Culture Trumps Strategy - Achieving High Performance Through People E-Book

David Smith

• Herausgeber: Grosvenor House Publishing
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 171

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

This is David Smith's much requested second business book, which utilises his 7 principles of building a high performance culture. In this book, David has interviewed numerous CEOs and discusses how they have developed high performance cultures. His storytelling brings the subject alive, and the lessons of the book are practical, simple and arresting. There is a body of evidence to suggest that 'switched on' leaders are producing great results from cultural stimuli. David has made his book deliberately shorter than his first – since he recognises that busy people, in the age of Twitter, have limited time to read.

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

Title

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Copyright

AUTHOR OF ‘ASDA MAGIC – THE 7 PRINCIPLES OF BUILDING A HIGH PERFORMANCE CULTURE’ 2011 – GROSVENOR HOUSE PUBLISHING

TESTIMONIALS FOR ‘ASDA MAGIC’

• “David – I have just read your book, and wanted to say thank you. I have read it cover to cover. It served as an epiphany to some of the situations I have experienced at work, and given me some closure on lots of the issues I have to wrestle with – it is an excellent read.”

• “Just wanted to let you know that I read your book, and it was an excellent reminder of my development from young manager to mature leader. I laughed, I cried – it was like living the journey of my life and all my values again. It made me realise how lucky I was to have experienced such an amazing culture.”

• “Thank you, write another.” (Well here is another for you!!)

• “This book was absolutely brilliant. I have read many other management/business books before, and this one is one of the best, if not the best. Smith cuts out all the management ‘buzz’ words and says it in plain English. The book is clear, concise, easy to read, and everything is to the point. Smith addresses key areas including communication, leadership, listening to colleagues, managing talent and creating a working environment which makes people enjoy their work. All these areas are backed up with real life experience and results. While the book is based on Smith’s experience of working for Asda over 15 years, all of the 7 principles covered in ‘Asda Magic’ can be applied to any retail environment.”

• “I really enjoyed reading this book. Such an easy read, and full of great stories to bring the thinking to life. It’s an outstanding read for anyone looking to improve the culture in their own business. Whether it’s a multinational company, a small business, or just within your own team at work – this book has great food for thought on the things you can do to make a difference. David Smith has managed to cram inspiration into every chapter – not just with his own thought, but from many of the old executive team who helped turn the business around. In short, if you’re looking for a book full of dozens of ideas on improving your culture in your business? Well in supermarket terms, this is the One-Stop Shop!”

• “David Smith’s rather splendid biography of Asda shows us how an inspiring customer and staffcentric vision created extraordinary results from ordinary people. What looked like alchemy in turning round the so nearly insolvent Asda turns out to be captured in just 7 principles. Better still Asda’s leaders motivate and communicate to bring out the best in their colleagues. Smith has in fact given us a BOGOF here. We have a biography of Asda and a thoughtful distillation of just what saved a business so near the rocks that you wonder why on earth Archie Norman took the Chief Executive challenge. Smith looks at retail leadership from all angles. We know that retail, above all styles of commerce, is based on great people; in stores and in leadership. It does take your breath away to see just how many leaders Asda has produced. Archie and Allan Leighton were clearly obsessed by recruiting A* people and inculcating their Asda culture. It is also clear that Asda became a very self-critical business: ‘never satisfied with current performance’. Perhaps we should all be paranoid. It is a coup for Smith that in every chapter he has reflections from those Asda alumni: King, Baker, deNunzio, Mason, Bond, Cheesewright. Marvellous. But best of all, Smith lays out his case for Retail management that involved thousands of modestly paid colleagues, in a business that faced much better financed, stronger competitors. And he is bang on when he observes that few businesses are blessed with the opportunity of near bankruptcy, and the momentum that brings in terms of a force for change. Most practically, Asda underpinned its execution and ‘everyday low costs’ – thus delivering a performance culture in store that was never going to be a job for consultants.”

DEDICATION

I dedicate this second business book to my wonderful wife Liz – who has been with me – and put up with my foibles – for 4 decades now. That has been worth more than I can say in words!

CHAPTER 1

Preamble – Why Write A Second Book?

“Colleagues should take care of each other, have fun, celebrate success, learn by failure, look for reasons to praise not criticise, communicate freely, and respect each other.” Richard Branson

My first book ‘Asda Magic – the 7 principles of building a high performance culture’ was a case study of the turnaround of a retail business, involving its people and culture.

I have received a storm of positive feedback from people who worked in the Asda business during that period and, interestingly, also from many business executives and commentators who have little or no connection to the Asda turnaround story. The positive feedback which most surprised me regarding ‘Asda Magic’, came from far flung countries around the world and people who have never worked in retail businesses.

To all of you who enjoyed ‘Asda Magic’, found practical value from it – especially those who were kind enough to say it was the “best business book they have ever read”…………………….my sincere thanks to you all.

You have inspired me to write a second – some have requested a second – so in all respects this second book is down to you!!

KEEPING IT SHORT AND TO THE POINT

That preamble presents a dilemma. How do you face into that difficult ‘Second Album’? Musicians who produce a brilliant first album often fail to produce their second.

I have been thinking for some time about responding to the various requests to “write another book”. A ‘sequel’ to any business book is a tough call. One thing I have learned, in this age of Twitter, is that any business book needs to be shorter, rather than longer. I need to say what I have to say and then shut up – or you the readers are not going to finish it!

Whilst in corporate life, I developed a practice of summarising business books I was reading, and sharing those handwritten summaries with executive colleagues. I found that people really valued those short ‘pithy’ summaries……………….because it saved them the daunting task of ploughing through a textbook. We are all busy people with lives which are full. There are too many emails to deal with – too many reports to digest. Reading business books, no matter how highly recommended………………is a chore.

I remember when Jim Collins published ‘Good to Great’………..it became a must read of its day. My CEO at that time was keen that leaders in the business should read it………..and they knew they ought to read it. For those who hadn’t made time – they devoured my summary of it with great relish. Key points made easy!

Book summaries became something that a variety of providers made commercially available…………..and these became compulsory reading for busy executives – a shorthand for keeping abreast of new thinking and research – without wading through even more text.

Our attention span, in this age when we are overwhelmed with information, has become ever shorter. Consequently, I want to respond to this and make this book a quick and easy read. This is not an academic tome, but a practitioner’s book, with personal observations about real businesses – again told through storytelling.

THE 7 PRINCIPLES OF BUILDING A HIGH PERFORMANCE CULTURE

In my first book, I explored the premise of 7 principles for building a high performance culture. For ease of your memory, these were:-

Hiring for attitude/training for skill - the attitude of the people you hire is a huge signal about your culture, and the only valid predictor of ‘fit’.

Communicate/communicate/communicate – it is our responsibility as leaders to inspire our people. The more they know the more they will care. Great communication is the ‘rocket fuel’ of cultural change.

Listening – systematically listening to your people – giving them voice to comment about what is and what is not working is the highest form of respect you can show to your people.

Choosing an appropriate style of leadership – leadership matters! We all know people leave poor leaders, rather than organisations. My observation is that a command and control style of leadership is still alive and well in many organisations today……….and it is definitely counterproductive. Organisations need to choose a leadership style which is appropriate to the modern world and taps into the discretionary effort of those being led – rather than switching it off.

Managing people’s performance – dealing with underperformance and pushing talent – this is an area that most CEOs admit to be their hardest leadership challenge – yet shying away from this is a definite workforce ‘turn off’ and demotivator. Employees want to see you dealing with this effectively.

Recognition – we are obsessed with the management and maximization of effective remuneration. At the same time, we naturally under play recognition. The simplest ‘thank you’, is extremely powerful in recognising people’s efforts – and shows real respect for those contributing to our overall success in an organisation. Because recognition is ‘free’ it is under rated by many in leadership roles.

Creating a fun workplace and a sense of community – work which is made fun gets done better. Allowing people to enjoy working together in teams – giving them permission to have fun – and to bring their whole self into their role, is one of the keys to people giving of their discretionary effort.

INGREDIENTS OF THE HIGH PERFORMANCE ‘CAKE MIX’

Those 7 principles were my observations about the key ‘ingredients’ of the cultural turnaround at Asda over a 15 year period.

My business life now involves a ‘portfolio’ of business speaking; consulting in organisations and mentoring CEOs and other executives. Having spent a good number of years now, working with organisations in all business sectors, and all sizes, in different countries………I now realise that these 7 principles are generic to ‘baking the cake’ of a high performance culture.

People are people, wherever they work, in a small family firm in the construction industry, or in a large multinational FMCG business. Whatever the context, people desire some basic elements in the culture of the organisation, in order to be able to perform at their best.

EXAMPLES AND STORIES WHICH ARE ‘NOT THE USUAL SUSPECTS’

This short book seeks to illustrate that the 7 principles occur in high performance cultures in many different contexts. I believe people are somewhat tired of hearing about the culture at Apple or Google. Most businesses do not live in the Global Tech bubble, and there has been too much written about these businesses already.

My aim is to use less well known examples and stories from businesses which exemplify great culture and high performance. I’m going to try to steer away from ‘the usual suspects’.

LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOUR AFFECTS RESULTS

I believe that engaging people and building a high performance culture has a massive impact on business results – and on the well-being of the people within the business. This is a truly win-win agenda for the organisation and for the employees. I also disagree with the cynics who believe that the engagement of employees is merely a passing fad.

In the world of today, employers who consistently ignore the needs of their people, who think their business is all about product or innovation – will ultimately underperform in the long run.

I will seek to demonstrate, by the use of less well known examples, that the simple principles of the Asda turnaround case study really do have powerful effect in other contexts.

COMMON SENSE IS AN OXYMORON

Many people have told me that my 7 principles are ‘common sense’. I would agree that there is no rocket science here. However, I believe that common sense may be something of an oxymoron. Common sense, in my experience, can be exceedingly rare!! Leaders know many of these 7 common sense principles. They know they should inspire their people in the way they communicate – but in the cut and thrust they send out yet another email. They know they should get employees voice on what is working. They know they should be taking time to notice outperformance and to recognise it. However, in the real world, events intervene. We get busy. Urgent business priorities pile up. There are things we have to do and cannot avoid – and they eat up our time.

This is the reason we don’t often enact these ‘common sense’ things which build and sustain a high performance culture. It’s not because we don’t believe they matter – they just fall down the hierarchy of priorities.

WHY ARE PEOPLE FEELING NEGATIVE ABOUT THEIR EMPLOYERS?

Gallup, the international survey organization, is constantly producing data which illustrates that only 30% of people are fully engaged with their employer’s business.

Some global figures go so far as to suggest that only 13% of people are fully engaged with their work, and only 20% trust their leaders to tell the truth about difficult issues. Trust is a huge issue in many sectors, with some surveys showing that 70% of employees don’t trust their immediate boss. Taken together, these survey figures are both significant and concerning.

The Office of National Statistics survey of wellbeing in 2011 found that people are very happy with their children and family life – but much less so with their working life. Perhaps the fact that relationships in our personal lives are more open, informed and satisfying, illustrates that people are also wanting similar things in their working lives.

DISCRETIONARY EFFORT – THE HOLY GRAIL OF HIGH PERFORMANCE

There is now a plethora of research available, which shows a high degree of correlation between engaged employees and levels of productivity. It is clear that people will only give discretionary effort when they are engaged by the environment in which they are working. This involves belief in the mission and purpose of the enterprise, and the way they are being inspired and made to feel that their contribution counts. You cannot pressure people to give more for less – your people have to want to go the extra mile for you.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BUILDING TRUST

One of my 7 principles, in particular, is key to building trust. Great leaders must communicate/communicate/communicate honestly (face to face preferably) in order to ensure that people feel totally part of the bigger picture. They also need to be given voice to come back with their own views. We have to listen to them and respond.

In my experience, people will always appreciate and recognise honesty when they see it. Most employees want to be a part of the solution – whatever the problem/situation – so open dialogue always helps people to feel valued.

I have seen many examples where employees have the answer……………if managers just take the time to listen to their voice and talk to them.

I very much concur with Richard Branson’s thoughts from the quote at the beginning of this chapter. Leaders/CEOs do need to foster a culture where “colleagues take care of each other…..have fun…..celebrate success…..communicate freely and respect each other.” They have proven a winner for Richard in Virgin. These things are the building blocks of a great culture – they are not just ‘nice to have’. They may be common sense actions, but they are the building blocks of a high performance culture

If culture really does trump strategy………………….then what is it? I will answer that question for you in the next chapter.

CHAPTER 2

If Culture Trumps Strategy – What Is Culture?

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” Peter Drucker

“The thing I have learned at IBM is that culture is everything” Louis Gerstner

“If you get the culture right, most of the other stuff will take care of itself” Tony Hsieh CEO Zappos

“Culture can become a ‘secret weapon’ that makes extraordinary things happen” Jon Katzenbach Booz & Co

“Engagement is not a survey….it’s not a popularity contest….it’s not a HR activity….it’s a leadership activity……measured through the line” Archie Norman Chairman ITV

“You can have all the right strategy in the world; if you don’t have the right culture, you’re dead” Patrick Whitesell CEO WME

“Culture is about performance, and making people feel good about how they contribute to the whole.” Tracy Streckenbach

I HAVE NO DOUBT – HOW PEOPLE FEEL AFFECTS PERFORMANCE

In giving this book the title ‘Culture trumps Strategy’, I have nailed my colours to the mast………………engagement and culture are clearly linked to business performance. To me, it has always seemed obvious that the way a workforce feels about their place of work will materially affect the performance of that organisation. This is especially true of service organisations, where customers are at the ‘receiving end’ of good or bad service. But it is also relevant where businesses make products or exist for other purposes. You only have to look to past examples such as British Leyland, where a disillusioned workforce were sleeping on the night shift, to realise that a disastrous culture will inevitably lead to massive underperformance and decline.

Contrast that with Nissan’s Sunderland plant, which runs one of the most productive car manufacturing processes in the world, and you can see how differing cultures produce very different results. If you are interested in how the culture was intentionally built at Nissan’s Sunderland plant – Peter Wickens book ‘The Ascendant Organisation’ is a fascinating case study. Needless to say, that high performance culture did not happen by accident.

Culture always trumps strategy – I’m with Peter Drucker on that – and there are many case studies to back up that point of view. I want to introduce a few examples to you as this book unfolds.

WHAT IS THIS SLIPPERY CONCEPT – CULTURE?

Organisational cultures shape the way things are done in organisations. Peter Honey articulates a simple formula: what people can do, plus what they want to do, added to what they think they are allowed to do equals what they do.

In bad cultures the can do’s (skills and talents) and the want to do’s (willingness and motivation) are limited by the allowed to do’s, both real and imagined. Dr Edwards Deming said “put good people into a bad system and the system always wins.”

BAD CULTURE

The worst cultures are where management defines a set of values and behaviours……………often beautifully written up on wall charts……….but conversation at the water cooler or coffee station tells you the real culture isn’t like that at all.

WHAT ARE PEOPLE LIKE WHEN THE BOSS ISN’T AROUND?

The consultants would define culture as ‘the way things get done around here’.

My refinement to that would be that culture is what happens when the boss isn’t around. How do people behave in an organisation when no one in authority can see them? How do leaders behave when the CEO isn’t around? It makes perfect sense to me that your people can make you or break you…………..and that always comes down to culture. Culture really does count …………..it is critical to success.

CULTURE ‘LEAKS’ OUT

The thing we should quickly realise, is that culture ‘leaks out’ to customers and suppliers. This can either be extremely positive or extremely negative. I remember a particularly poignant example of this from a few years ago. I was travelling on a train to speak for a client. When travelling fairly long distances, I usually get up from my seat about 15 minutes before my journey ends, in order to gather my things, and stretch my legs. I’m usually dashing off to my appointment, so I like to go to the end of the carriage I’m travelling in, and get ready to alight from the train.