A leading stockbroker once said to me, “I’m losing clients somewhere between the front door and my office, and I want you to fix it.”
Consider this: you work hard to build a system, inspire your team, cultivate a clientele and then – in a nanosecond – it’s sabotaged by someone in the front office who greets your top client while filing their fingernails in a spandex outfit with a card game on the computer screen and a nice wad of gum between tongue and cheek.
At first glance it seems that the employee is at fault, but closer examination reveals it’s not that simple. While this is a dramatic example (and I hope it’s never happened to you), it is true that employers in today’s business environment must overcome substantial obstacles in order to maintain a positive company image. Some of these obstacles may be rooted in short-sighted, out of date policies that can easily be updated, while some may deal with personalities and cultural responses that require more of a change “process”.
Whatever the obstacles are, they must be defined and dealt with or entropy ensues. Entropy is the theory in thermodynamics that describes how energy naturally drifts toward disorder and chaos. In the physical realm, entropy is necessary for fire and warmth; in business culture, however, I believe entropy can be avoided.
So, the question is just whose responsibility is it to keep employees on track as far as company image is concerned?
Is it Human Resources? Hiring directors are challenged to seek out the “best of the best”. Their search begins by weeding through hundreds of resumes.
The interviewees show up in their best suits displaying polished manners. References are checked; skills are verified; the hiring process is complete, and HR’s job is done. It is assumed that employees will maintain an appearance consistent with their first impression.
It usually isn’t until someone disastrously crashes the Regional Director’s meeting in sweats or picks their teeth at the Christmas party that a consultant is commissioned to reel in some protocol.
After a quick review of the average corporate culture, I see embarrassing infractions only to find no written dress code or a protocol guide that is obsolete and/or inaccessible at best.
So then does the onus fall on Middle Management? Lack of training and knowledge in image management can cause confusion with managers. They can either err on the side of being ultra-conservative, clinging to strict early 20th century ideals, or adopt an “anything goes” policy with no boundaries. Either one leads to a corporate identity crisis. As Marshal MacLuhan so brilliantly stated, “The medium is the message.” And in companies with no corporate image protocol, the message is “no imagination”, no mojo, no fun, no wiggle, no curb appeal.
Last but not least is the Employee. The employee’s response can result from not feeling connected, or not feeling like a part of the decision process, thereby assuming an attitude of ambivalence. If they are not given ownership into the process, they’re just there to get the paycheck and meet the demands of the job.
So, the problem exists at all levels – the good news is that it is definitely fixable. But just as it has taken sometimes years to evolve into the dysfunctional system it is, it takes time to affect lasting results.
Constructive change can be sustained within an infrastructure where all parts are synthesized; however, there is a delicate balance between instituting structure and running the risk of creating “corporate clones”. Depending upon the size of a company, a “culture change” can take from one to three years.
Throughout my 20 years of consulting, the most effective program I ever conducted was in 1999 when a Fortune 500 company commissioned me for a six-month contract. The success of this project can largely be attributed to the fact that there was buy-in at top executive levels from its inception. P.A.T.H. (Professional Awareness Training Heights) was presented as an important investment in the company’s intellectual resources, i.e., its people and its future. I was onsite two days a week and conducted 1-1/2 - hour seminars over lunch, covering dress, telephone technique, etiquette and non-verbal communication. Subsequently, employees could avail themselves to individual private consultations.
Initially, people were nervous, skeptical and self-conscious. After they realized that I was not the “Image Police” who was coming in to “fix” them, but that I was there to help them, they were incredibly grateful to have someone to confide in who was “in the culture” but not in the company. I wasn’t their boss, I was their coach. They told me of their goals, their stresses, their obstacles and challenges, their discomfort or confusion with policy, procedure and personalities. At the end of those six months, the P.A.T.H. Program was wait-listed, morale was heightened and visible improvements were apparent.
Does motivation last? No, but neither does a bath! Just as one gets up and showers every morning, one must continually refresh their motives by positive reinforcement. The alternative is to do nothing. If left unchecked, the obstacles that are faced by employers and employees will create a system that eventually results in a spiraling down of enthusiasm and stagnation of work force. Workers cannot afford to expend their precious energy worrying about company image. And CEO’s can’t spend theirs to micromanage it. Building that infrastructure requires identifying the issues, informing employees while building them up and instructing them in a manner that is enlightening, not punitive. It is a process to be trusted. Once you realize it really works, and the world reacts differently to you, this process becomes a “no-brainer”. Positive reinforcement and continual training are the best motivators.
