the ivory tower syndrome
to understand your compnay culture, you have to leave the ivory tower
How much time have you spent with the people who are making the mechanics of your company work? In your pursuit of success, have you lost sight of what made you great?
I was at a store returning an item yesterday, and I found myself chatting with the manager about business. Their location is fairly close to corporate headquarters, so I asked if they had a lot of representatives come there to train.
His response, “What do you mean train? Like, work the floor?”
“Yes,” I replied, “Doesn’t anyone from corporate come and spend a few days in the life of your team to see some of the inner workings? I’d think that since sales is what drives the business they’d want to get a first hand experience of what you go through and talk to your customers.”
His face lit up at the thought and he said, “I wish! They come in for a day every now and then, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a corporate officer or new hire in here to spend a few days with us. We’re managed by our numbers and sales reports. You know, it’s all about the Ivory Tower”.
He did go on to tell me that they tend to hire within so there is retail experience, but as people move up over the years, the memory of their time in the store becomes less and less. Even more so, they become a little out of touch with what is truly going because things do continually change. What was once true 2 to 5 years ago might not hold the same relevancy it used to. We are in a rapidly changing environment and employers have to keep up.
We see so many companies go up and down in popularity and relevance – some survive, some don’t, and there are always theories as to why. I’ve spent time in various roles throughout my life, and it didn’t matter if I was on the bottom rung or the top, what propelled my happiness was the ability to have a voice within my organization as well as a clear line of sight to the ownership also looking at business from all perspectives. Too often I find companies who don’t place as much importance on the voice of their largest base of employee – those that tend to be at the “bottom” and I find it to be some of the greatest missed opportunities a company can have. Everyone has a role within their job, that is the nature of the workforce, but it’s when those who hold roles at the top stop asking questions of their people – What motivates them? What are their pain points? Where are they seeing most success? – that they find themselves in risk of finding themselves behind in their industry. Even worse, they end up with a stale culture that doesn’t thrive and grow.
I think it’s something that more are guilty of than not. We see shows like “Undercover Boss” where the owner/president/CEO disguises themselves and spends a day (or a week) in the life of their employees. Of course, we all know that this person is going to have this big “a-ha” emotional moment about their company and employees, and then we feel good about them because they usually give the people they’ve spent time with a financial award to help them in their life and build their dreams (which there is nothing wrong with, I personally love seeing it myself). The episode ends with a life lesson and a warm fuzzy feeling.
Cue the golf clap here, right? Wrong! What if they took the time to build into their culture these check points? What if they made it a priority to get to know their people? I understand the demands and the pace of running a company, but data shows that one of the biggest areas of importance for millennials in the workplace is feeling like their company cares for them and is in line with their values.
So, what do we do? There’s no blanket fix for engaging with your employees, but the desire to start helps. Start small, even with a survey, and then address the results honestly. Ask questions. Build a system. Look for talent at all levels – even your lowest performers. Ironically, having a conversation with them can make them your biggest champion and your next regional director. For all the time that it took to build the company culture, it just as easily quietly slip away. When you engage and communicate with your employees you not only build up a culture, but a strong legacy and commitment to your brand that will live on.