THIS is what Memorial Day should be about. I am stunned by the detail of your stories. Amazing stuff about amazing people. Thank you.
And your "concluding thought" about "service"? When was it that such a concept seemed to almost vanish from public discourse? Politicians now seem swallowed by ambitions for power and control. But wasn't s…
THIS is what Memorial Day should be about. I am stunned by the detail of your stories. Amazing stuff about amazing people. Thank you.
And your "concluding thought" about "service"? When was it that such a concept seemed to almost vanish from public discourse? Politicians now seem swallowed by ambitions for power and control. But wasn't service the original idea? Our earliest leaders didn't think of elected office as a career, but an honor, an opportunity to serve.
"Servant" leadership is a thing, but it is sadly being lost in both business and politics. One of the best servant leaders I knew was the late Herb Kelleher, co-founder and later CEO of Southwest Airlines. He was firm in his belief that the front office was there to serve the employees, and not the other way around. Most of his workers worked their hearts out for him as a result.
Yes. He created a culture that nurtured the customer and the employee. The loyalty that creates is immeasurable.
I experienced such a thing at Home Depot in its earlier days. Employee turnover was low, energy was high, customer service was worshipped. It was win win win. And we made money.
Yes. Just as I was departing Home Depot, the founders of the company were retiring and brought in one of Welch's stooges. They worshipped Jack the Hatchet Man and his 6 Sigma BS. So a fabulous company with highly trained full time personnel had it's culture ripped out of it by "General" Bob Nardelli. Since a cost cutter knows that the biggest line item on a P&L is labor, he chopped away at the staff. Experienced contractors and tradesmen who solved customer problems with great products were replaced by part time kids - who were clueless. The first numbers looked better because hey, we're just counting beans here, right?
And then the inevitable happened. Sales began to suffer because the customer service collapsed. Executives like me fled the company. The attitude of the staff went from "can do" to demoralized - just waiting for the next RIF (reduction in force).
Nardelli didn't last long. He left with a pre-hire negotiated package of over $100,000,000. A lot of money to deliver failure, eh? The company rebounded a bit. But all that was special was lost.
We had a mantra back in the day. It included "never be out of stock" (even if you had to buy it at a competitor!). Take care of your employees, pay them what they are worth (I literally could hire folks with almost complete pay freedom). Take care of the customer no matter what it takes. Get in your car and make that delivery if you have to. Visit the customer at home and address the complaint - fix it. I had an open ended check book. Solve a problem for a customer and you just bought a lot of cheap very effective advertising.
And that was just a piece of a brilliant business model that encouraged ideas from the bottom up and delivered outstanding bottom line results. One of my stores had annual sales of $100 million and routinely delivered 10 to 12% back to the corporate coffers (after being assessed for corporate expenses like advertising, taxes, etc.).
Then there were the employee stock ownership plans. The power of such a thing is beyond comprehension unless you have lived it. Nardelli trashed it all. Welch and his "acolytes" were part of one the biggest executive cons in history. Sorry for the rant...it is emotional for me.
I used to use Home Depot a lot during the good old days and noticed the change for the (far) worse. I had the same problem when I worked for a corporate veterinary practice. They kept insisting on paying assistants and techs on their pay scale, which was a good $2-3 an hour below going rate. I kept having to scratch-train assistants only to lose them to higher-paying practices when they got good. But of course field leadership was in all the time bitching about our numbers. I kept trying to explain it to them, but they wouldn't listen.
Thank you, TC, for these extraordinary stories. Like other members of the Greatest Generation, they understood that service often meant sacrifice. Would that we would live lives worthy of their service and sacrifice.
THIS is what Memorial Day should be about. I am stunned by the detail of your stories. Amazing stuff about amazing people. Thank you.
And your "concluding thought" about "service"? When was it that such a concept seemed to almost vanish from public discourse? Politicians now seem swallowed by ambitions for power and control. But wasn't service the original idea? Our earliest leaders didn't think of elected office as a career, but an honor, an opportunity to serve.
"Servant" leadership is a thing, but it is sadly being lost in both business and politics. One of the best servant leaders I knew was the late Herb Kelleher, co-founder and later CEO of Southwest Airlines. He was firm in his belief that the front office was there to serve the employees, and not the other way around. Most of his workers worked their hearts out for him as a result.
Yes. He created a culture that nurtured the customer and the employee. The loyalty that creates is immeasurable.
I experienced such a thing at Home Depot in its earlier days. Employee turnover was low, energy was high, customer service was worshipped. It was win win win. And we made money.
Not what you find there today, for sure.
I'm sure the Jack Welch acolytes came in and ruined the place, like they are doing to Boeing.
Yes. Just as I was departing Home Depot, the founders of the company were retiring and brought in one of Welch's stooges. They worshipped Jack the Hatchet Man and his 6 Sigma BS. So a fabulous company with highly trained full time personnel had it's culture ripped out of it by "General" Bob Nardelli. Since a cost cutter knows that the biggest line item on a P&L is labor, he chopped away at the staff. Experienced contractors and tradesmen who solved customer problems with great products were replaced by part time kids - who were clueless. The first numbers looked better because hey, we're just counting beans here, right?
And then the inevitable happened. Sales began to suffer because the customer service collapsed. Executives like me fled the company. The attitude of the staff went from "can do" to demoralized - just waiting for the next RIF (reduction in force).
Nardelli didn't last long. He left with a pre-hire negotiated package of over $100,000,000. A lot of money to deliver failure, eh? The company rebounded a bit. But all that was special was lost.
We had a mantra back in the day. It included "never be out of stock" (even if you had to buy it at a competitor!). Take care of your employees, pay them what they are worth (I literally could hire folks with almost complete pay freedom). Take care of the customer no matter what it takes. Get in your car and make that delivery if you have to. Visit the customer at home and address the complaint - fix it. I had an open ended check book. Solve a problem for a customer and you just bought a lot of cheap very effective advertising.
And that was just a piece of a brilliant business model that encouraged ideas from the bottom up and delivered outstanding bottom line results. One of my stores had annual sales of $100 million and routinely delivered 10 to 12% back to the corporate coffers (after being assessed for corporate expenses like advertising, taxes, etc.).
Then there were the employee stock ownership plans. The power of such a thing is beyond comprehension unless you have lived it. Nardelli trashed it all. Welch and his "acolytes" were part of one the biggest executive cons in history. Sorry for the rant...it is emotional for me.
Well, of course it's emotional Bill. You were doing a good thing and it was working and the idiots came along.
As the old saying goes about bean-counters: they know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
The best thing America could do to improve would be to abolish the MBA and firebomb the B-schools.
I used to use Home Depot a lot during the good old days and noticed the change for the (far) worse. I had the same problem when I worked for a corporate veterinary practice. They kept insisting on paying assistants and techs on their pay scale, which was a good $2-3 an hour below going rate. I kept having to scratch-train assistants only to lose them to higher-paying practices when they got good. But of course field leadership was in all the time bitching about our numbers. I kept trying to explain it to them, but they wouldn't listen.
Thank you, TC, for these extraordinary stories. Like other members of the Greatest Generation, they understood that service often meant sacrifice. Would that we would live lives worthy of their service and sacrifice.