Values - Culture and Change

Do the CEO’s values trickle down – or do they dissipate and change over time as the company grows?

If you read the story of In-N-Out Burger (and the first half of the book is worth reading) Mrs. Snyder, one of the owners,  laments the fact that they have grown so big she no longer knows anyone by their first name.

Corporate CEOs have reported similar problems – as they grow they no longer have the same level of “touch” and influence on their staff.  Layers and layers, levels and levels get in the way.

When you go from start-up where you have hand-picked your team – to departments and divisions you, the CEO, lose touch – and become far less effective in making sure the culture and values of your company stay as you wish them to be.

So, how do your values trickle down?

Having signs in the lobby espousing “our values” has limited (if any) value.

I consulted with – coached/mentored – many people who were on the management staff of one of the largest semi-conductor companies in Silicon valley.  The values of their C-Level staff included allowing constructive criticism (the opposite of the tyranny of pleasantness.)  What was meant by this was to allow people to actually discuss the merits of an idea freely.  To chew it over and come to the best decision.  In other words, discuss the idea, the plan – not attack the people – not go along to get along if you felt strongly this wasn’t the best way to do it.

Unfortunately, as it “trickled down” – some managers used the concept as an excuse to ridicule staff members.  Not what was intended!  And, of course once managers ridiculed it was license for everyone on that team to be nasty to each other.  Not the intent of the C-level executives at all.

In another case I asked the VP of HR doing an interview with me what the company values were – and he responded they didn’t have any – but if someone “crossed the line” they would get fired.  I was shocked and expressed my views that it wasn’t a good way to help employees know what was expected of them.  P.S. I didn’t get the consulting contract – he liked his ‘loose” way.

One of my favorite examples though is when a new CEO came into a government agency that had been limping along and hired me to:  “Raise the Bar – Make things Better.”  That was my mandate and that allowed me to work at every level in the organization, starting with their C level staff and moving down to department heads, and staff inside the departments.  We made major changes in the culture, the work ethic, and the values of the people in this agency.  AND – they were reinforced by team workshops that were created for a variety of reasons, such as for process improvement, or 360% evaluations (which I conducted) etc. 

What I am saying is that you can’t just pronounce you want certain values.  You need to make sure everyone understands them – as you intend them to be understood  – agrees with them – and lives them.

Unless reinforced frequently (maybe quarterly) in many cases there will be slippage – or as someone told me recently “softened/”   This is what is mean by “regression to the mean.”

Change requires solidification and reinforcement.  Especially culture/value change.  It must be discussed, role-modeled at all upper levels in the organization, reinforced, and reinforced again. 

Coming back to the example of the hamburger chain – they are now all over the country and the Snyder family (I think they still own the franchise) can’t be everywhere at once.  SO – they have district managers who are responsible for maintaining the quality and culture in all the restaurants.  If you have ever gone into one you will notice tha they are spotlessly clean and staff actually smiles.

To look at another – more extreme example – I was talking with the Senior Vice-President of Marketing for a fortune 100 software company and she told me that her prime responsibility was to “make sure everything fit properly into the landscape.”

I love that expression.  She went on to explain that they had marketing and sales people all over the world, and although there needed to be uniqueness in how they marketed to a particular culture – it all had to fit together – into the overall design fo the company.

SO:  my message:  Don’t take anything for granted.  Your values will be misunderstood, there will be slippage and your reputation and bottom line will suffer unless you make sure that they are being continually reinforced in the manner in which you intended.