Creating organizational cultures based on values and performance | Ann Rhoades | TEDxABQ

Summary

The speaker emphasizes the significance of organizational values in driving performance and culture. They recount their early banking experience to illustrate the importance of hiring individuals who align with company values. The talk outlines five key traits of high-performing, values-based organizations: defining values, hiring for competencies and values, fostering accountability, understanding that employees embody the brand, and maintaining a continuous improvement model. Examples from JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines demonstrate how values translate into exceptional customer service and brand loyalty.

Takeaways

• 🏦 The importance of values, particularly organizational values, is emphasized as a driving force behind passion and performance.
• 💼 Early experiences, such as hiring a teller with both competence and values, shape one's understanding of the significance of aligning values with job roles.
• 🔍 High-performance, values-based organizations consistently exhibit five key traits: defining values, hiring for competencies and values, strong accountability models, understanding that employees are the brand, and continuous improvement.
• 🛫 JetBlue Airways serves as a case study where leaders established values and behaviors that became the company's DNA, illustrating the impact of leadership on organizational culture.
• 🔑 Leaders drive the values of an organization, which in turn influence behaviors and ultimately shape the company's culture.
• 👀 Culture is defined as what people do when no one is looking, highlighting the intrinsic nature of organizational values and behaviors.
• 🌟 Southwest Airlines is highlighted for its demonstration of the golden rule through an employee's actions, showcasing the practical application of values in customer service.
• 🎯 Behavioral hiring, a method developed during WWII, is used by high-performance organizations to predict future performance by assessing past behaviors.
• 🏥 Healthcare organizations use behavioral hiring to recruit nurses who demonstrate the values of caring, aligning with their organizational culture.
• 🏢 Google's 'Bring Your Parents to Work Day' is an example of rewarding employees in a way that is meaningful to them, reflecting the company's understanding of its workforce's values.
• 📈 Continuous improvement is crucial for organizations to maintain greatness, as demonstrated by Double Tree Hotel's initiative to reduce silverware costs through employee engagement.

Q & A

What is the speaker's first job and what lesson did they learn from it?

The speaker's first job was in banking, and they learned the importance of hiring based on values and not just experience, after hiring a teller who was also a great shoplifter, leading to missing money from the vaults.

What are the five traits of high-performance, values-based organizations according to the speaker?

The five traits are: 1) Defining who they want to be around based on a values model and reciprocal behaviors, 2) Hiring A-players with both competencies and values, 3) Having a strong model for accountability and rewarding good performance, 4) Understanding that people are the brand, and 5) Having a strong continuous improvement model.

How did the group of nine people who founded JetBlue Airways define the company's values and behaviors?

They sat in a room at Double Tree hotels in New York City and defined the values and behaviors that would be part of the company's DNA. They also wrote a paragraph about what they hoped would be written about them in years to come.

What is the relationship between leaders, values, behaviors, culture, and performance according to the speaker?

Leaders drive the values of an organization, those values drive behaviors, the collective behaviors become the culture, and culture drives performance.

What is the story of the individual from Phoenix, Arizona, and what values does it illustrate?

The individual from Phoenix had to rush to say goodbye to his grandson and was assisted by a Southwest Airlines customer service agent and the captain, illustrating the value of the golden rule and the importance of hiring people with the right values.

What is the significance of the behavioral hiring methodology and how did it originate?

Behavioral hiring is a method that originated during World War II to identify and hire people with behaviors that lead to consistent success. It is significant because past behavior is predictive of future behavior about 90% of the time.

How does the healthcare system in California use behavioral hiring to select new nurses?

They use behavioral hiring by asking questions that reveal the candidate's past behaviors, such as handling a difficult patient, to predict how they will perform in the future.

What is Google's unique approach to the 'bring your child to work day' and why did they implement it?

Google implemented 'bring your parents to work day' instead, recognizing that many of their young engineers had not yet started families. This approach was meaningful to their employees and attracted 4,900 parents from around the world.

What is the importance of understanding why customers are loyal to a brand, according to the speaker?

Understanding customer loyalty is important because it often comes down to the people who serve the customers within the brand, with 38% of loyal customers' decisions being influenced by the service personnel.

What did Double Tree Hotels do to address the issue of excessive spending on silverware?

Double Tree Hotels found out that silverware was being thrown away by mistake due to staff clearing tables too quickly. They implemented a system where staff went through the trash to retrieve silverware, saving the company $11,200 in one night.

What is Tony Hsieh's philosophy on values and culture in relation to success, and how does it apply to Zappos?

Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, believes that if you get the values and culture right, success will follow. This philosophy is applied at Zappos, where they focus on creating a strong company culture based on their values.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Organizational Values and Hiring Practices

The first paragraph introduces the concept of values in an organizational context, highlighting the importance of aligning personal and company values. The speaker shares a personal story from their early career in banking, where they hired an experienced teller who turned out to be a thief, underscoring the need to prioritize values over mere experience. The paragraph goes on to outline five traits of high-performance, values-based organizations, including defining desired behaviors, hiring for competencies and values, establishing strong accountability models, recognizing employees in meaningful ways, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. The story of JetBlue Airways is used as an example of an organization with deeply ingrained values that have become part of its DNA, emphasizing the role of leadership in driving values and the impact of culture on performance.

05:02

😇 The Power of Values in Customer Service

The second paragraph delves into the power of values in shaping customer service experiences, using the story of a man rushing to say goodbye to his dying grandson as a case study. The narrative illustrates how Southwest Airlines' commitment to the golden rule influenced the actions of its staff, resulting in a flight being held for the man. The paragraph also touches on the use of behavioral hiring techniques, which originated during World War II, to identify and recruit individuals whose past behaviors are indicative of future success. The method is particularly popular in high-performance organizations and is exemplified by a healthcare system in California that uses it to hire nurses with a strong value of caring. The summary also mentions Google's unique approach to employee rewards, demonstrating the importance of meaningful recognition, and ends with a statistic from Bain & Company about customer loyalty being largely influenced by the people serving the customers.

10:02

🚀 Continuous Improvement and Leadership in Organizational Culture

The final paragraph emphasizes the necessity of a continuous improvement model for organizations to maintain greatness. It recounts a story from Double Tree Hotels, where an analysis of silverware expenses led to a discovery of waste and a creative solution to save money by recovering silverware from trash. The story serves as an example of the importance of ongoing evaluation and adjustment within an organization. The paragraph also features Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, who attributes the company's success to getting the values and culture right. The speaker concludes with a call to action, prompting the audience to reflect on the true values of their own organizations, and ends with applause, indicating the end of the presentation.

Keywords

💡Values

Values refer to the principles and standards that guide an individual's or an organization's behavior and decision-making. In the video, values are central to the theme, as they define the organizational culture and are seen as the driving force behind performance. The example of the experienced teller who lacked the desired values illustrates the importance of aligning values with job responsibilities.

💡Passion

Passion is a strong emotional connection to something, often leading to enthusiasm and dedication. The speaker mentions passion in the context of values, suggesting that a deep commitment to certain principles can inspire passion within individuals and organizations.

💡Organizational Values

Organizational values are the shared beliefs and norms within a company that influence its culture and operations. The video emphasizes the significance of these values in shaping the behavior and performance of an organization, as seen in the story of JetBlue Airways, where values were integral to the company's DNA from its inception.

💡Accountability

Accountability is the expectation that individuals or organizations will be responsible for their actions and will be held to answer for their decisions. The script discusses the importance of a strong model for accountability in high-performance organizations, where recognizing and rewarding good performance is crucial.

💡Behavioral Hiring

Behavioral hiring is a recruitment method that focuses on identifying candidates whose past behaviors are likely to predict future success in a role. The script mentions this method's origins in WWII and its use in hiring practices, emphasizing the predictive power of past behavior for future performance.

💡Performance Model

A performance model in the context of the video refers to a framework or set of practices that contribute to an organization's success and effectiveness. The script outlines five traits of high-performance models based on values, including defining desired behaviors, hiring for competencies and values, and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.

💡Continuous Improvement

Continuous improvement is the ongoing process of enhancing products, services, or processes to increase efficiency and effectiveness. The video mentions that great organizations have a strong continuous improvement model, as exemplified by Double Tree Hotels' initiative to save money by reducing silverware waste.

💡Culture

Culture, in an organizational context, refers to the collective values, behaviors, and practices that characterize a group or company. The video posits that culture, driven by values and behaviors, is a key driver of performance, with the story of Southwest Airlines illustrating how a culture of care can impact individual experiences.

💡Brand

A brand, as discussed in the video, is more than just a logo or name; it encompasses the identity and reputation of an organization. The script suggests that employees are the embodiment of a brand, as their behaviors and interactions with customers directly influence brand perception.

💡Leadership

Leadership is the ability to guide, influence, and inspire others towards achieving goals. In the video, leadership is highlighted as a critical factor in driving the values of an organization, which in turn shapes its culture and performance. The story of JetBlue Airways' founding leaders exemplifies how leadership can define an organization's values.

💡Loyalty

Loyalty in the video refers to the devotion and commitment of customers to a particular brand or organization. It is mentioned in the context of customer service, where the people serving the customers are a significant factor in building loyalty, as seen in the study by Bane and Company.

Highlights

Importance of values in driving passion and organizational behavior.

Early experience in banking with hiring a teller who was also a great shoplifter.

Traits of high-performance, values-based organizations.

Defining values and reciprocal behaviors for organizational culture.

Hiring 'A' players with both competencies and shared values.

Establishing a strong model for accountability and meaningful rewards.

Understanding that employees are the embodiment of the brand.

The importance of a continuous improvement model for organizational success.

JetBlue Airways' founding and the integration of values into its DNA.

Leaders driving the values of an organization, which in turn shapes culture and performance.

Culture as what people do when no one is looking.

Story of Southwest Airlines' exceptional customer service during a crisis.

Behavioral hiring as a method to predict future performance based on past behavior.

Healthcare example of using behavioral hiring to select nurses with the right values.

Google's unique approach to rewarding employees by bringing their parents to work.

Loyalty to a brand being largely influenced by the people serving the customers.

The necessity of a continuous improvement model for maintaining organizational greatness.

Double Tree Hotels' initiative to save money by preventing silverware waste.

Tony Hsieh's philosophy on values and culture as the foundation for success at Zappos.

Encouraging reflection on the real values of one's organization.

Transcripts

[Music]

[Applause]

have you ever wondered why it is that

certain things are very important to us

and we become passionate about them for

me it's all about

values and I know that have individual

values we have family values but for me

it's about organizational

values and it probably started when I

was very young and had my first job and

actually the job was in banking and my

first

responsibility was to hire a very

experienced

teller which I did didn't take that long

in fact within a couple weeks she was in

the

organization and we know noed within a

few weeks that she wasn't just good at

being a teller she was obviously also a

great Chopper because she constantly was

going out of the bank with these

beautifully wrapped

packages we also noticed we were missing

some money from one of our

vaults and all of a sudden it struck me

that maybe I should be looking for

something other than just someone with

experience many years later now after

having worked for some very

high-profile values-based strong

organizations I have discovered that

there are some certain traits that high

performance models that are values-based

have consistently there are five things

that they do very

well first of all they Define who they

want to be around a values model and

reciprocal

behaviors they also spend the time and

effort it takes to hire a players who

have the competencies like my teller but

unlike my teller they also have the

values the third thing they do is they

have a very strong model for

accountability and the reward people in

the organization for doing a good job in

a way that's meaningful to

them the fourth thing they do is they

understand your people are your

brand and last but not least they have a

very strong continuous Improvement

model about 17 years ago a group of nine

people who would be the leaders for a

new

organization sat in a room at Double Tre

hotels in New York

City and they defined the values and the

behaviors that would be part of this

brand new company that they were

creating today those values and

behaviors are part of the DNA of that

organization they also described and

wrote a paragraph that they hoped would

be written about them in years to come

and that has also

happened that company is called JetBlue

Airways you see the leaders in that room

understood that leaders Drive the values

of an

organization and those values Drive the

behaviors the behaviors

collectively become the culture of the

organization and I contend that culture

drives

performance you see culture is really

what people do when no one is

looking one of my favorite stories is a

story that I found in the internet about

an individual who lived in Phoenix

Arizona and he got a call one morning

from his

daughter who told him that his grandson

had been in an horrific

accident and she wanted him to come say

goodbye to the grandson who they felt

would have to be taken off life support

that

day he called the airport and found

there was one flight that would get him

there it was a Southwest flight and he

ran to the airport but if you've ever

been in Phoenix you know that sometimes

it's difficult to get through and while

he was in line he discovered that he

might miss his flight he called his wife

and told

her he got to the gate a little late and

when he got there he saw that there were

no passengers in the waiting area

and he ran up to the woman who was

behind the podium who was obviously a

customer service

agent and he said to her oh my gosh I've

missed my flight and she said are you Mr

Smith and he said yes and she said I

want to make a call for you and she made

a call that he thought was probably to

schedule him for another flight which

would be irrelevant because he wouldn't

get there in

time as she completed the

call a door opened up behind her

and a captain walked

out and he said Mr Smith we've loaded

the plane and we're taking you to say

goodbye to your

grandson you see at Southwest there are

40 some thousand people who live the

value of the golden rule every

day and that's what that Captain was

doing when you want to hire people that

actually have the competence and the

values a lot of organizations have

started using a methodology that

actually was perfected during World War

II the military started looking at who

are the pilots that are hitting their

targets consistently and who are not and

they found out that there were behaviors

that were significantly different

between those that consistently hit

their

Target and they started hiring people

with those behaviors because past

behavior is predictive of future

Behavior about 90% of the

time and what they found out is they

changed the outcomes today that

methodology called behavioral hiring is

being used by a number of high

performance

organizations in fact they use it a lot

in healthcare and in California one of

the Health Care Systems there uses it to

hire new nurses and they were

interviewing these nurses and they were

asking the question can you give me an

example of a time when you had a very

difficult

patient and this young nurse who was

interviewing told the

story about her having worked as a

pediatric nurse in another

environment and she told the story about

a baby being born with a portion of its

brain

missing and the young mother knowing she

couldn't take care of this child who was

not destined to live very long gave the

child up for foster

care this young

nurse took a leave and took care of that

baby until he passed

away and today she is a member of that

company of that

organization because she has the value

of caring which is one of their strong

values one of the things that's really

important is as organizations look at

how do we reward people

the gr organizations look at rewarding

people so that it's meaningful to them

one of my favorites is Google and what

Google does is they looked at you know

every company has this bring your child

to

workday but Google looked at it and they

realized that they have such a young

group of new Engineers that many have

not started their families yet so they

did something different they do bring

your parents to work day and they had

4900 parents who came this year and they

came from all over the

world because that was important to the

people that work

there one of my favorite things is to

look at why are we loyal to a certain

brand and when Bane and Company looked

at it last year for a very large company

they found out that the biggest part of

our

decision to use a brand and fre a brand

is because of the people that serve Us

in that

brand

38% of the decision of loyal customers

are all about who serves

them you know if you don't have a

continuous Improvement model if you

really are a good organization but you

want to stay great you need to have a

continuous Improvement

model and the great organizations do

that in fact at Double Tree Hotel tells

when they found out that they were

not um spending not saving enough money

in fact what they were trying to do is

they found out they were analyzing why

is it we're spending so much money on

silverware and they found out in their

large corporate um environments and

these big hotels the people were trying

to do such a good job they were clearing

the tables too

quickly and so the CEO walked in to

visit a hotel at Reagan Airport and he

saw that there was a table set with all

the

silverware and it said there was a sign

on it that said we saved the company

$11,200 last night by going through the

trash because they had gone through to

find the silverware that had been

mistakenly thrown

away Tony Shay is one of my favorite

people Tony Shay is the CEO of Zappos

which is a great company and Tony Shay

has always said because he used the

model that I described to you today he

he's always said if you get the values

and the culture right success will

happen I'd like to leave you with one

thought today and that is what are the

values the real values of your

organization

[Applause]