Provide actionable goals to get there.
A few years back, Home Depot expanded its footprint significantly. Because of this growth and a significant number of new hires, its leaders wanted to make a cultural shift, one where employees felt more empowered and understood their role within the organization through a culture of selling.
“We needed to change our focus,” Paul Mayer, director of internal communications for non-field associates at Home Depot, said during Ragan’s Employee Experience Conference.
The organization wanted employees to focus on what it meant to be problem solvers and dream fulfillers first and foremost, at every level of the company, Christina Cornell, director of internal communications for field associates at Home Depot, said during the conference.
Cornell said they had to first sell employees on the authenticity of the cultural shift: What is a culture of selling and why does it matter right now in the moment? They did this by integrating the following three concepts.
- Introduce the destination: Share actionable goals. Where are we headed? Why are we headed there? Why is this important to our culture? “So many times as communicators we’re waiting for our business to give us the plan, give us the strategy, give us the steps that we’re going to come along and build that communications plan to support…in this case, we’re just going to give people something to anchor to as you figure out the plan,” Cornell said. That anchor was the idea that when a customer walks through the door, it’s not about what you can sell them, it’s about the least you can sell them while satisfying their goals. Sharing a destination or end-goal provides employees with motivation and a reason, she said.
- Provide outputs and outcomes: What specific actions are being measured? How? Is it through customer service scores? Is it sales numbers or productivity scores? Are you reaching everyone with your message? IT and tech support workers need to understand the end goal too. What does a culture of selling mean to them in a supportive role? Be sure to be inclusive. Make sure every employee knows how this message is tailored for their specific job or risk alienating their efforts if it doesn’t resonate, Cornell said. Provide recognition opportunities along the way as encouragement.
- Keep it tight. Give it time: Repeat your message over and over again until you’re sick of saying it. “When you’re sick of repeating the words, that’s when your employees will begin to say it back to you,” Cornell said. “We’ve been selling this idea of ‘culture of selling’ for over a year now and it’s so interesting to see where it shows up, whether that be in leadership meetings or in the stores and on bulletin boards.” Keep your message constant through every layer of the organization. Keep pushing it until you can see it develop in company culture.
Learn more and watch Mayer’s and Cornell’s full presentation on Ragan Training here.
Courtney Blackann is a communications reporter. Connect with her on LinkedIn or email her at courtneyb@ragan.com.
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