Culture in Action: Dealers Discuss Hiring on and Maintaining Corporate Values

Imagine the following scenario. A prospective client from the health care space is visiting your dealership to learn more about the company, find out how it ticks and decide if you’re worthy of their business. They want to know how you treat your employees, see how engaged they are in their work and generally gauge the atmosphere in the building. And a simple walk-through of your offices will tell the prospect a lot about your operations.

This is also a tip-off that the prospect isn’t looking for a low-cost provider—otherwise, they probably wouldn’t bother to visit—and doesn’t care about speeds and feeds. Yes, the potential client needs to know you can fashion a hardware and solutions package that’s specific to their needs. They need to know that your service team can respond in a reasonable time frame and make good on the service-level agreement. They need to have faith in the manufacturer line. But truthfully, many dealers can address all those needs.

As we’re aware, customers (actual or potential) are looking to forge agreements with companies and executives they like. And if the prospects accepted your invitation, or requested the opportunity to drop in for a visit, they’re going to be watching your people. Are they smiling and friendly? Do they look straight ahead without acknowledging a visitor? Do they look tired, beaten down and disinterested? Are there any other nonverbal hints that say more than words? Can you tell if they’re happy to be there, period?

The vibe your employees give off—in person, on the phone, on video conference calls or even in the tone of emails—is (like it or not) your corporate culture. It’s not a list of fundamentals carefully culled from the tons of online resources about corporate culture and best HR practices which are shared company wide. It is not buzz words painted on the walls of your offices. It’s not what the executive team wants it to be. It is what it is, for better or worse. Employees take their cues from how they’re treated and regarded, and it’s reflected in their interactions with clients.

Thus, questions get raised. How do you ensure the corporate values you’d like established are relayed and reflected in the attitudes of team members? How do you encourage team members to walk the talk? As part of this month’s State of the Industry report on corporate culture, we’ve canvassed a number of dealers for whom culture and values is paramount to its company ethos.

Gaining Traction

When Loffler Inc. was founded in 1986, corporate culture wasn’t the talking point it is today. But as he was hiring staff, cultivating customer accounts and making the push to get the dealership on solid footing, founder Jim Loffler had a vision of what that culture would look and feel like. His son, James, president of the St. Louis Park, Minnesota, firm, credits his dad with being the “godfather of Loffler culture” and setting that early standard.

In some aspects, much has changed. The dealership adopted the Traction EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) platform 10 years ago, an element of which was to define a company’s culture, core values and mission. It wasn’t so much that the culture was lacking, but rather an effort to be more intentional about—and clearly define—those core values. The younger Loffler sees culture to be one of the company’s primary points of differentiation.

“As part of the quarterly Traction process, we look at our values to make sure they still reflect who we are,” James Loffler said. “Our values have been very consistent, and we’ve leaned into them much harder as we’ve grown into multiple locations. When you’re a small organization, the executive leaders know every single team member. When you grow to more than 500 people, you really have to lean on managers to make sure they are bringing on individuals who live the same values. A lot more effort has gone into talking about values.”

When you’re a small organization, the executive leaders know every single team member. When you grow to more than 500 people, you really have to lean on managers to make sure they are bringing on individuals who live the same values.

– James Loffler, Loffler Companies

Two years ago, the dealer created a 20-page guide that examines “putting our values into action.” It outlines those values (positive attitude, integrity, customer-first focus, innovation, professionalism and drive for results) and provides examples of encouraged and discouraged behavior that speak to each of the six points.

The values guide plays a prominent role in the hiring and onboarding process. During interviews, managers have a list of questions that pertain to Loffler values, and they ask candidates for examples of specific scenarios and how they responded to a challenge or situation. The answers can reveal whether the demonstrated values dovetail with those of the company. It’s also a handy tool used for employee reviews, as managers can cite examples of discouraged behaviors the team member could be demonstrating.

James Loffler participates in the monthly onboarding of team members and shares a deck of slides that speak to each of the values (which he also uses at the annual company kickoff meeting and the Summer Jam mid-year meeting). “I spend 80% of the time talking about the history of the company, our values, our purpose, and why we get up every single day, and I go through every one of those values,” he said. “I give the examples and I want all those team members to know that’s coming from me.”

Loffler also focuses on employees living the company mission. When job tickets are closed, clients receive a survey. He reads every response, which can draw attention to problematic resolutions or other issues, but also helps shine a light on team members who perform exceedingly well. Those comments are shared with the entire organization, and at year’s end, Loffler collects the comments and puts a selection of them on a floor-to-ceiling banner that’s displayed in the office.

Quote the Raving

It might not be hyperbole to say that Barry Simon wrote the book on corporate culture. The president of Datamax Inc., along with the help from team members, developed and published a 26-page tome, the Datamax Little Blue Book. It’s effective in that it encapsulates the bedrock foundation on which the dealership emerged, containing 6 philosophies and 16 principles that guide team members in all they do and how they relate to each other as well as customers.

The Datamax Little Blue Book contains one of the finest taglines ever delivered on a dealership level: “Creating Raving Fans.” It’s a registered trademark, as is “Relevant Technology. Relevant Results.” The latter, a brand positioning theme, “inspires believability, differentiates competitively, conveys customer payoff and reflects our character,” the book reads.

When Simon and several team members met offsite, the intention was to “share input on the philosophies and principles that would guide our company through decision-making and challenges, and that would shape how we engage and interact internally,” said Jeff Walker, marketing communications manager for the firm with locations in Texas and Arkansas.

How does the dealer ensure that its Datamax Little Blue Book principles are consistently maintained? For one, culture is revisited and reinforced throughout the year to make necessary adjustments. The team then analyzes what continues to resonate throughout the organization and what areas need to be adjusted and realigned.

The Datamax Little Blue Book remains front of mind for team members, as the values are introduced to new hires by their managers upon joining the fold. Walker noted that over time, the philosophies and principles have become part of Datamax’s core dialog in day-to-day interactions.

One of our charges as a department is to nurture company culture. We take that charge seriously in our internal communications and our brand presence at large.

– Jeff Walker, Datamax

Another values reinforcement comes from the company’s monthly newsletter, The Rave Review. “When our marketing team sits down to brainstorm a creative theme for the coming month, we pull out the book,” he said. “We flip through the pages and discuss where certain philosophies and principles might weave themselves into our theme. Furthermore, one of our charges as a department is to nurture company culture. We take that charge seriously in our internal communications and our brand presence at large.”

Walk the Talk

Even if the evidence was just anecdotal, Dean Swenson implicitly knew that culture was the strength and differentiator driving his dealership, The Swenson Group (TSG). Years ago, the president of the Livermore, California-based company wanted to test and validate that leadership, and the team members were simpatico. He posed a single question to them: What makes TSG unique? The responses became the basis for developing the company’s corporate mantra of “People-Passion-Purpose.”

The responses certainly dovetailed with Swenson’s objective of creating a family business with a matching environment. While they haven’t changed philosophically, Swenson decided to tap the Traction Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) in 2016 to refine those values. The updated values—Be Passionate, Teamwork, Put the Client First, Be Accountable, Be Problem Solvers and Do the Right Thing—created a guiding ethos for all team members.

We ask [prospective hires] to share examples of when they
exhibited teamwork or when they identified a client’s problem and how they went about solving it.

– Dean Swenson, The Swenson Group

It’s not just a tagline for email signatures or wall posters. TSG applies it to many aspects of daily business.

“We hire, recognize and terminate employees based on these core values,” Swenson said. “An example is when we receive a Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey from a client, often they will comment about the technician and their experience. We then forward these positive surveys to the company and tie the feedback to one or two of our core values.”

Prospective employees are evaluated based, in part, on how their values—including actions and words—sync with TSG’s mores. “We ask them to share examples of when they exhibited teamwork or when they identified a client’s problem and how they went about solving it,” Swenson added. “We also ask about their personal lives to try to determine their values, decision-making, etc.”

The X Factor

Many people use the term je na sais quoi to express that indefinable quality. In Philadelphia and the surrounding region, it’s not uncommon to hear the contrived phrase “jawn” (a context-dependent substitute noun) uttered for just about anything and everything. In the hallways of imageOne, which is headquartered in Oak Park, Michigan, it’s all about bringing the “X” to the masses.

During the course of its 34-year history, the dealership cultivated a culture and purpose that was the basis for its creation. That led to the company mantra of “Our Purpose is to Deliver the X to Everyone, Every Day, Every Time.” According to President Josh Britton, the X factor is defined as genuine care that consistently drives extraordinary energy, actions and experiences.

“Over our many years in business, we’ve incorporated a variety of practices, rhythms and rituals which all feed into achieving that purpose for each team member,” he said. “These exist at every level, from our executives and board members down to every individual contributor across the organization. Our thesis is simple: If we’re doing a great job of Delivering the X (DtX) our team members, they in turn will DtX our customers and communities.  It’s a self-fueling cycle.”

imageOne abides by four core values:

• Passion to Deliver the X—to everyone, every day, every time 
• Open & Honest—we speak and listen with integrity, humility and vulnerability 
• eXtraordinary Execution—we strive to be easy, efficient and reliable to work with 
• Always Improving—we learn, we grow, we innovate

Crafted over the years with input from team members and customers, these values feed into imageOne’s corporate purpose. While requiring more effort than a values package set forth by the corner office, Britton believes the continual effort is key to the team member experience the dealer strives to deliver.

“We often hear surprise at how much input and influence every team member has on our culture, including our core values,” Britton added. “We hear this often from newer folks or observers who come from other companies to experience our culture. As a high transparency company, it’s always made sense to us to make decisions outside the vacuum and in the light of day—engage the team broadly, leverage collective intelligence and hear a variety of perspectives.”  

Our thesis is simple: If we’re doing a great job of Delivering the X (DtX) our team members, they in turn will DtX our customers and communities. It’s a self-fueling cycle.

– Josh Britton, imageOne

A two-pronged approach is employed to ensure team members consistently live out the core values. Britton notes a formal layer of effort comprises practices that span the team member life cycle, delivered and reinforced during recruiting, onboarding, training, performance assessment and management, coaching, development and transitions. This helps mold the more informal layer, with daily micro-interactions reflecting those values.

imageOne’s core values are well represented throughout the hiring process and beyond. Every role within the company has a corresponding “accountability sheet” containing the dealer’s core values and the competencies, and this drives the interviewing and candidate evaluation process. Core values and competency become the weighty factors during the assessment phase; Britton fears a “culture fit” mindset invites bias and homogeneity to the process. Instead, Britton strives for “values fit” with every new team member.

“This ensures we can achieve our goal of a diverse, inclusive team with a variety of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives contained within the team while ensuring a through line of values alignment,” he noted. “We go to great lengths to be as transparent as possible with each candidate on what our values are and how they feed into expectations, accountability and rewards in our company.” 

The results speak for themselves, accentuating the notion that the adopted approach is working. Feedback from team members has been extremely positive, and Britton notes the positive energy around the organization is palpable. That also translates to a low rate of turnover for both team members and imageOne’s client roster.

Be Curious

Chris Taylor doesn’t hide the fact that when he took the helm of Boise, Idaho-based Fisher’s Technology, he had the bare minimum of industry knowledge. But much like the beloved fictional character Ted Lasso, what Taylor did have was curiosity and an open mind, one welcoming of new ideas. That, however, wasn’t always the case with the dealership; the previous leader preferred to call all the shots, without input from employees or clients. It created, as Taylor termed it, a my-way-or-the-highway culture.

Taylor prefers the all-hands-on-deck approach, querying team members and clients alike to find out how Fisher’s Technology could make its way down the road of continuous improvement. Maintaining the curiosity and a beginner’s mind is still the MO nearly 20 years after Taylor came aboard, and it’s enabled him to fashion a servant leader mentality.

He decided to take an intentional route to developing corporate values, mindful that values plastered on the walls or flashing on the company’s website alone are meaningless unless they truly reflect the way team members feel. Taylor points out that defunct energy giant Enron, which collapsed after a massive accounting fraud was uncovered, actually listed “integrity” as its number-one core value. Fisher’s Technology hired an outside consultant which suggested performing an “alien visit” which consisted of interviewing the entire team, without knowledge or preconceived notions about the firm, to figure out what the company thinks of itself at the core. Those results proved to be the basis for the initial values.

Today, Fisher’s Technology has five core values: team, customers, curiosity, trust and improvement. With the help of monthly company-wide meetings, Taylor ensures these values continue to be leveraged on a daily basis.

I think if there’s one thing any organization can do right to ensure the longevity of its culture and having an intentional one is to make sure you’re hiring someone with the right values.

– Chris Taylor, Fisher’s Technology

“We go over the typical performance data, but it’s really an enculturation,” he said. “It’s reiterating our values, and we use the time to recognize 5 to 10 people every meeting. We also pick a core value and tell stories around it, provide some tools around it. It’s incorporating our team values into all our discussions, all of our accomplishments, goals and recognitions. It’s reiterated in almost every communication we have.”

Taylor is a student of the Mike Riordan school of hiring for culture, which follows the philosophy that candidates come into interviews bursting with high energy, ready to put their best foot forward. Six months later, that enthusiasm—in many cases—appears to have been a mirage.

“The process is designed to get to know the true person, their real values, and then assess if that fits with our company. Similarly, it’s designed for them to get to know us and our true values and how it fits with them as a person,” Taylor explained. “It involves lengthy one-on-one interviews that really cut through that emotional energy, to get vulnerable with each other and build trusting relationships. Then we assess. We don’t have a scripted list of questions because every hiring manager, position, success profile and candidate are different.”

Ensuring that candidates are a good cultural fit, Taylor feels, is critical to maintaining the desired values over the long haul. “We invest a lot up front in preparing for interviews, a lot of time with the candidates, and make sure we’re picking someone who fits with our culture,” he said. “I think if there’s one thing any organization can do right to ensure the longevity of its culture and having an intentional one is to make sure you’re hiring someone with the right values.”