Corporate Culture – Leader’s Secret Asset | Harald Port | TEDxLugano

TEDx Talks

12 Dec 201716:53

EducationalLearning

32 Likes 10 Comments

TLDRThe speaker recounts a canceled flight experience with an airline that excelled in customer service, leading to a positive change in their perception of the company. This personal story segues into a broader discussion on the impact of corporate culture on customer choices and business success. Highlighting a study by Cotton Heskett, the talk emphasizes how prioritizing corporate culture can significantly increase a company's stock price. The speaker advocates for appointing a 'culture asset manager' to oversee and embed the desired behaviors within an organization, aligning them with business strategy for long-term success.

Takeaways

🌏 The speaker's travel experience to Australia was initially disappointing due to a flight cancellation, but was redeemed by the exceptional customer service provided by the airline.
🔄 The airline's quick response to the cancellation, including rebooking and arranging accommodations, demonstrated a high level of preparedness and care for their passengers.
🤝 The positive behavior of the airline staff had a profound impact on the speaker's perception and future travel choices, highlighting the importance of customer service in building customer loyalty.
🛫 The speaker emphasizes that the behavior of airline staff is a reflection of the company's culture, suggesting that a strong corporate culture can significantly influence customer decisions.
📈 A study by Cotton Heskett showed that companies focusing on corporate culture had a 12-fold increase in stock prices over 11 years compared to those that did not prioritize it.
💼 Over 80% of board members in another study acknowledged the importance of corporate culture for business success, yet few integrated it into their day-to-day operations.
🛑 The speaker proposes the idea of a 'culture asset manager' within companies to oversee and develop the corporate culture as a strategic asset.
🔑 The success of a culture asset manager hinges on three factors: aligning culture with business strategy, translating ideal behaviors into day-to-day operations, and ensuring sustainability through people practices.
👥 The culture asset manager must work closely with executives to define ideal behaviors that support the company's strategy and with various departments to apply these behaviors practically.
🔄 The concept of 'customer support' can mean different things to different parts of an organization, and it's crucial for the culture asset manager to help translate and implement these behaviors accordingly.
🔄 The speaker suggests that fostering a strong corporate culture is akin to managing any other valuable asset within a company, and it should be nurtured to ensure long-term business success.

Q & A

What was the initial experience of the speaker when their flight to Australia was canceled?
-The speaker initially felt anger, annoyance, and unhappiness due to the cancellation of their flight to Australia after arriving in Dubai.
How did the airline's response to the flight cancellation affect the speaker's emotions?
-The airline's quick response to reschedule and rebook all passengers onto the next flight, along with the presence of staff to assist with rebooking and accommodations, positively surprised the speaker and changed their emotions from negative to positive.
What is the speaker's view on the impact of corporate culture on customer choices and business success?
-The speaker believes that the behaviors and culture of a company, as demonstrated by its staff, significantly influence customer choices and can directly affect the success of a business.
What study did the speaker refer to regarding the impact of corporate culture on stock prices?
-The speaker referred to a study by Cotton Heskett that compared companies with and without a focus on corporate culture, showing that those prioritizing culture had a 12-fold increase in stock price over 11 years compared to the others.
How do behaviors form according to the speaker's analogy with canyons?
-The speaker suggests that behaviors are formed through layers of experiences, similar to how canyons have layers of sediments, learned from interactions with others throughout life.
What role does the speaker suggest for a 'culture asset manager' in a company?
-The 'culture asset manager' would be responsible for identifying and fostering the ideal behaviors that align with the company's strategy, translating these behaviors into day-to-day operations, and working with HR to ensure sustainability of these behaviors within the company.
What percentage increase in stock price did the first set of firms in the study experience over 11 years?
-The first set of firms experienced a 74 percent increase in stock price over 11 years.
What is the discrepancy the speaker highlights between business leaders' acknowledgment of culture's importance and their actions?
-While over 80% of board members in a study acknowledged that corporate culture is important and a priority for business success, only a fraction actually integrate this into their day-to-day operations.
How does the speaker propose to make corporate culture more sustainable within an organization?
-The speaker suggests that a culture asset manager should work with HR to address people-related topics such as recruiting, promotions, talent management, and incentive setting to ensure that the desired behaviors are consistently reinforced and become habitual.
What experiment does the speaker propose to the audience regarding their next experience with an airline?
-The speaker proposes that the audience should observe and reflect on the behaviors of airline staff during their next travel experience, considering how these behaviors affect customer experiences and whether the airline is managing its culture like an asset.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Positive Impact of Customer Service

The speaker recounts a personal travel experience to Australia that began with a flight cancellation in Dubai. Despite initial frustration, the airline's proactive and efficient response to rebooking and accommodating passengers turned a negative situation into a positive one. This experience highlights the power of corporate behavior in shaping customer loyalty and future choices, even when faced with setbacks.

05:01

📈 The Link Between Corporate Culture and Business Success

The narrative shifts to discuss the broader impact of corporate culture on business success, using the airline industry as a case study. It references a study by Cotton Heskett that shows companies prioritizing corporate culture outperformed others in stock price growth over an 11-year period. The speaker emphasizes the importance of recognizing and nurturing corporate culture as a key asset for long-term business success, suggesting that business leaders should consider appointing a 'culture asset manager' to oversee this aspect.

10:02

🛫 Tailoring Corporate Culture to Business Strategy

This paragraph delves into the importance of aligning corporate culture with business strategy. It differentiates between the ideal behaviors for a premium versus a low-cost airline, illustrating how culture should be tailored to meet strategic goals. The speaker introduces the role of a 'culture asset manager' who works with executives to identify and define these ideal behaviors and then translates them into actionable practices across the organization.

15:04

🤝 Building a Sustainable Corporate Culture

The final paragraph focuses on the sustainability of corporate culture, emphasizing the need for a culture asset manager to work closely with HR to ensure that cultural values are embedded in all people-related practices, from recruitment to promotions. The speaker stresses the importance of changing habitual behaviors and creating a culture that supports customer experiences, ultimately leading to business success and customer retention.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Travel

Travel is the act of moving from one place to another, often for the purpose of leisure or business. In the video's context, the speaker's desire to travel is exemplified by their trip to Australia, which becomes a central theme as they recount their experiences and the impact on their future travel choices.

💡Cancellation

Cancellation refers to the act of calling off or annulling a planned event or service. The script describes the cancellation of a flight as a pivotal moment that triggers a series of emotional responses and actions from the airline, significantly influencing the speaker's perception of customer service.

💡Emotions

Emotions are the feelings that individuals experience in response to events or situations. The video discusses the range of emotions felt by passengers, from anger and annoyance to surprise and positivity, highlighting how corporate behavior can shift these emotions and impact customer loyalty.

💡Corporate Culture

Corporate culture encompasses the values, behaviors, and practices that characterize a company. The script emphasizes the importance of corporate culture in shaping customer experiences and choices, and ultimately, the success of a business.

💡Customer Service

Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company to those people who buy or use its products or services. The video uses the airline's response to a flight cancellation as an example of excellent customer service, which can turn a negative situation into a positive impression.

💡Behavior

Behavior refers to the way in which one acts or conducts oneself, particularly towards others. The script discusses behavior as a learned response to experiences and as a reflection of corporate culture, impacting customer interactions and business outcomes.

💡Stock Price

Stock price is the cost at which shares in a public company are bought and sold. The video mentions a study linking corporate culture to stock price performance, suggesting that a strong culture can significantly enhance a company's market value.

💡Business Success

Business success is a measure of the achievement of a company's goals and objectives. The script explores various metrics for assessing business success, such as stock price, and posits that corporate culture plays a critical role in achieving these outcomes.

💡Culture Asset Manager

The concept of a 'Culture Asset Manager' is introduced in the script as a role responsible for overseeing and enhancing a company's corporate culture as a strategic asset. This role is crucial for aligning culture with business strategy and ensuring its integration throughout the organization.

💡Sustainability

Sustainability in the context of the video refers to the long-term maintenance of desired behaviors and culture within an organization. The script suggests that a culture asset manager must work on sustainability to ensure behaviors learned are not lost and continue to influence the company's success.

💡Human Resources (HR)

Human Resources (HR) is the department within an organization responsible for personnel management, including recruitment, training, and policy-making. The script highlights the importance of HR in supporting the culture asset manager by aligning people practices with the company's desired culture.

Highlights

The speaker had a memorable trip to Australia, starting with a flight cancellation that led to a positive experience due to the airline's customer service.

Despite the initial frustration of a canceled flight, the airline's proactive rebooking and accommodation arrangements turned a negative into a positive.

The speaker emphasizes the impact of corporate culture on customer choices and business success, using their personal experience as an example.

Behaviors are learned and layered experiences, shaped by both personal and professional environments.

Corporate culture can significantly influence stock prices, with a study showing a 12-fold increase for companies that prioritize it.

Over 80% of board members recognize the importance of corporate culture for business success, yet few integrate it into their daily operations.

The concept of a 'culture asset manager' is introduced to oversee and enhance the value of corporate culture within a company.

Different business strategies require different ideal behaviors, which must be identified and aligned with corporate culture.

Cultural champions within an organization are crucial for translating high-level cultural values into day-to-day operations.

The role of a culture asset manager involves working with various departments to ensure behaviors align with company strategy.

Sustainability of cultural change is achieved by integrating it into people-related topics such as recruiting, promotions, and talent management.

The speaker suggests an experiment for the audience to reflect on their own behaviors and consider how they contribute to customer experiences.

The importance of managing culture like an asset is highlighted to ensure long-term business success and customer retention.

Behaviors are a function of the experiences and interactions within a company, affecting how employees and customers perceive the organization.

Airlines, as an example, must consider the behaviors of their staff and how they impact the overall customer experience.

The speaker's experience in Dubai demonstrated how exceptional customer service can turn a potentially negative situation into a positive one.

The connection between customer service behaviors and corporate culture is emphasized as a key driver of business success.

Transcripts

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