Keep listening
When SafeAuto was just getting started, Diamond and Deshe didn’t have to go far to have a face-to-face meeting with their entire work force. That has changed, of course, as the company is now in 14 states and 70 markets across the country.
But the two leaders still make it a point to get in front of their people on a regular basis. They want to show the same energy for growing the brand now as they did in the early days. So one of them visits every location in the company at least every six months.
“One or the other of us visits all our sites,” Diamond says. “We have town-hall meetings with our people. We allow them the opportunity to ask us questions. It gives us an opportunity to cascade our company philosophies throughout our enterprise.”
Getting out of your office gives you a chance to show your employees that you value what they do for your business and aren’t just interested in welcoming them to the business and never talking to them again.
“We go there not just because they want to see us but because we want to see them,” Deshe says. “We want to see them and hear directly from them, just like our employees here in Columbus. We want to give them the same chance. It’s very important for us as managers of the company to listen to the front-line employees everywhere they are. We have a better perspective of what they need and what they want. Sometimes, the best ideas come from the front-line people.”
You need to learn how to read the room when you’re meeting with your employees in their office.
“When I sit in front of 30 to 50 people in a room and somebody makes a comment about an issue, I’m not only looking at that person that is talking to me,” Deshe says. “I’m looking across the room to see if some of the people are nodding with their heads or saying no or yes, or whatever. That gives me an idea if many people agree with the point they are making. It’s very beneficial to me. We sit down and discuss with the managers and we w
rite down all the comments they have and look into how we can improve the products or services we provide.”
When you promote an open culture, you have to also be prepared for some comments that won’t be positive.
“When Ari and I go out to the remotes, we have to be prepared to allow these people to speak their minds and we have to make sure that at the end of the day, we’re very honest with them,” Diamond says.
That means there’s also times when you’ll have to share news with them that isn’t good.
“If we can’t make a policy change or we don’t want to make a policy change, we need to say so,” Diamond says.
