood why they were in business. This purpose was articulated in their mission statement. It was also reinforced through a total commitment by management to train, manage and hold their people accountable to doing business according to the company’s values.

In contrast, Daniel had been deluding himself into thinking that if he just worked hard enough, then his business would succeed. His success had equaled low profits, long work hours and the missing of family time that could never be replaced.

The longer hours he had been working these past months had been a direct result of a company culture on autopilot. He wondered if the opposite could be achieved. If he could hire and train his employees to have a clear understanding of the non-negotiable values of their company culture, would they deliver a more consistently positive experience with clients and contribute to increased profits? The answer had to be yes. It would also enable him to have more time with his family.

In his research, he found a Gallup poll that stated 67% of employees are not fully engaged in their work. If he had been breaking even with only one-third of his employees fully engaged, and he realized it might be worse, then what could happen if he reversed that to 67% or more fully engaged in their work?

He realized his work habits were like an addiction. He focused on completing tasks and responding to client fire drills because it gave him an emotional boost, but the effect was temporary because he spent too much time on menial tasks rather than true business builders. He paused to reflect on that. It was kind of scary.

There was one problem: The websites, articles and books all gave him disconnected ideas and partial strategies on improving company culture. He still had to figure out how to implement them on his own at his business. Then he came upon a book where its title The Company Culture Challenge, seemed to summarize his problem. That’s direct, thought Daniel. And true. This will be a challenge. It promised to give leaders what he had been looking for: a step-by-step approach to building a positive company culture in an existing business or a start-up.

Daniel started to get excited as he read the book’s description. This would give him a step-by-step plan to follow that would walk him through the process of improving his company.

The book’s description sounded as though they had done the work for him. He just needed to follow their process. This might just be the game-changer he needed

First Deal With Your Addiction

Stage 2

Admit You Are Powerless

Does Daniel’s story sound familiar? If you