Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/1178690
ALL IN | AD Today 2019 | 83 Jack Templin President, Industrial Business Unit & Chief Programs Officer AD ONE FOR ALL THE CHALLENGE OF CONSISTENCY "While there are many factors involved, the thing that contributes most to the challenge is inadequate or incomplete communication," Templin said of the inherent difficulty of standardizing corporate culture. "Employees at remote operations often don't enjoy the same level of communication that employees at headquarters or a head office location may experience. Furthermore, they're often handicapped by not having immediate access to people who model corporate culture and help reinforce or clarify policies and procedures that support the culture," he said. Rafi Shwartz, CEO of Mexico City- based Procables de Mexico, S. de R.L de C.V., which has over 300 employees across 17 locations throughout Mexico, agreed. "At Procables, we strive to give every customer the same experience of excellence when they visit our stores anywhere in the country," he shared. "However, we do find that it's complex to ensure that the culture and operations are exactly the same everywhere, because the way of thinking and even the products/brands that clients are used to buying are unique and specific in different states and areas of the country. Regardless of the regional differences in culture, the core of our customer service culture is to always be professional, knowledgeable, personable and focused on fulfilling customer needs with the highest quality at a fair price," he said. Sergio Escobedo, CEO of Grupo PETSA based in Tijuana, Mexico, has similarly found that regional differences can make cultural consistency challenging. "Over time, we've built clear and defined business processes, but in spite of that, we can't guarantee that all business operations will be 100% consistent everywhere," said Escobedo of Grupo PETSA, which has 465 direct employees located across three different Mexican states. "They're distinct regions, they depend on our employees, and in the end, they're people," he said. Cultural consistency is an international effort at St. Paul, MN-based 3M, which has over 93,000 employees in 85 different countries around the world. "I wouldn't say that it's easy to ensure consistent operations and company culture across teams and locations but creating an environment of innovation and growth that focuses on inclusion, diversity, sustainability and respect has always been important to us as a science-based company," shared Jim Fall, Vice President of 3M's Industrial & Safety Markets Center. "It's worthwhile and we'll always support the effort needed to continue making our culture a priority." BEST PRACTICES FOR STANDARDIZING CORPORATE CULTURE According to Fall, 3M employs a variety of tactics in its quest for consistent culture. "Company-wide, our leaders consistently communicate about the importance of our culture and what that culture is, including our code of conduct, values, vision, strategies, and leadership behaviors," he said. "They lead by example, which has a strong trickle-down effect on the rest of the team, who then also embody these cultural building blocks." continued on page 86 Rafi Shwartz CEO Procables de Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V. "Our leaders consistently communicate about the importance of our culture and what that culture is." – Jim Fall, 3M