If you were to ask any of my team members, “What is the purpose of your job?” without exception, I believe they would answer, “My job is to make people’s homes safe.” My team has an unwavering commitment to safety. It’s in our DNA. It’s our core value.
This response hasn’t always come naturally, though. For my company, it started in the late 2000s when I read a newspaper story about five young girls who died in a house fire. The fire started in an upstairs bedroom where the girls were sleeping. A space heater that was plugged into what was later found to be faulty wiring had caused the fire. All five girls died of smoke inhalation.
Related
If the story wasn’t tragic enough, firefighters found a smoke detector on the bedroom ceiling without a battery in it. The parents later admitted removing the battery to put into one of the girl’s toys.
All I could think about at the time was, “Would my guys have made this home safe?” If my company had been called out to this home the day before the fire, would they have checked the wiring? Would they have tested the smoke detectors like they had been trained? Could they have saved those girls’ lives, or would they have breezed through the call and skipped the safety inspection because they were in a hurry or because they assumed these people didn’t have the money to do the repairs? I hoped they would have made the home safe — or at least made the parents aware of the dangers — but I feared they would not.
I now had a purpose and a mission for my business. From that day forward, safety became our first core value. Without even realizing it, our company culture was forming.
In the process of building your company’s culture, you must begin by identifying and defining your core values. Following these three steps will get you there.
Step 1: Find your purpose. Start by asking yourself, “What do I believe in?” I love how Verne Harnish puts it in his book, Scaling Up. “…your company is a living breathing organism with a distinct personality. It expresses that personality through its values…” As the leader of your company, it’s up to you to steer the ship. Take control, and lead your team in the direction that aligns your people with your vision, purpose, and values.
Step 2: Articulate it. You need to be specific, passionate, and real. Once you have identified your core values, now it’s time to cast your vision to your people.
I played football in high school. There was a sign above the locker room exit that said, “Play like a champion!” Before every game as we left the locker room, each of us would reach up and touch the sign as a reminder to play like a champion that day.
I’ve taken that same idea and put a sign above the door in our training room that reads, “Be the hero, make it safe.” It reminds my team not to take shortcuts, to perform the full safety inspection, and to always tell the client what they find — regardless of whether they believe the client can afford the repairs. I want my team to understand they do this not because it’s their job, but because it’s their responsibility as a service electrician. And it’s part of our core values and company culture.
Step 3: Reinforce it. This is where the core values that form your company’s culture come in. If you only identify and define your core values and put it on a sign, it won’t affect your company in any way — much less your culture. You can make a list, but if you don’t make it a priority to speak about your core values frequently to your team and take action on them, chances are you won’t reap the benefit.
Hagan is a second-generation electrician. He owns and operates the Mister Sparky locations serving Northwest Arkansas, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa, Okla. He oversees a staff of 30, which includes electricians and technicians. He can be reached at [email protected].
