The company that wins my award this decade is Patagonia!

As we head into a new decade, I couldn’t resist my last post of 2019 being about Patagonia, a company I continue to love and salute for its unswerving drive to make the world a better place, whilst still remaining hugely profitable and attracting and retaining a talented tribe.

“The examined life is a pain in the arse.” stated the inspirational founder Yvon Chouindard, however, he is a man on a mission to hold his company to account and has been for some time.

A competitor Bayard Winthrop, who is the founder of US retailer American Giant says that Patagonia is the company all retail competitors use as a best in class benchmark. He captures the Patagonia approach well  “Patagonia is about two things: quality and values. Simple as that. They consistently execute on those two core ideas, and don’t get caught up in the noise. This is effectively what puts them in a class of their own.”  Simplicity always rules in a complex, over-crowded, complicated world.

Chouindard seems to have been brought to us way before his time with Patagonia at the forefront of what is now emerging as an increasingly sought-after business approach – profit with purpose.

This isn’t unsurprising as today’s customers want their money to go to companies that will use their money to make the world a better place. Patagonia donates 1 percent of sales to environmental non-profits, and in 2016 gave 100 percent of Black Friday sales—about $10 million—to environmental groups.  

Late last year, it changed its mission statement to “We’re in business to save our home planet.” Backing this to the hilt, in September, Patagonia shut down its stores and offices so that employees—including the CEO —could strike alongside youth climate activists. 

As a growing number of consumers understandably worry about our environment, Patagonia’s activism in this space has been good for business. The number of belief-driven buyers, who choose a brand based on its position on social issues, is growing worldwide, and includes 59 percent of all shoppers in the United States, according to a survey of 40,000 consumers by market consultancy Edelman.

Patagonia is also pushes it out of the ballpark too when it comes to innovation and trying to help our planet. It was the first company to make fleece out of recycled bottles with its synthetic chinchilla, or “synchilla,” which it unveiled in 1993. In 2005, it launched “Worn Wear,” which sends employees to college campuses and climbing centres, teaching consumers how to repair things; the company also repairs customers’ clothes in 72 repair centres globally. In 2011, Patagonia ran an ad in The New York Times telling customers “Don’t Buy This Jacket” to discourage over consumption. Earlier this year, Patagonia said it would prioritize other “mission-driven companies” over companies like financial institutions when making co-branded apparel like corporate vests.

This cultural package of uniqueness continues to attract a type of tribe that are committed, motivated and clamouring to be part of the company. More than 9,000 people applied for 16 internship positions last summer. Prospective employees are attracted not only by what it stands for and how innovative the company is, but there’s also perks like on-site childcare, a cafeteria selling subsidized organic meals, and the opportunity to surf or hike at lunchtime.

Patagonia doesn’t rest on its laurels and continues to ‘call’ itself.  It’s now supporting the B Corporation movement and even though I’ve only just read about this on the website, I like what I see. Companies, big and small, signing up to this are legally required to balance profit and social and environmental considerations.  

Thinking back to the quote regarding the core ideas that sit at the heart of Patagonia – values and quality – they’re absolutely critical to the success of a company, along with defining a compelling purpose, vision and strategy that all align. Do click here to find out more about my Culture Capitaliser programmes that can help a company go to the next level of purposeful, connected performance, whilst also making a difference for its customers, colleagues and community.

A good conversation is like a mini skirt ….

Radio host and personality Celeste Headlee thinks that most of the discord and disagreement in conversation comes down to a simple truth: we are more interested in talking than listening. Her TedTalk* is worth a listen if you have the time.

When I was training as a coach, one of the core skills I was taught to master was ‘active listening’ -  Hi-5 Celeste! We all know how good it feels when someone is truly listening to us and being able to enable and empower us accordingly.

Research (Lieberman and Eisenberger 2009) has shown that being listened to activates a ‘reward state’ within us, which means we can think more clearly, are more willing and able to collaborate, and are more open to new ideas and change. Transpose that into a workplace and think how company productivity could rise if every leader was consistently listening to their team members and creating a positive, enabling and supportive environment.

So why is it so difficult for leaders and organisations to get it right particularly when it comes to change? I see time and time again in employee survey and Culture Value Assessment (CVA) results, the colleague-ask is for more clarity, to be listened to and be more involved.

The communication and engagement side of change is often seen as ‘fluffy’. Some leaders feel they haven’t got the time as they are trying to do their day job and deliver change at the same time. Others feel that involving colleagues not only takes the time they can ill-afford, but it can backfire as expectations can be raised which can lead to disappointment later on down the line. It can be a fine line when to communicate – too soon, the message may have to be retracted; too late, there’s a void which gets filled with misconstrued perceptions and ideas.

Leaders should understand that as human beings our brains are in constant search for information and the sooner we get it the better, even if the news is bad. If we don’t get this information, we start to fill the gaps ourselves, whether it’s at the water cooler or at the coffee machine.

I believe it’s much better to regularly communicate to manage the message and to limit the uncertainty, particularly for internal audiences. The human brain craves certainty in an uncertain world and I’ve found that setting up communication principles around a big change programme (such as guaranteeing a weekly update), is well received even if not every weekly piece of comms gives new information. We took this approach at the Co-op Bank whilst the Bank was up for sale and recapitalisation and the colleague feedback was positive.

Making sure the leaders are equipped with core messages, a list of the potential questions and answers that could be asked, as well as a clear comms schedule are all important aspects. Landing these messages across the whole company in the right way and in a timely fashion alleviates discontent and misunderstandings.

Another thing to be mindful of is cognitive dissonance. As Hilary Scarlett states in her useful Neuroscience for Organisational Change book ‘Our brains constantly compare incoming information with predicted information. If incoming information fits, then all is OK and our brains pay little attention. But if incoming information doesn’t fit with our expectations, our attention is diverted until we have resolved the issue…….We hate to be wrong as human beings and this can lead to a threat state. The brain therefore tries to do one of the following:

·        Remove one of the ideas/disbelieve it.

·        Allow one idea to carry more weight than another.

·        Add or create a new idea or ideas to resolve the conflict.

Without a doubt, communicating through change is challenging and there’s no science to it, just best practice and a better understanding of how we operate as human beings from the world of neuroscience. Here’s some things you may like to bear in mind for as you tackle your next big change programme:

• Provide certainty around the communication process.

• Help your team members to focus on what’s in their control and as a leader be visible and authentic.

• Be careful with your positioning, as change suggests that what colleagues have been doing is wrong. Remember to bring positives and recognition from the past as part of your message.

• Take the time to consider how best to land the message with colleagues, tailor the content appropriately and be prepared to answer any questions with the right response.

• Be as transparent as you can be and enable colleagues to ask questions and provide them with answers.

• Actively listen to colleagues and where you can implement what they have asked for and if you aren’t able to, explain why.

• Feedback colleague core themes and sentiment to senior management, the People or Internal Comms’ teams.

• Be aware of cognitive dissonance – repeat messages that may have been missed.

• Keep your message and conversations concise, relevant and compelling and don’t forget  …

“A good conversation is like a mini skirt, short enough to retain interest, but long enough to cover the subject.” 

Celeste Headlee’s sister.

*Celeste Headlee’s TedTalk – 10 Ways To Have a Better Conversation.

Purpose, Passion, Possibility and Patagonia

I’m a trained Culture Transformation Practitioner with the Barrett Values Centre and in Richard Barrett’s excellent book ‘The Values-Driven Organisation’, he states that ‘Business is a wholly owned subsidiary of society, and society is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment.  If the environment fails, our society will fail and our businesses and economies will fail.’ Never truer words have been spoken.

For a while now I’ve been fascinated by what motivates people in business including individual and organisational purpose.  This fascination stems from three very different work experiences I have had - the good, the bad and the ugly. 

Let’s focus on good for this blog and the example of mine was when I worked at Bupa and experienced a company purpose for the first time.  Bupa’s purpose is strong, inspiring and societally BIG – longer, healthier, happier lives. It was also consistently championed and communicated by the CEO and other leaders and there had been (and I’m sure still is) a great effort to integrate it throughout the organisation.  It was a huge motivator for all of us who worked there as we knew that our role was meaningful and we felt closely connected to contributing to the greater good.

The creation of new ‘Business for Good’ (BfG) organisations has been noticeable over the last 10 years. The underlying purpose of these organisations is to influence how business is evolving in a way that not only contributes to an improvement in societal well-being, but also enhances business success.  

But creating a purpose is one thing, putting it at the centre of the strategy and culture and truly integrating it into every decision a company takes, is quite something else. It is, however, important to do as it can benefit business and society together.

At the moment though, many companies consider purpose as a bolt on to their strategy, however, the most successful companies put it at the core which helps them to redefine their playing field and reshape their value proposition. I read an interesting article in HBR recently based on a global study that Thomas W Malnight of IMD co-authored.  The research uncovered a surprising discovery that purpose is one of the key drivers of organisational growth.  The article gives examples of companies such as Mars Petcare, Mehindra Finance and Securitas AB, which are using purpose as a driving force of their growth, it’s well worth a read if you have the time.

From a culture perspective, a strong, relevant purpose helps to unify the organisation, motivate and connect colleagues and bring them a sense of meaning and pride which in turn leads to a healthier culture.  But it doesn’t stop there, because if you look outside of the business, a higher purpose can enhance a company’s reputation and help to attract and retain customers, suppliers, investors and talent. Companies should particularly pay attention to the latter as every company I’ve worked with recently is worried about its ability to attract and retain the best talent.  

From both a retention and recruitment perspective, the UK labour market is as tight and as competitive as it has been for more than 40 years. People have more employment choice today than for generations.  Increasingly, we want our employer to make a contribution, make a statement, make a difference. It should demonstrate vision, courage and purpose. Ideally a purpose that its people share. This sense of purpose should act as a north star for its current employees as well as prospective candidates. The good that an employer can and should increasingly do should act as an inspiration for its employees to drive their own personal contributions.

And we know from research that a high proportion of the Millennials in the workplace, feel strongly that business is responsible for making a positive societal difference and a company purpose is key to their decision-making, interestingly their voices are starting to boom on the global stage.

Look at Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenager who has become a global hero for the environmentally conscious and now Ella Mann who pleaded with the Royal Shakespeare Company to end its BP sponsorship deal, and which it has now done. I was in sport event sponsorship earlier in my career, so I find the latter story particularly fascinating and encouraging.

I’ve recently come across a company called Patagonia (thank you Neil Harrison and do read his ‘Bubbles’ blog, another interesting read). This business is using its purpose to differentiate itself and stand out in the most impressive way anchored by its origins and original reason for being. 

A healthy, purpose-led culture integrated into all aspects of the business, connects rather than silos and opens up multiple levels of business possibility.  It not only can help to reshape the value proposition, it creates a business of trust and builds a tribe that is loyal to the brand, whether it be a customer, employee, new talent, partner or investor.

Integrating and embedding a culture and brand and consistently looking into the ‘purpose’ or ‘mission’ mirror, takes effort and time though, that’s a fact. Yvon Chouinard, the inspirational founder and owner of Patagonia sums it up well “Living the examined life is a pain in the arse”. However, the impact of a differentiated brand and culture that is truly threaded through a business, is priceless and can reap great rewards.

If you’d like to find out more about how my Culture Capitaliser programme helps companies to build a solid foundation for collective action and then transitions its efforts into aligning, embedding and measuring that desired culture, then do take a look at this part of my website or get in touch - I’d love to hear from you.

MELTING POTS AND A CAPABLE V ACCOUNTABLE APPROACH TO CULTURE…..

I’ve been fortunate recently to travel to Dubai and carry out phase one of my Culture Capitaliser programmes for a company based in the Middle East with ambitious growth plans and an MD who totally ‘gets’ the importance of a healthy, high-performing culture – bravo!

It was the first time I’d been back to visit since leaving 6 ½ years ago and I’d forgotten what a melting pot the place is. Diversity is such a hot topic in the UK but the diversity of Dubai can’t be beaten – the company I was with had 14 people in its senior leadership team spanning 11 different nationalities!

What’s so fantastic about this real diversity is that you continuously learn from it being privy to lots of different perspectives, attitudes and beliefs which widen your mind and expand your perspective.

Interestingly, the results of the Barrett Culture Values Assessment (CVA) that this company undertook with me showed a relatively united response and weren’t as diverse as their nationalities. ‘Accountability’ topped the tables from both a personal value and a desired organisational value, which demonstrated the strength of that desired value.

‘Accountability’ seems to span sectors and countries and in my experience tends to be the value that pops up more consistently than most. Obviously there’s two sides to the coin when it comes to accountability. There can be frustration around not feeling or being made accountable and responsible; but on the flip side there can be a feeling of other colleagues not taking accountability or responsibility.  That’s why it’s always important to dig a little deeper with assessment results and understand the sentiment and root cause that sits behind them.

Gartner’s recent research has been enlightening and it highlights three missteps that thwart culture change, ‘don’t measure culture with data alone’; ‘don’t use simple adjectives to describe culture and use language to inspire’ and ‘don’t forget to alter policies to support culture change’. I agree with all three.

The company I worked with in Dubai were in the advertising/experiential sector and as part of the designed workshop, I got them to work together to create some phenomenally inspiring values and behaviours from a design and sentiment perspective - they certainly nailed the ‘don’t use simple adjectives to describe culture and use language to inspire'. Quite something when the 'accountability' value isn't exactly inspiring and doesn't pull on the heart strings! Everyone was hugely excited to be part of this aspirational work and the results were exceptional. It’s given me food for thought for other companies I work with in the future to bring about the same type of results!

I read an interesting blog recently ‘Stop holding your team accountable and hold them capable’ which I loved. Thank you Matthew Gould!  As we all know accountability is the responsibility of an individual alone. However, the value can cause stress, fear and frustration amongst other things. It also has connotations of control and blame, and although important to get right, is uninspiring to most as mentioned above.

So how about flipping the approach and as a leader “hold your team capable” and not accountable and be responsible for enhancing their capability?  Engagement surveys and the Culture Assessment I carry out usually show the desire for self-improvement so there’s a great opportunity to champion the people around you; consciously think of how to build on their strengths; unlock how they can add value and encourage the concept of shared ownership and maximising performance. Not only is this forward-focused and creates great, positive energy, it will bring about a high-performing culture that everyone can buy into and feel proud of.

My Culture Capitaliser Model has a Capability bucket and looks at it with an all-angled lens. When most people think ‘capability’ they think about enhancing the skillset of colleagues, however it encapsulates so much more. Culture mustn’t be tinkered with but looked at as a whole system change:

• Is the structure currently capable of enabling a high-performing culture?

• Are the processes and systems at their most capable to maximise performance?

• Do all people initiatives align and are they capable of recognising people who demonstrate the right values and achieve the right outcomes?

• Are the values the right ones and capable of delivering the purpose, vision and strategy or do they need a reset?

Food for thought….if you need any help with your culture change programme and want to find out, do get in touch @ joss@capitaliseperformance.com. I’ll leave you with feedback from my client in Dubai which hopefully demonstrates the value I can add to your business and its performance.

Our expectations were by far exceeded with this expertly crafted intervention - comprising both top leadership and full employee workshops. The week ended on such a high note and we achieved amazing insights and shared understanding across our employee group. Thank you Joss, we have made a great start to this journey and look forward to seeing you again!

Jenny Hamdan MAHRM CIPD, MENA TALENT DIRECTOR, OGILVY AND GEOMETRY GLOBAL.

IS TRUST THE NEW CURRENCY OF CULTURE?

When times get tough we seek relationships that are solid.  We need to feel confident that we can trust the other party and feel they are genuinely there for us.  Trust builds relationships by allowing us to feel connected and be open and authentic.  This is true for our working relationships, as much as it is for our personal ones.  

Without trust, fear and its limiting behaviours grow and we can feel isolated, suspicious and not able to perform at our best.  When an unhealthy culture (cultural entropy) is at play, employees spend increasing amounts of their time doing unnecessary or unproductive work.  This not only leads to frustration and discontent within the ranks, but it will ultimately hit the business’ bottom line.  

Brands must gain the trust of their customers and shareholders too.  In a compelling and thought-provoking TEDtalk, Airbnb’s co-founder Joe Gebbia suggests that Airbnb’s success comes down to a well-designed reputation system that allows guests and hosts to overcome the human deep-rooted ‘stranger danger’ mentality.

He starts his story telling with his struggle to get the Airbnb concept off the ground due to a lack of trust amongst customers and investors; and then moves on to explain how the Airbnb success phenomenon has been built on designing for trust.

So what does that actually mean?  Airbnb found that if a host saw three recommendations and positive reviews about a potential visitor, then their bias and lack of trust was likely to remain. However, if a visitor managed to attract ten positive reviews, the host would put aside their social ‘stranger danger’ bias and difference and trust them.  With this invaluable knowledge, Airbnb has continued to consciously design their referral system, amongst other things, to build trust and used this as valuable currency on which to build their phenomenally successful business. 

This story is one of many in the share economy, which ultimately is a transaction with the promise of human connection.   From my experience as a specialist in building strong cultures within business, I know that trust is just as important for internal audiences too.

To enable it to work, everyone must share a part of themselves and feel a sense of belonging and connection.  When designing the Internal Communication strategy for the Co-op Bank, we landed on our team purpose ‘to connect people to our business, connect our leaders to our people and connect our people to each other’ which was ultimately to build trust and commitment.  No wonder Mr Gebbia’s talk resonated and got me contemplating!

Airbnb’s Mr Gebbia ends his talk by suggesting that homes and even cities could be designed from a place of trust.  Imagine if a company did this too?  What if business was created from a culture of trust, with strong foundations for cohesiveness and collective action?

As values are so important when it comes to developing a high-performing culture, I was intrigued to look at Airbnb’s and found I really connected with them. They’re not only simple set of values but are inspiring, inter-connected and accessible, enabling its people to easily bring them to life. Bravo Airbnb!

Capitalise’s ‘Culture Capitaliser programme’  helps businesses in bringing about whole system change and helping them to deliver culture change.  It’s made up of a two-phased approach with Phase One being focused on setting strong foundations for building trust and creating collective, cohesive action that matters.

The five-step approach includes colleagues completing a Culture Values Assessment (CVA) to help paint a picture of the current culture and the desired culture that they believe will help them peak perform and be at their best and happiest. This not only provides useful information to open up insightful conversations, but also acts as a benchmark to measure against.

The next step is to help senior leadership teams create/reset their purpose, vision and values, whilst also supporting them to bring cohesion and alignment as a team – both  important factors in building an environment of trust.  The final step is helping them build a connected and consistent narrative so they can land the culture change in the most compelling and engaging way with colleagues.

Phase Two of the whole system culture change approach looks at aligning, engaging and embedding the change throughout the business.  All critical factors as without this there will be disconnect and confusion which will lead to dysfunction and frustration.

Gartner have recently carried out extensive research called ‘Three culture conversations every CEO must have with the Head of HR’ which calls out the need to alter policies and processes to align with the desired culture. What they say in this paper, I ‘align’ with completely.  For example, if you want to create a culture of collaboration, but then enforce the curve performance management system, that creates an environment in which colleagues must compete, there’s a disconnect which will breed discontentment and a lack of trust.

I’ve written a number of blogs on how to build a strong company culture, one of my particular favourites is ‘A strong company character and culture are the foundations of accelerating business growth’ so do take a look if you have the time.

Capitalise is working with a number of companies that are consciously redesigning their culture based on trust, connection and addressing what their colleagues are asking for to deliver their best selves at work.  If you’d like to find out more, do get in touch.  

Cultivating a high-performing culture that lasts

As some of you know who may have seen my Linkedin post last week, I carried out a ‘How to deliver a high-performing culture that lasts’ breakfast session earlier this week which was a sell-out (thank you Waddington Brown for facilitating this). 

It’s a subject I’m passionate about as it’s so important to cultivate a healthy company culture, so that business and people can flourish in the workplace and productivity and profitability prevail.

I talked about the why, what and how. My phase one tackles setting solid foundations for collective, cohesive action which includes having a bench-mark to measure success.  Phase two, which is of equal importance looks at five steps around aligning, embedding, measuring, resetting and re-engaging.

The culture session was a great success and I’ve had some fantastic feedback:

“Joss is very experienced and delivered in a very friendly way.”
“A well thought through presentation, with good introduction of concepts and practical application.
“A great start to improving positive change.”

“Very informative, lots of tools to take away and use.”
“Very thought provoking and will be taking it back.”
“Excellent event, thought provoking with lots to take away.”

We also asked the audience what the key challenges they found when considering company culture. There were a number as you can imagine and I'm sure some a lot of you recognise, including:

• "Keeping momentum going."

• "Continuous improvement."

• "Embedding values and behaviours."

• "Measurement."

• "Commitment when a company is in survival mode."

• "Dealing with rotten apples."

• "Friction of culture v political/social barriers."

I’m starting to talk to a number of companies about my Culture Capitaliser model, the two phase approach and how to tackle the key challenges they have.  It’s great to see that businesses are starting to realise the need for work in this space to enhance productivity and ultimately the bottom line.  

If your business is interested in getting a clear, unbiased view of the cultural health of your business and potentially want to look at how to approach a culture change that lasts, do get in touch, I’d love to chat more.

How to capitalise in your first 100 days

As a leader who is new-in-role, there’s big pressure to come in and make a positive impact on the business in a relatively short space of time. If you’re new to the company as well as the role, there’s a double whammy. You’re the new kind on the block, with no (or minimum) internal relationships in place. You have a huge learning curve to get on top of and expectations are high.  When you’ve been promoted from within, you still have big mountains to climb and although the core challenges may be a little different, they can still be as daunting and keep you up at night.

As I mentioned in my previous blog , your first 100 days can positively or negatively impact your career big picture and that’s why this time is so important to get right. If you smash it, it’s likely you’ll get promoted quicker and join the leadership career fast track that brings with it numerous opportunities to grow and succeed.

The First 100 Days Capitaliser programme gives a strategic, systematic and planned framework to set you up for accelerated success. My programme is made of four aspects:

·        #prep

·        #first30

·        #first60

·        #first100

The programme’s tagline for #prep (ie. before you start your role) is ‘New Role, New Mindset’ and ultimately is about you consciously letting go of your old role, promoting yourself into the new one and visioning the type of credible leader you want to be perceived as when you nail your first 100 days.

The tagline for #first30 is ‘Accelerated Learner, Strategic Formulator’. What you’re aiming for in your first 30 days is a systematic way of learning at pace; starting to build strategic relationships by effectively stakeholder mapping; and being able to tactically and strategically formulate as you go.  It’s also the time to identify your priority areas and start to build your granular action plan.

Strategic Formulator, Tactical Deliverer is the tagline for #first60.  During the next 30 days, you’re continuing to formulate in your mind the approach to your strategy; you’re also taking all your key insights and learnings from your first 30 days to identify one, two or three quick wins you can deliver which will build your credibility and momentum.  You’ll also be evolving your action plan.

The fourth aspect of this programme is #first100 and has the tagline Strategic Deliverer. This is about you co-creating your strategy; using your strategic partnerships and relationships to ensure it is at its best; and getting the crucial buy-in you’ll need when you ultimately present it to the top team for sign off. Delivering a strategy that aligns to the organisation’s purpose, vision and strategy and demonstrates the added value that you and your team are going to make to the bigger picture, will demonstrate that you are a the right strategic, credible leader for the role.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll do a blog on each aspect of the First 100 Days Capitalise programme, to give some further guidance and insight to help you as a leader nail your first 100 days.  In the meantime, if you’d like to download the checklist, please go to my website and the freebie section.

Reboot, reset - is it time for businesses to approach things differently?

As the modern workplace requires us to keep up with the speed in which technology, processes and work capabilities are changing, perhaps it’s time for us to reboot the way we work?  We all know this isn’t an easy thing to accomplish and that people behaviour change can be the biggest challenge of all.  But what if a clear purpose (the why), strategy and vision (the what) and values (the how) were set and at the forefront of colleagues minds day-in-day out.  What then if smaller, cross-functional teams were empowered to act to find the right solutions but with a key mandate - to stay aligned to the purpose, vision and strategy and be continuously transparent in what they were doing and achieving. Could it bring about a re-energised workforce and less hierarchy?  Most definitely yes.  Could it lead to a much more productive and collaborative culture – absolutely, as long as there was alignment, empowerment and transparency.  Martin Danoesastro’s Tedtalk is worth a listen to see if some companies have made this approach work. It won’t be for every company but it could be for yours….