DEALER VIEWPOINT - Join the culture club
Culture is a hotly debated subject within the channel, with everyone fighting to tell the world about the unique nature of their culture and its place in their company's success.
But what does the word culture actually mean? Here are a few versions you may want to consider. A nauseating and meaningless Americanism? Mould on a Big Mac? Or refinement, tillage and the artificial rearing of bees and bacteria? While the first two explanations are plausible (and probably have more bearing on life today), the latter is the Oxford Dictionary's definition.
Okay, none of them have anything to do with what we're talking about.
What we mean is the culture of our own organisations and, from my perspective, this is defined by how people work when they are left to their own devices.
Get this right and you have a self-starting business along with all the benefits.
This sounds great, but in reality is it easy to achieve? It is, but first you need to eradicate the biggest threat of all: not the millennium bomb, not falling margins, not the lack of some worthless industry code of practice, or the skills shortage, but the more pernicious 'I can't be bothered' syndrome.
See if you recognise any of the following symptoms. 'I can't be bothered' - to turn up on time, meet deadlines, communicate in a timely fashion, clear up after myself, adhere to procedures and deliver against my commitments.
I'm glad to say these aren't problems we suffer from regularly at Bytes Technology Group, but you can bet your life we've experienced every one of them at some time.
People don't generally practise bad habits out of malicious intent.
They are merely that - bad habits - and need changing. The problem is, every time people think about change, they feel terrible. So here's a suggestion - stop thinking about it and just do it. (I'm sure this is a misquote from some management guru, but I can't remember who. Perhaps someone will let me know.)
If we can eradicate these behaviour traits from the channel, we'll go a long way to providing our colleagues with a culture that will ensure quicker decision-making, less frustration and excuses, better staff relations, greater skills and the return of the feel-good factor.
It's all very well for our staff and colleagues, but what about benefits for the company? I would argue that it's something of a no-brainer. If you can engineer the above, your business will benefit from competitive advantage through innovation, higher levels of productivity, speed of change and the respect of your customers, suppliers and staff.
Most importantly of all, yours will be a place where the best people will want to work. That takes us neatly back to a problem facing all of us - recruiting and retaining the best staff in this madcap era of skills shortage.
I can't help wondering why everyone thinks cultural change is so difficult - it's not. My point is fairly clear. Stop talking about change - just make it happen. The result is you will get yourself a self-starting business, run by hard-working staff, and find the success and additional quality of life that you've always wanted.
Go get some new shades - the future's looking bright. As they say in Beaverton, Oregon - where Nike puts the ticks in the boxes - Just Do It.
Simon Ognall is managing director of Bytes Technology Group.