IAN FUHR: How ‘cultureneering’ can help companies survive Covid-19
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SA companies are battling the Covid-19 storm, using cost-cutting tactics that include retrenchments, short weeks and reduced salaries.
Here’s the biggest problem with these survival tactics: the traditional focus on the bottom line and cost-cutting wasn’t working before this pandemic, and Covid-19 has only shone a harsher spotlight on the inequalities of our country.
If we continue going down this path, it will be a race to the bottom. Cutting costs may help businesses survive in the short term, but the long-term impact of SA’s high unemployment rate is that the customer base for these companies will be eroded and lead to widespread unrest.
Instead of focusing on the bottom line, businesses can make a real difference to our economy and society if our corporate leaders embrace “cultureneering”. What this means is they need to focus on building a strong culture first and foremost in a company. This creates an adaptable business able to deliver exceptional customer service.
First, you need to look after your staff. A customer’s experience will never be better than the experience of the employee: you cannot expect people to look after their customers if they don’t have a sense of belonging or feel cared for themselves.
Get this right, and you’re not going to need to cut people’s salaries or jobs.
Culture-focused versus fixating on the bottom line
Practically, how does this approach differ from a traditional one?
First, a bottom-line focus puts profits before people. Culture-focused businesses, on the other hand, always put people before profits.
When you focus on profits alone, people are seen as a “cost burden”, rather than a value-adding asset. As you can imagine, people who think of themselves as merely expenses on the income statement don’t feel inspired to achieve the goals of the company – they see themselves as not very different to any other overhead that can be slashed.
In reality, culture doesn’t just help the bottom line; it is the bottom line.
In the alternative scenario, when employees don’t have a reason to believe in the leadership and purpose of the company, commitment, loyalty and customer service will slip.
Everyone has been through an incredibly stressful few months, and we’re not out of the woods yet. But if you really want to build a business that can navigate this storm, a good starting point is to remind everyone why they come to work – if it’s ...
Here’s the biggest problem with these survival tactics: the traditional focus on the bottom line and cost-cutting wasn’t working before this pandemic, and Covid-19 has only shone a harsher spotlight on the inequalities of our country.
If we continue going down this path, it will be a race to the bottom. Cutting costs may help businesses survive in the short term, but the long-term impact of SA’s high unemployment rate is that the customer base for these companies will be eroded and lead to widespread unrest.
Instead of focusing on the bottom line, businesses can make a real difference to our economy and society if our corporate leaders embrace “cultureneering”. What this means is they need to focus on building a strong culture first and foremost in a company. This creates an adaptable business able to deliver exceptional customer service.
First, you need to look after your staff. A customer’s experience will never be better than the experience of the employee: you cannot expect people to look after their customers if they don’t have a sense of belonging or feel cared for themselves.
Get this right, and you’re not going to need to cut people’s salaries or jobs.
Culture-focused versus fixating on the bottom line
Practically, how does this approach differ from a traditional one?
First, a bottom-line focus puts profits before people. Culture-focused businesses, on the other hand, always put people before profits.
When you focus on profits alone, people are seen as a “cost burden”, rather than a value-adding asset. As you can imagine, people who think of themselves as merely expenses on the income statement don’t feel inspired to achieve the goals of the company – they see themselves as not very different to any other overhead that can be slashed.
In reality, culture doesn’t just help the bottom line; it is the bottom line.
In the alternative scenario, when employees don’t have a reason to believe in the leadership and purpose of the company, commitment, loyalty and customer service will slip.
Everyone has been through an incredibly stressful few months, and we’re not out of the woods yet. But if you really want to build a business that can navigate this storm, a good starting point is to remind everyone why they come to work – if it’s ...