We recently moved offices and decided to remodel the space to really make it ours. Then, as long as we were remodeling, we looked at refreshing our brand. That led to changes in our tagline, mission, vision and values.
It was like when you change out one thing in your house, and then suddenly everything else has to be updated to match. The job became much bigger than I anticipated, but in the end, it was time well spent.
As we looked at our values, we had a lot of conversation around relationships. In any industry, relationships are key, but we felt those connections truly were our greatest assets.
But as we talked more, it became clear that my leadership team and I had a significant difference of opinion on just what this would mean at Cornerstone. I, like many business owners, was of the mindset that clients come first.
We help people sell their businesses. That means, in most cases, we are handling people’s life’s work. A business owner only gets one chance to sell to the right buyer and build up a legacy.
It’s serious work, and I’ve always approached this with a ‘do whatever it takes’ attitude. That meant I made sure the client was in front of everything else, including employees.
I expressed my viewpoint and conviction on the matter. But one of the members of the leadership team told me, quite simply, “You’re wrong. Employees must come first.”
He went on to talk about companies like Southwest, Virgin, and Zappos. These businesses built empires and renowned reputations by making employees the top priority. When everyone is proud of the work their doing, when they’re treated well, they have the tools and resources they need to do their job, and they understand and live the mission, vision, and values. That’s when the magic happens.
He talked about how we could have the best M&A process in the world, but if our forward-facing team was disengaged or not excited about being at work, then that was going to come through, all the way to the client.
We only take on a few clients at a time, so our margin for error is slim. One team member, on one day, can be the tipping point that lands us a $25 million client or, alternately, feeds our competition’s market share.
Eventually, he persuaded me. Our cultural principles now say, “Clients are key, but employees are our highest value.” And I will admit, it’s already reshaped my thinking and made certain decisions easier to make.
For example, I had a team member approach me about getting paid up front on a small project-based consulting fee. In the past, I would have held firm to the policy about getting paid when the work was done. But in order to live out an employee-first value, I said yes to something that ultimately meant very little to me, but made a meaningful difference to someone on my team.
Another employee, a research analyst, expressed a desire for a faster computer. Again, in my traditional perspective, I would have seen a machine that was still far from obsolete. But an employee first perspective is about asking, “How can I help? What do you need?”
I regret I wasn’t there when the new computer was delivered. My team member was very happy (I’m told there may have been some dancing), and even the technician who set it up seemed impressed by the caliber of the machine.
I’m not saying that you should buy employees whatever they want. But I found our people were pretty reasonable and could support what they needed. There may be fears that you’ll be taken advantage of, but I think the benefits far outweigh the risk.
At the end of the day, if the employee really buys in to what you’re doing, and you take care of that employee, the client is absolutely going to win. It was a leap of faith for me, but one I’m already seeing prove out.
