Create an open culture
Taking a company to the next level requires a culture where people aren’t afraid to bring forth ideas — and Ryan has never encountered a business that he’s come into where people have been completely open and honest.
“Wherever I’ve gone, you always encounter a certain amount of hierarchy and a certain amount of undue respect for senior leadership, and I say undue because there is a certain amount of deference that it creates a gag order inside of people’s minds — ‘Oh, I can’t say that to that person. He or she is the division vice president or the president or something.’”
It was up to Ryan to set the tone and get word around the company that he was a normal guy who wanted to hear what people had to say.
You have to let people know you want to hear their ideas. Otherwise, they won’t come forward. Ryan backed up his words in his first couple of weeks by making the rounds with customers, franchisees and employees and asking them a series of questions. He did so to compile enough information to form a vision, but he also wanted to create an open environment.
“The series of questions was me just getting to know people and letting them talk and listening to what things are on their minds,” he says.
Questions revolved around what employees thought were the core strengths of the business and where were the weaknesses or areas for improvement.
He also wanted to know what employees would change about the company and if they were concerned that he would change something they considered a core strength or a diamond in the rough.
“It really does send the message that you are listening,” he says. “You are actively listening, and you are proactively wanting their advice in terms of what they would do with the company and what advice they would give me to help me be successf
ul
. I don’t mean individually but for the overall enterprise.”
You need to spend time upfront getting to know people and getting insight into their point of view, which Ryan’s questions helped accomplish. You also want to send the message in the culture that you want feedback.
“It’s really trying to create that open-air environment that people can recognize and understand that they have an ‘obligation to dissent’ is one of the terms I use around here,” he says.
However, you can’t just ask the questions and expect to get answers. The next layer to that involves presenting yourself in a certain way. You want people to see you not only at a business level but also on an interpersonal level.
For instance, when Ryan does a skip-level meeting with people from different departments, he goes around the room and has all of the employees say how long they’ve been with the company and to share something people didn’t know about them. You, as the leader, also have to share something personal.
“When you share something personal with somebody and you speak from the heart, then they get a chance to get comfortable that ‘Here’s what I’m about,’” he says.
Ryan will share something about his management philosophy or something about himself, such as the fact that he’s taken cooking classes for fun.
“These other environments, whether it’s skip-level lunches or town halls, … I get an opportunity to interact with people and they get a chance to see that I am just as human as they are,” he says. “I am very overt about spending time with folks to let them know I have weaknesses and, when I provide information or ideas or something like that, they’re not always going to be good ideas.”
While being upfront with employees will create more of an open dialogue between you and them, it may cause some managers to feel undermined. You need to stay in contact with those managers if you’ve heard something from an employee who works below them.
“I go back to the manager after I meet with their people and share what things were discussed,” he says. “I tell people right out of the chute that I am the most apolitical person you’ve ever met. So, if I find some information or a nugget or something like that, I go back and share it with them.”
Ryan also doesn’t use names of who he heard something from when speaking with a supervisor or manager.
“We do maintain a level of confidentiality because once you dime somebody out once, then you close off the information flow,” he says.
“You say ‘Look, I’ve heard this from a couple of folks in your department, and it’s something you might want to look into,’ but I never name names.”
You also need to be clear that you do not intend to try to take responsibility from managers or supervisors, and you only have what’s best for the company in mind.
“I’ll go back and say, ‘Look, my intention is to create this open-air culture, but I’m never going to go over your head and take a decision about your department. … I’m never going to take that away from you. I’m going to come in and give you ideas or give you some feedback based on a skip-level meeting or a town hall or something like that. If you are in the same meeting, I’m going to let you answer the questions instead of me.’”
Overall, whether you are looking to get the ball rolling on a new culture or you just want to make your culture more open, remember to listen.
“Demonstrating that ability to listen is going to build and facilitate open and honest communication,” he says.
Then, use that trust to show you want employees to dissent.
“(It’s) creating an era that it’s OK to push back and circulate your opinion,” he says. “When you create that open-air environment, you are more likely to get to the bottom of issues and some of the deep-seated problem areas because people are going to be willing to show up and say, ‘Look we’ve got an issue.’”
As soon as you create that environment where people feel comfortable to give constructive criticism, you open a lot of doors.
“We’re more likely to uncover issues more quickly and get to the bottom of things to solve some of the problems that may be plaguing us,” he says.
How to reach: PODS Enterprises Inc., (866) 229-4120 or www.pods.com
