“To win the marketplace, you must first win the workplace.” -Doug Conant
Some years ago the following exchange was broadcast on an Open University sociology TV program. An interviewer was talking to a female production-line worker in a biscuit factory. The dialogue went like this:
Interviewer: How long have you worked here?
Production Lady: Since I left school (probably about 15 years).
Interviewer: What do you do?
Production Lady: I take packets of biscuits off the conveyor belt and put them into cardboard boxes.
Interviewer: Have you always done the same job?
Production Lady: Yes.
Interviewer: Do you enjoy it?
Production Lady: Oooh Yes, it’s great, everyone is so nice and friendly, we have a good laugh.
Interviewer (with a hint of disbelief): Really? Don’t you find it a bit boring?
Production Lady: Oh no, sometimes they change the biscuits…
Rich company culture drives performance and a winning attitude. CEOs and HR leaders must play an important role in building a culture of innovation, openness, excellence, and teamwork. When you have a great culture in the workplace, employees find their happiness in those things that people can’t even imagine
