Promote your culture
When an employee first starts a new job, there is a level of enthusiasm and energy about taking on a new challenge and wondering where it will lead.
“It’s a very happy moment for them,” Gentile says. “They are very happy they got their job and they are telling their family and friends, ‘Hey, I just got a job at XYZ Co. I’m really excited.’ They go to work that first week and they’re as excited as that first week they go back to school and see all their friends again.”
Unfortunately, that feeling often doesn’t last and the energy evaporates into frustration.
“I blame that, many times, on management,” Gentile says, adding that it’s not just a matter of getting a raise. “It’s also the culture and the values that are exercised in that company and whether or not management actually walks the talk.”
Gentile wanted a company in which employees enjoyed their work and felt a sense of purpose. He also wanted them to feel like they worked in an environment where they could offer suggestions and provide input.
“You have to walk the talk, no matter what it is,” Gentile says. “If you firmly believe in a new policy, you need to walk the talk. You cannot manage a process unless you know it.”
When you’re looking to change a culture from one that is dull and dreary to one with more energy, you often need to move at a comfortable pace.
“I don’t think a CEO or senior manager is going to be able to accomplish it by turning a switch,” Gentile says. “It will be more evolutionary than revolutionary. When someone thinks they can turn themselves around very quickly and change a culture, the work force sees through that and they know it’s phony. They know it isn’t sincere.”
Find some opportunities to earn small victories with your people that offer a hint to what you’re trying to do.
“There are always issues that would be low-hanging fruit that you can pick off right in the beginning,” Gentile says.
The point is to find areas where you can connect with your employees and respond to some of the feedback you get.
“If the associates and employees know that what they are going to share with you, that you are going to sincerely listen and act upon it responsibly and in a timely manner, then you’ve paved the way and broken down some barriers,” Gentile says. “It’s the old saying: Past behavior predicts future behavior.”
You also need to promote an environment where failure isn’t feared. If employees feel like they can put their creativity to use to try new things and not fear retribution if it doesn’t work, the culture is strengthened.
“We’re not saving lives in this business,” Gentile says. “If someone has an idea about how to make a process more streamlined that’s going to reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, and increase sales and gross margin, then you have to allow people to express it freely and then allow people to test and implement it.”
Take employees from different departments in your company and allow them to work together to brainstorm. It may create some new bonds and give them a sense of what’s going on in other parts of the business.
“Without having a manager staring over them, allow them to implement something and test it,” Gentile says. “At any given time, we have three or four process improvement teams operating.”
These teams are made up of employees from places such as finance and operations, IT, sales or marketing.
“It helps people maintain a good outlook,” Gentile says. “Maybe someone could be getting a bad attitude or feel like no one is listening to them. You get them engaged in something like that, it pumps them up.”
Another thing to remember is that in many businesses, there often are no black-and-white answers to problems.
“There are many ways for approaching an issue,” Gentile says. “There’s a certain degree of trust and discretion people have to have in their decisions if they want to try something. Very rarely do you have a discussion with someone and say, ‘That’s dead wrong.’”
