penumbra media & design http://www.penumbramd.com Communicating Corporate Culture Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:06:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 Where Does Corporate Culture Fit in a Down Economy (Part 1) http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2010/03/where-does-corporate-culture-fit-in.html http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2010/03/where-does-corporate-culture-fit-in.html#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:06:00 +0000 Matthew Hudson tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-750180058298199948.post-6864845554456446240
So, to start off we are going to talk about your current company and mainly your current employees. Employees derive most of their self esteem from their jobs. (See previous posts about this subject) And with the current economy, I am sure that some of your employees have lost some, if not all, of their motivation to work. This is why I see a culture change as being motivational to your company.

Companies with strong cultures have motivated employees who are committed to the company’s goals and values. When this happens the whole business succeeds. If we can get your employees back to being motivated and not fearing their jobs then your business will surely succeed. See the connection I just made? I’m so proud of myself. But, seriously your employees would like a jolt. They are looking for someone to reassure them and let them know that “we” are going to get through these times. They want to know that leadership is looking out for them as employees and for them as a company. I think the culture change will send just that message!

Cultures brings a unison to the workforce. It will commit them to the purpose of why you are in business. And, it will commit them to go above and beyond in their jobs, because you just showed them that you care and that you will do the same for them.

Let’s take an example real quick. Since, I love pizza so much, so it seems, let’s focus on Domino’s Pizza. Here is a company who has been slacking in market share and overall quality for a while now. They didn’t let the current recession bring them down, they revamped their culture, quality of their pizza, and brand of Domino’s and now they are back on track. Their pizza is better, and their brand is stronger, which are both reinforced by the culture that is backing all of the change.

Hopefully, my motivational skills have made this sound easy… But, rest assured it may not be that easy. This will be the hardest and most beneficial step in the culture change, especially in these times. As I continue through the series, if this step is not properly financed, managed, or controlled the culture will not work. And your employees will not feel the value they need. As it happens though, the next parts of the series become easier as we go along, but not less important.

Finally, I would encourage you readers out there… Anyone? I would encourage you to post comments or let me know your concerns or worries about implementing a culture change in a down economy. I am sure we can find ways for it to work and for it to bring about the most success in your business.
]]> http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2010/03/where-does-corporate-culture-fit-in.html/feed/ When Culture Hits Your Eye Like a Big Pizza Pie http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2010/02/when-culture-hits-your-eye-like-big.html http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2010/02/when-culture-hits-your-eye-like-big.html#comments Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:26:00 +0000 Matthew Hudson tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-750180058298199948.post-7914931915718510801 Let's take an example on the power of culture from Nick Sarillo, owner of Nick’s Pizza and Pub. (I pulled this from the article “Lessons from a Blue-Collar Millionaire” written by Bo Burlingham). Back to Sarillo, here’s a restaurant business (2 stores) who boasts an employee turnover rate of 20% compared to the industry’s 200% per year. As if that wasn’t enough to convice you, Nick’s has a net operating profit margin of around 14% compared to the industry’s 6.6% per year.

Ok, so now I have you convinced about the value of company culture… Maybe… Please… What if I show you how Sarillo has put together a culture that is able to do $7 million a year between his two stores?

Sarillo started with a vision of developing a company using the “trust and track” system.  Along with this he says “I wanted a place where everyone worked hard and cared a lot; where people enjoyed coming to work, felt good afterward, and weren't motivated to steal. If I couldn't have that kind of business, I didn't want to have a business."

Good start huh? I think so. (Remember the 20% TO rate) Sarillo’s business is based off this philosophy and focuses on giving back to the community. From ½ price Monday’s and Tuesday’s to the time when he picked up the tab for everyone in the restaurant one night. Cost him $20,000. Worth it? If your’re developing the type of culture Sarillo is going for then it is crucial. Along with this, Sarillo has multiple benefit events and charity organizations that he supports. Doesn’t seem to be anything more than your everyday business, but it is the commitment to this. Ever heard of employees giving their tips to help out the benefits? What makes it different is that it is each of the individuals voluntarily giving back. In fact check this out, Nick’s was given the Community Improvement Award two years in a row. (http://www.nickspizzapub.com/news/)

One of the greatest aspects of Sarillo’s culture is his casting and training of his employees. Interviews consist of a personality test, role-playing exercises, and questions such as “What are you doing to improve yourself physically, mentally, or spiritually?” Ever been asked that one before? When you look at your company you want to be able to apply this type of dedication to your hiring process, however that may look, to fit your particular culture. It may, and probably will, be completely different from Nick’s.

Once employees are hired they are then ushered through (involuntarily after basic 101 and 201) a set of training classes. Numbers are given to the classes and continual training is emphasized. Maybe Sarillo read my book… Doubt it. Anyways, 101 consists of a 2-day orientation that includes the company purpose, culture, and values, and then a 4-hour kitchen prep. I’ve never spent 4 hours in a kitchen! Graduates of 101 are sent to 201 and so on. Employees are then encouraged to take additional courses and learn different jobs within the restaurant. As they graduate, they get an increase in wages and a different colored hat!

The final point I want to take from Nick’s, is that culture doesn’t happen unless top management is on board. Sarillo can be found in the kitchen helping out on busy nights. He has built his two stores on a foundation of trust. One in which he even got called out by a team member for. Ever call out a CEO in your company? At Nick’s there is trust and understanding through all the employees and no one is exempt from that. This allows the employees to focus on their jobs and not worry about management hovering over them.

Now don’t get me wrong. This sounds easy, but Sarillo can attest to the fact that it wasn’t. He will admit that it almost got out of his control, but he was able to revamp the culture he was going after. Luckily, he found the right employees (186 in all) and people to get on board. Now, he plans on expanding and spreading his impact of improving the community.

I read this from: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20100201/lessons-from-a-blue-collar-millionaire.html
]]> http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2010/02/when-culture-hits-your-eye-like-big.html/feed/ Container Store CEO gives the inside scoop on We Love Our Employees Day http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2010/02/container-store-ceo-gives-inside-scoop.html http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2010/02/container-store-ceo-gives-inside-scoop.html#comments Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:38:00 +0000 Matthew Hudson tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-750180058298199948.post-4361689257371419768 Just read this from Ellen Davis at NRF. I have blogged about Container Store before, so I wanted to share this with you.

Container Store CEO gives the inside scoop on We Love Our Employees Day


By Ellen Davis, VP and NRF spokesperson
Published: February 14, 2010

This entry was posted in Retail Companies, Retail TrendsAt NRF, we’re pretty good at keeping secrets. So when The Container Store reached out to us last week with inside information on their latest initiative – an inaugural “National We Love Our Employees Day,” slotted for Valentine’s Day – and asked if we’d consider blogging about it, we were more than happy to oblige. And keep their secret.


Kip Tindell

So last week, in the midst of all the chaos and excitement gearing up for this huge surprise to employees, The Container Store Chairman and CEO Kip Tindell set aside some time to answer a few questions from us on how this day came about, why he believes in treating employees even better than customers, and what’s behind The Container Store’s mysterious customer mantra about “the man in the desert.”

The Container Store is surprising its employees today with its inaugural “We Love Our Employees Day.” Tell me about this.

The idea actually came about many months ago as we were getting ready to launch a new section of our website, “What We Stand For,” which for the first time really tells the story externally about our employee-first culture. In one of those conversations we were all reveling in how amazing our employees have been in this recession, holding hands, getting through this, working so hard for our customers and each other. So, we wanted to celebrate everyone and really scream it from the roof tops how proud we are of each other.

Valentine’s Day seemed the perfect day to send this “hug” out to all of our employees – it’s the day before our annual elfa Sale ends, everyone has been working so very hard, and we wanted to do something fun to honor our folks across the country.

The press release says that employees at The Container Store will be “treated to special celebrations and recognition at the retailer’s stores, home office and distribution center” all week long. Can you share any inside scoop on what some of those festivities will be?

Our amazing vendors really came through! We assembled 4000 goody boxes filled with fabulous products donated from our vendors – one for each employee. Our vendors are a crucial component of our interdependent circle of stakeholders and it’s part of our core principles to craft mutually beneficial vendor relationships. Sometimes it’s hard to tell who’s an employee and who’s a vendor here at The Container Store. These vendors feel a part of the culture, so – sure – when something like this comes up they are happy to participate.

Employees are also receiving fun Valentine’s Day inspired National We Love Our Employees Day t-shirts, sweet treats in the stores, and we have a full-page ad in The New York Times’ Sunday edition that includes a thank-you to employees and even lists every single employee’s name.

You’re encouraging other businesses to embrace Valentine’s Day as a day to recognize employees. Why?

Creating and nurturing an employee-first culture is the most fun, productive and profitable way to run a business. There are some really great companies – retailers – that are doing a good job at this. But think about if the thousands of the companies across the country would put their employees first, communicate to them, make them feel a true sense of ownership in the business. Can you imagine what the business world in America would look like? And talk about customer service. When you have happy employees, there’s no doubt you’ll have happy customers.

Congratulations on your recognition – for the 11th year – as one of the 13 retailers on this year’s Fortune list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. What’s the rationale behind The Container Store’s employee-first culture?

The FORTUNE honor has been a great boon for our business both internally and externally. Two-thirds of the honor is employee driven through an anonymous survey, so we’re very proud of that.

It was Milton Friedman who said, “the only reason a corporation exists is to maximize return for the shareholders.” Well, no. Not really. We actually put the employee first. We don’t even put the customer first. Now, you know we love our customers. But we put our employees first. We believe that if you put the employee first and take better care of them than anybody else, they will take care of the customer better than anybody else. And if those two are happy, if you have the happiest employees and customers around, ultimately your shareholders are very, very happy as well.

We hire GREAT people – who are inspired every day to do what great people do and are inspired every day by the folks they are surrounded by. That’s one of our seven Foundation Principles – 1 GREAT person equals 3 good people in terms of business productivity. So why not insist on hiring ONLY great people?

We work to pay them well (50-100% higher than the industry average) and we’re obsessive about training them well (first year, full-time salespeople receive 241 hours of formal training…and that’s just the beginning). Those of you know in the retail business know, sadly, the average salesperson receives 7-8 hours of training.

And so that’s one of the real doctrines of putting our employees first.

The other aspect is serving our entire, interdependent group of stakeholders that includes our employees, our customers, our community, shareholders and our vendors. It’s actually pretty difficult to tell who is an employee and who is a vendor at The Container Store. The relationships that we have with our vendors are the same as we have with our employees. Our vendors always say that they feel like they work for The Container Store. They love it. We love it. It’s the most sustainable form of business. It’s the most profitable form of business. It’s the most fun for the customer, for the employee, for the vendor, and yeah, even the shareholder! And it’s something that I’m so fanatical about.

I’m really thankful to have our “culture” during an economic climate like this. When you’re having to make difficult decisions that are going to protect the future of the business…it’s vital.


As part of Fortune’s “100 Best” issue, you traded places with Build-A-Bear CEO Maxine Clark for a day. What was that experience like, and what lessons or insight were you able to take back to your own company?

It was such a fun experience! I learned a lot about their business and the customer loyalty they’ve built. It really validated that, yes, retail is a hard business, but you can have fun, create an air of excitement, differentiate yourself and you’ll craft a retail experience that transcends value for the customer. I did love their “Strive For Five” selling metric. That is, work with the customer to find four more items that would make their Bear/animal complete.

I’m curious if you’ve tuned into the new CBS show “Undercover Boss,” where company executives spend a week incognito working rank-and-file positions throughout their company. If you went undercover in your own organization, what do you think you’d learn?

We were actually contacted early on to participate in that show – they really wanted The Container Store on board. But our structure and communication style is such that we didn’t think there would be a way to effectively have any of our executives go undercover in our stores or distribution center without anyone recognizing us.

We do encourage feedback from each and every employee. When I go into our stores, I say, “Folks have been telling us the great things we do for the last 30 years, but tell me what we’re doing wrong – what are some things we could do better?” That’s what I want to hear.

I’m all for that feedback and thrive on it. We use voicemail, email – a real open door policy for employees to have a voice. And this year we want even more of that. Maybe through employee surveys and such.

While the retail industry shed over a million jobs during the recession, The Container Store hasn’t laid off a single employee. One question I’m sure retail executives everywhere are asking: How?!?

For us, it was about driving costs out of the system and strict expense management. And really challenging every employee in the business to look under every rock to help drive sales today. We did have to make some tough decisions like a salary freeze and a 401K match freeze, but those were sacrifices we were all really make to save thousands of jobs and secure the future of company.


Tell me about “the man in the desert.”

This is our selling philosophy and we use it to illustrate how we astonish our customers by exceeding their expectations. Imagine a man lost in the desert. He’s been wandering for weeks. He stumbles across an oasis, where he’s offered a glass of water, because surely he must be thirsty. But if you stop to think about what he’s experienced and what his needs really are, you know that he needs more than just water. He needs food, a comfortable place to sleep, a phone to call his wife and family, maybe a pair of shoes and a hat to screen the sun’s rays.

When a customer comes to our store looking for shoe storage, for example, we equate her to a “Man in a Desert,” in desperate need of a complete solution. We start asking questions about what her needs are. “How many shoes do you have?” “If shoes are a big problem for you, how does the rest of the closet function?” By anticipating her needs, we know that she needs an organization plan — a complete solution — for her entire closet.

Most retailers are pleased with helping her find a shoe rack — that glass of water — but not at The Container Store. We don’t just stop with the obvious. Providing our customers with a complete solution through our Man in the Desert selling philosophy has been key to achieving one of our main goals of having our customers dancing in their organized closet, pantry, home office, etc., because they are so delighted and thrilled with the complete solution we provided them.



What do you believe is the largest misconception of retail careers, and how – as an industry – can we change that?

I think the largest misconception is that it is not challenging and has to be low pay, long hours and can’t offer a long-standing career. For us, we want to provide a team-oriented environment where you’re highly trained, motivated every day to change our customers’ lives and can make a great living working on the sales floor. It really goes back to the core culture of the retail environment. As retailers, we must focus on creating a nurturing environment, differentiate and communicate to our employees so they are a true part of the business.
]]> http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2010/02/container-store-ceo-gives-inside-scoop.html/feed/ Container Store CEO gives the inside scoop on We Love Our Employees Day http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2010/02/container-store-ceo-gives-inside-scoop.html http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2010/02/container-store-ceo-gives-inside-scoop.html#comments Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:38:00 +0000 Matthew Hudson tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-750180058298199948.post-4361689257371419768 Just read this from Ellen Davis at NRF. I have blogged about Container Store before, so I wanted to share this with you.

Container Store CEO gives the inside scoop on We Love Our Employees Day


By Ellen Davis, VP and NRF spokesperson
Published: February 14, 2010

This entry was posted in Retail Companies, Retail TrendsAt NRF, we’re pretty good at keeping secrets. So when The Container Store reached out to us last week with inside information on their latest initiative – an inaugural “National We Love Our Employees Day,” slotted for Valentine’s Day – and asked if we’d consider blogging about it, we were more than happy to oblige. And keep their secret.


Kip Tindell

So last week, in the midst of all the chaos and excitement gearing up for this huge surprise to employees, The Container Store Chairman and CEO Kip Tindell set aside some time to answer a few questions from us on how this day came about, why he believes in treating employees even better than customers, and what’s behind The Container Store’s mysterious customer mantra about “the man in the desert.”

The Container Store is surprising its employees today with its inaugural “We Love Our Employees Day.” Tell me about this.

The idea actually came about many months ago as we were getting ready to launch a new section of our website, “What We Stand For,” which for the first time really tells the story externally about our employee-first culture. In one of those conversations we were all reveling in how amazing our employees have been in this recession, holding hands, getting through this, working so hard for our customers and each other. So, we wanted to celebrate everyone and really scream it from the roof tops how proud we are of each other.

Valentine’s Day seemed the perfect day to send this “hug” out to all of our employees – it’s the day before our annual elfa Sale ends, everyone has been working so very hard, and we wanted to do something fun to honor our folks across the country.

The press release says that employees at The Container Store will be “treated to special celebrations and recognition at the retailer’s stores, home office and distribution center” all week long. Can you share any inside scoop on what some of those festivities will be?

Our amazing vendors really came through! We assembled 4000 goody boxes filled with fabulous products donated from our vendors – one for each employee. Our vendors are a crucial component of our interdependent circle of stakeholders and it’s part of our core principles to craft mutually beneficial vendor relationships. Sometimes it’s hard to tell who’s an employee and who’s a vendor here at The Container Store. These vendors feel a part of the culture, so – sure – when something like this comes up they are happy to participate.

Employees are also receiving fun Valentine’s Day inspired National We Love Our Employees Day t-shirts, sweet treats in the stores, and we have a full-page ad in The New York Times’ Sunday edition that includes a thank-you to employees and even lists every single employee’s name.

You’re encouraging other businesses to embrace Valentine’s Day as a day to recognize employees. Why?

Creating and nurturing an employee-first culture is the most fun, productive and profitable way to run a business. There are some really great companies – retailers – that are doing a good job at this. But think about if the thousands of the companies across the country would put their employees first, communicate to them, make them feel a true sense of ownership in the business. Can you imagine what the business world in America would look like? And talk about customer service. When you have happy employees, there’s no doubt you’ll have happy customers.

Congratulations on your recognition – for the 11th year – as one of the 13 retailers on this year’s Fortune list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. What’s the rationale behind The Container Store’s employee-first culture?

The FORTUNE honor has been a great boon for our business both internally and externally. Two-thirds of the honor is employee driven through an anonymous survey, so we’re very proud of that.

It was Milton Friedman who said, “the only reason a corporation exists is to maximize return for the shareholders.” Well, no. Not really. We actually put the employee first. We don’t even put the customer first. Now, you know we love our customers. But we put our employees first. We believe that if you put the employee first and take better care of them than anybody else, they will take care of the customer better than anybody else. And if those two are happy, if you have the happiest employees and customers around, ultimately your shareholders are very, very happy as well.

We hire GREAT people – who are inspired every day to do what great people do and are inspired every day by the folks they are surrounded by. That’s one of our seven Foundation Principles – 1 GREAT person equals 3 good people in terms of business productivity. So why not insist on hiring ONLY great people?

We work to pay them well (50-100% higher than the industry average) and we’re obsessive about training them well (first year, full-time salespeople receive 241 hours of formal training…and that’s just the beginning). Those of you know in the retail business know, sadly, the average salesperson receives 7-8 hours of training.

And so that’s one of the real doctrines of putting our employees first.

The other aspect is serving our entire, interdependent group of stakeholders that includes our employees, our customers, our community, shareholders and our vendors. It’s actually pretty difficult to tell who is an employee and who is a vendor at The Container Store. The relationships that we have with our vendors are the same as we have with our employees. Our vendors always say that they feel like they work for The Container Store. They love it. We love it. It’s the most sustainable form of business. It’s the most profitable form of business. It’s the most fun for the customer, for the employee, for the vendor, and yeah, even the shareholder! And it’s something that I’m so fanatical about.

I’m really thankful to have our “culture” during an economic climate like this. When you’re having to make difficult decisions that are going to protect the future of the business…it’s vital.


As part of Fortune’s “100 Best” issue, you traded places with Build-A-Bear CEO Maxine Clark for a day. What was that experience like, and what lessons or insight were you able to take back to your own company?

It was such a fun experience! I learned a lot about their business and the customer loyalty they’ve built. It really validated that, yes, retail is a hard business, but you can have fun, create an air of excitement, differentiate yourself and you’ll craft a retail experience that transcends value for the customer. I did love their “Strive For Five” selling metric. That is, work with the customer to find four more items that would make their Bear/animal complete.

I’m curious if you’ve tuned into the new CBS show “Undercover Boss,” where company executives spend a week incognito working rank-and-file positions throughout their company. If you went undercover in your own organization, what do you think you’d learn?

We were actually contacted early on to participate in that show – they really wanted The Container Store on board. But our structure and communication style is such that we didn’t think there would be a way to effectively have any of our executives go undercover in our stores or distribution center without anyone recognizing us.

We do encourage feedback from each and every employee. When I go into our stores, I say, “Folks have been telling us the great things we do for the last 30 years, but tell me what we’re doing wrong – what are some things we could do better?” That’s what I want to hear.

I’m all for that feedback and thrive on it. We use voicemail, email – a real open door policy for employees to have a voice. And this year we want even more of that. Maybe through employee surveys and such.

While the retail industry shed over a million jobs during the recession, The Container Store hasn’t laid off a single employee. One question I’m sure retail executives everywhere are asking: How?!?

For us, it was about driving costs out of the system and strict expense management. And really challenging every employee in the business to look under every rock to help drive sales today. We did have to make some tough decisions like a salary freeze and a 401K match freeze, but those were sacrifices we were all really make to save thousands of jobs and secure the future of company.


Tell me about “the man in the desert.”

This is our selling philosophy and we use it to illustrate how we astonish our customers by exceeding their expectations. Imagine a man lost in the desert. He’s been wandering for weeks. He stumbles across an oasis, where he’s offered a glass of water, because surely he must be thirsty. But if you stop to think about what he’s experienced and what his needs really are, you know that he needs more than just water. He needs food, a comfortable place to sleep, a phone to call his wife and family, maybe a pair of shoes and a hat to screen the sun’s rays.

When a customer comes to our store looking for shoe storage, for example, we equate her to a “Man in a Desert,” in desperate need of a complete solution. We start asking questions about what her needs are. “How many shoes do you have?” “If shoes are a big problem for you, how does the rest of the closet function?” By anticipating her needs, we know that she needs an organization plan — a complete solution — for her entire closet.

Most retailers are pleased with helping her find a shoe rack — that glass of water — but not at The Container Store. We don’t just stop with the obvious. Providing our customers with a complete solution through our Man in the Desert selling philosophy has been key to achieving one of our main goals of having our customers dancing in their organized closet, pantry, home office, etc., because they are so delighted and thrilled with the complete solution we provided them.



What do you believe is the largest misconception of retail careers, and how – as an industry – can we change that?

I think the largest misconception is that it is not challenging and has to be low pay, long hours and can’t offer a long-standing career. For us, we want to provide a team-oriented environment where you’re highly trained, motivated every day to change our customers’ lives and can make a great living working on the sales floor. It really goes back to the core culture of the retail environment. As retailers, we must focus on creating a nurturing environment, differentiate and communicate to our employees so they are a true part of the business.
]]> http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2010/02/container-store-ceo-gives-inside-scoop.html/feed/ Microsoft Store - when will they learn? http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2009/11/microsoft-store-when-will-they-learn.html http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2009/11/microsoft-store-when-will-they-learn.html#comments Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:56:00 +0000 Matthew Hudson tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-750180058298199948.post-8107634827388915990


Microsoft has opened a store. Actually, I think this is a good idea. They are losing market share and dominace over the category. They play in lots of places that people do nto relaize connect. They just launched Windows 7 (which is really Windows Vista Service Pack 3 - I guess they learned their lesson on that) and they have some "sharing" strories they can tell.

The true purpose of a "branded" store is not for customers. It should be for retailers! You want Best Buy to see how to dsiplay and demo your product in their stores. But alas, Microsoft, with all their rooms full of cash, fell far short of developing a brand experience that they can be proud of. But they did develop a brand experience that is relfective of their culture.

Below are the observations of a Scottsdale Microsoft store visit. They really emphasized the Microsoft Signature experience, where all of the free trial and crapware is not installed on any of the systems they sell. The storyline was similar when I asked an employee what the benefit was to buying a laptop there vs. Best Buy direct from the manufacturer like Dell and he immediately answered that it’s all about the Microsoft Signature experience vs. what you get from those other places.


1. Design – as noted in the press coverage, very much a copy of Apple’s store design, but it just doesn’t have the same refinement. The materials, the lighting, everything just felt Toyota-like as compared to say a Lexus-like experience at Apple

2. Traffic – it was about 6pm and there was four or five customers in the store and probably 15-20 or more employees. I wish there had been an apple store in this mall to compare traffic at the same time of day. The employees look pretty bored.

3. Software – in the back corner of the store there is a small software section with a mix of entertainment and security/utility titles with a couple of titles from Norton and Kaspersky. After asking one of the employees about the different type of software available, I learned that they have around 400 titles that are accessible via a touchscreen display (see attached photo) and you can select any of those titles and they will burn a CD with that software in their back room and install it for you if you wish, for an additional $49 of course. This was actually a good idea. Lots of titles with minimal space. However, unless someone tells you abotu it, you will miss it.
4. Laptop displays – the laptops are displayed in groups, each table representing a different group: netbooks, think and lights, featured systems (rotates, but current a Dell Studio model), large screen and gaming systems. Each of the displays seem to have the same image, optimized by removing all of the crapware and only leaving some of the basis oem-specific programs installed. This is called “Microsoft Signature”. All of the laptops on display are supposedly in stock and available for purchase and are all Microsoft Signature optimized. They also sell extended warranties on the laptops, these are branded as Microsoft extended warranties not the OEM extended warranties.

Overall, its easy to say that the Microsoft store is a terrific represenatation of the brand. Lots of good thinking, lots of poor execution, lots of lack of integrating or playing well with others. I could go on with other observations of the store experience, but the point here is to affirm that corporate culture is real and it shows up everywhere. Knowing the Microsfot culture the way I do, this store is exactly what I expected - underwhelming and unimpressive with lots of work to figure out.

Sound familiar?
]]> http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2009/11/microsoft-store-when-will-they-learn.html/feed/ The Future is So Bright…Not http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2009/10/future-is-so-brightnot.html http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2009/10/future-is-so-brightnot.html#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:11:00 +0000 Matthew Hudson tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-750180058298199948.post-8423746875933063902 DVD!) and leader in interviewing and selection. While I do the corporate culutre part, she is more the expert in true human asset management.

I say this because I like to brag about her, but more to set up today's story. Like myself, Jen gets asked to speak at a lot of conferences, especially SHRM (Society for Human Resource Managers.) I get to tag along with her sometimes - which is a real plus for me becasue I get to watch and engage with the HR leaders of today and catch a glimpse of tomorrow.

In last week's session, we asked for a show of hands - How many HR people in the room are also the trainers for their company? In other words, how many have double duty versus how many dedicated training people were there. 2/3rds of the room raised their hands. Now you might be saying, of course, you were at an HR conference not a training conference. True, but you are missing the point. These people were saying they were the trainers; that trainers did not exist with their company.

HR is the heart of any company. Most may not like to admit it. Sales will argue they are more important, but there is no other department in the org that touches every single employee. So it makes sense that if HR is the heart and the ELT (CxOs) are the head and the employees are the hands and feet that you need HR to be as strong as possible if you want to build an engaging, sustaining culture.

But alas, the room was filled with people who were being asked to do double duty. The % of people who had actual college degrees in this field was in the single digits. The rest of the group (like much of HR in business today) got their roles becasue they are real "people persons."

I am afraid for the future. We are not rasing up warriors and champions to serve the heart of the organization. Is it any wonder 90% of all culture changes fail? The people we are asking to do the change have no training!

The people I met at this conference were real and sincere and desirous to make a difference. But they lacked the knowelge. We have failed them. ELTs have failed them when they look at P&Ls and manage head count versus talent and they make budget decisions based on salaries versus cultural significance.

"Man, you are being very critical Matt!" (I just inserted your comments into the blog, impressive huh?) Yes, you are right. I am being critical. But as each day passes and I meet with more and more companies I am beginning to feel like I am the only one who truly cares about corporate culture any more.

It has been de-prioritized so many times and the companies have been "right-sized" so many times that the keepers of the culture and the personalities that will "Preserve the Core" as Jim Collins directs us are all gone.

All over this country, ELT's meets quarterly and say "We need to make HR a priority!" But they never do. In fact, they never will. They do not understand culture. And when their stock fails to perform and the analysts start to move them to sell status, they will look around the room and wonder what happened.

It is true. History is just the present happening all over again.
]]> http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2009/10/future-is-so-brightnot.html/feed/ Who Am I? The RadioShack story http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2009/10/who-am-i-radioshack-story.html http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2009/10/who-am-i-radioshack-story.html#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:36:00 +0000 Matthew Hudson tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-750180058298199948.post-1654480953204117317
What strikes me is the new commercial campaign going on for RS. The have started an all out blitz trying to get people to refer to them as The Shack versus RadioShack. Its actually a pretty clever idea. They are trying to make their name mainstream, viral and cool.

To dat, this is probably there 854th attempt at trying to make their brand cool. But here is the problem - Who the heck is RS? I mean it is the most confusing brand I have ever seen. The merchandise is sporadic and confusing - no flow and no connection. Its a s if they are trying to be the Restoration Hardware of consumer electronics (which actually is a cool idea - but I seriously doubt that this is what they are doing.)

The shelves look empty. The merchandise is dull. The employees are frumpy. And there are 4 different store designs. I know this because after visiting the 1st store I got curious and went to 7 others. Its an occupational hazard of someone with 26 years of retail experience.

Ah, but there is the word - experience. There is none at RS. They are making the same mistake that thousands of businesses do every day. They are spending tons of cash on marketing to get people in the door promising hip and cool and when people arrive; the experience disappoints (a lot!)

Sales will spike up with the new ads (as they always do.) But the experience people will have in the stores is so miserable, that the sales spike will drop right back down. Aren't you tired of stores promising such great excitement only to be let down. We might as well all be Cubs fans.

It's a cultural thing. (You knew I would get there.) The company is still operating in silos. The marketing does not match the store design - the merchandise does not match the marketing - the people do not match anything.

RadioShack will continue to wander the retail landscape trying desperately not to be the latest entry in the retail graveyard until they decide to put in leadership who understand the power of culture and what it can do for you. No marketing campaign will ever fix you. Its like going on extreme makeover and coming out beautiful, but still being a raging idiot.


Now I am not saying RS execs are idiots; they are very bright people. But bright people act in accordance to what they know. If you do a Bing search, you will get billions of hits on business and marketing and human resources, but sadly, much fewer on corporate culture.

But then that is why we blog...
]]> http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2009/10/who-am-i-radioshack-story.html/feed/ Crowd Control http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2009/10/crowd-control.html http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2009/10/crowd-control.html#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:32:00 +0000 Matthew Hudson tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-750180058298199948.post-249042956481692824
There were 20 windows to get tickets and only 1 was open. There was a line of 16 people (yes I counted) standing in that one line. To the right and left of the counters were self-serve kiosks where you could walk up and buy your ticket on your own and go right in. No one was in line for any of the 4 kiosks. They were all waiting for the ticket window.

I see the same phenomenon at the airport each week. There are plenty of kiosks to check in, but I still see a long line of people waiting at the counter. I have even reduced my arrival time becasue I know I can count on a check in of less than 5 minutes since everyone will line up in the cues for me and not use the kiosks. (Perhaps writing about this will hurt me, but...)

The point is this, if you woudl like a study in corporate culture, just watch the crowds wherever you go. Chnage is hard in companies - espcecially culture change. You have heard me talk abotu the rule of 1/3rds many times. Whenever you implement a change - 1/3rd of the people will hop on board and support you, 1/3rd of the people will resist and work against you and the last 1/3rd are the fencesitters. They wait to see whcih 1/3rd wins and then they change.

Its always important to know this going in so you cna plan for it and control it. 90% of companies do not and therefore they struggle in the purgotory of change. This struggle can go on for years. Why?

Because we follow the crowd. We watch what the others are doing and join in. Your job is to plan for crowd control. You need to ask yourself these questions:

1. How do I reach the hearts and heads of my employees?
2. How do I create leaders within the crowd who can direct and correct?
3. How do I involve the people who will be affected by this change in the change process?
4. Did I include these people in the decision in the first place?

Change is not evil. Change is necessary. Change can be good. But planning to change is the key.
]]> http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2009/10/crowd-control.html/feed/ Tastes as good as our original coffee. http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2009/10/tastes-as-good-as-our-original-coffee.html http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2009/10/tastes-as-good-as-our-original-coffee.html#comments Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:34:00 +0000 Matthew Hudson tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-750180058298199948.post-7500188516605324456
 I am sitting in a Satrubucks writing this blog post and I am watching people take the "tatse test." They are trying the new Via coffee packets and comparing that to the regular coffee they are used to shelling out the big bucks for their fix. Will it work? I don' tthink so.

As I spoke with the employees (baristas) the only training they got was how much the Via costs and what its availability is going to be. Talk about a bold and dangerous move. If the person who is used ot dropping the large doillars on their coffee believes they can get the same great flavor from a packet that they drop in a cup in thier house, they will stop making the trip to the store. And the employees were not trained to deal with this.

This is the same company by the way who is testing selling alcohol in some Seattle stores.

Here is the challenge. You rise to a size of revenue and profit that you now start making decisions for your shareholders versus your customers. You have to build revenue - even if you are profitable at lower revenues. Its insane, but Wall Street runs our companies these days and not the ELT. How do you protect your culture and appease Wall Street? You don't. You change your model and damn the culture to make the analysts happy. Then you fail becasue you went against what got you there in the first place. Turnover, which up until now was never an issue, now becsomes your plague. After all, can you blame the employees? They worked for you becasue of the corporate culutre you created and now you are throwing that out.

So then the cycle begins. Companies rotate leaders and the leaders "reinvent" the business. It works for a short while and then they are gone and the next guy tries.

Here is the rub. When you read about corporate turnarounds that actually stick and work, notice how the new leaders all cite the return to their roots; a return to the orginal culture that got them started. Think about it. Is it really worth destroying your culture to make some analysts happy?

I remember sitting in the office of Howard Schulz (CEO of Starbucks) and asking him what he thought his biggest fear was for the future of his company. "Culture," he said. "I am worried about how we are going to maintain our culture and grow the company at the same time."  Wise man. he said it right. Let's see if it goes right for Starbucks.
]]> http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2009/10/tastes-as-good-as-our-original-coffee.html/feed/ And Now a Word from Our Sponsor http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2009/09/and-now-word-from-our-sponsor.html http://penumbramedia.blogspot.com/2009/09/and-now-word-from-our-sponsor.html#comments Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:01:00 +0000 Matthew Hudson tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-750180058298199948.post-8939761346044959802 Okay, for those of you who always write me and ask what i am like in person....

I love reality TV as long as it is Top Chef or Design Star. Hate it if it is The Bachelor or the like. I am not a reader, although I do read alot. I prepfer to think that if I need to know it - it will become a movie. Never read the Twilight series. Never saw Casblanca or Gone with the Wind. I am an avid racing fan - open wheel (IndyCar) that is. Here are the quick hits....

Born: October


Sign: Scorpio

Kids: Brayden Hudson (and wife Christine) currently at Ball State University

Education: PhD Organizational Behavior


Career: Principal, penumbra media & design & Penumbra

Author: Culturrific! & The Retail Sales Bible

Favorite Color: Purple


Favorite Movie: Father of the Bride

Favorite Band: The Clash

Favorite Artist: Madonna

Favorite Author: Patrick Morley, The Man in the Mirror Series

Favorite Meal: Buffalo Rib-eye Steak

Favorite Food Group: Chocolate (yes, it is its own food group in my house)


Favorite Vice: Diet Coke


Official Clothier: Robert Graham
 
Official Footwear: Mark Nason
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