Culture. It has become one of the most overused buzzwords in the corporate world. In fact, Business News Daily listed “culture” along with words like “circle back, “new normal,” “synergy,” “bandwidth,” “pivot,” “move the needle,” “thought leaders” and “give 110%” as the most annoying, overused jargon in corporate settings. And yet culture remains one of the most critical ingredients to the long-term success of any business. Every company has a culture and no two are ever quite the same. Shaw has a great one. So does Mannington. Engineered Floors, too. It all starts at the top with leadership. A good leader instills a culture that benefits not only a company and its employees but its customers as well.
Where am I going with this? I realized something as I was flying back from Surfaces, where I spent a good deal of time at the Mohawk space chatting with a bunch of friends, some of which I’ve known forever. The thing I realized was aside from being amazing people, they are incredibly passionate about working for Mohawk. I thought to myself, imagine if this applied to every retailer reading this column. How valuable they and their people would be to the customer.
Mohawk seems to be a different company than it was, say, five years ago. What has changed? I think it “circles back” to “culture.” They seem to be approaching things at a different level than some others. Is it Paul De Cock, president of North America? Maybe. Possibly. Probably. Since it all starts at the top, right? But it transcends throughout the company. There is this group of talented people who are passionate about Mohawk. They have enthusiasm. They are committed. The customers like them. It’s like one seamless integration between the company, the people and the customers. It’s the way they go to market from a talent/passion point of view. It makes me think of what I learned from Southwest Airlines years ago. They don’t hire flight attendants; they hire people. You can teach anyone how to do a job. You can’t teach personality. At Mohawk, everyone seems to be focused on the customer, especially De Cock.
Recently I asked him for his advice on how flooring retailers could apply some of this to their businesses. He said he could only speak for himself and that his primary focus is on the customer. He talks to them all the time to learn how the company can do better. It is all about his customers making more money with Mohawk because he understands that if he can make his dealers successful, then he will be successful. To that end, De Cock has focused on cutting complexity, cutting clutter in the product offering and making sure the offering is curated, very intentional, purposeful and made to win. Mohawk doesn’t have store fillers anymore. Everything has a purpose.
So what can retailers glean from this statement?
- Leadership/culture starts at the top.
- Hire good people who are engaged with the company and are passionate.
- The customer must be your primary focus.
- Make sure your products earn their way onto your showroom floor and have a purpose.
Seems simple, right?
I’d like to “circle back” to the people part. It’s also a major piece to what has made FCNews successful. You will never meet any two people with more passion for what we do than Dustin and me. We have an incredible staff that strives for excellence and is committed. We all know who our customers are—advertisers and retailers/distributors for the most part—and we are constantly trying to better serve those constituents. We all care and enjoy what we do. We make sure everyone is involved in the strategy and they know they are valued. I wish that for every retailer’s staff.
Why do some people have enthusiasm and others do not? I asked De Cock about his team’s enthusiasm. I mean, they can’t be getting paid a million dollars a year. He told me it’s about picking the right talent, putting the right talent in the right job and creating alignment. “Alignment is critical,” he said. “Everybody has a say when the company develops a strategy, then we define the strategy, we align on the strategy, then we relentlessly execute the strategy. That’s what creates the enthusiasm and the passion because we are all synced up as we execute.”
Much like FCNews. Much like how successful retailers operate.
To sum it all up, successful retailers must instill a culture. A culture of winning. And to have a culture of winning, you need the right people, the right strategies and the right alignment.
