One lived value Sherwin-Williams promotes is the GUEST acronym at our stores. This stands for G - greet customer, U - use their name and give yours, E - evaluate and fulfill needs, S - smile, T - thank the customer. This acronym is typically hanging on a wall somewhere in every store and is taught to each employee in our training videos. This acronym is another element that establishes a culture of customer care and appreciation. While most employees don't strictly follow this method, we all know it and often make fun of it as being too over the top to actually use. Never the less, we always use parts of the acronym and because it is often discussed and fresh in our minds, it tends to manifest itself in a stronger desire to properly greet and help customers in our own way.
Another lived value of the company is the list of 10 commandments is each store, but not the religious kind. Some of these commandments include always answering the phone by the 3rd ring, always carrying customers paint out for them, and never making idle promises - say what you can do and do what you say. While these commandments are not as strongly promoted as the GUEST acronym in our training, they serve as yet another well known lived value of the organization that extends beyond just how we generally deal with customers. This value has the advantage of actually promoting some of the specific behaviors we attempt to adhere to. The effect of this on company culture can be seen in the work of employees as we will always rush to answer phones and insist on carrying paint out for the customers, assuming they let us. Between these 10 commandments and the GUEST acronym, one can see how the espoused values the company promotes become lived values in the everyday actions of employees, shaping how they interact with customers, sometimes without them even realizing it.
2. Symbolic Elements
I believe symbolic elements can often be the more difficult ones to identify and relate to actually affecting the organizations culture in some way. That being said, there are some aspects of these cultural elements present at Sherwin-Williams.
One frequently used version of a tangible symbolic element is the use of stories within our organization. The stories told are heard at least once during new member training sessions and revolve around the founding and growth of the company. It is often discussed how Henry Sherwin and Edward Williams started the company but much more of the focus is given to how they grew it. There is a great sense of pride within the company for all the major innovations they have introduced to the market from the first ready to use paint to the first spray paint can. These inventions coupled with our growth worldwide and a strong history of promoting from within are examples of symbolic stories told to new and existing employees to help them feel apart of a family, or at least an organization that cares.
A second symbolic element at my organization is the technical language used to discuss issues. Many of our products and daily tasks revolve around memorizing codes for different types of paint products, different colors, and short hand terms for referring to a specific process, tinting requirement, paint product element and so on. This development of an almost coded language system creates a strong sense of belonging in the company and pride in your work when you finally adapt to the language. Prior to adapting it can cause you to feel left out or inferior to others who use the language effortlessly.
3. Role Elements
One organizational member who could qualify as a hero would be the store manager at the Festus location who has worked with the company for over a decade. While not all members particularly like this hero, it stems from his overbearing adherence to the company values. He has an unparalleled knowledge of how to solve any type of issue that arises and strongly adheres to working hard, sharing the work of part-time employees, promoting the efforts of all employees, treating customers with the respect and patience the company demands and so on. He represents the epitome of the organizational culture the company wants to promote and often makes you feel more apart of it, as if you want to try harder. This in turn helps solidify the culture of being in a family type organization that highly values both employees and customers.
An example of an organizational outlaw would be myself in this organization. While I do respect the values that the company tires to promote, I see them as going over the top to an almost cheesy feel. The training videos actually encourage you to recap with customers everything their buying and restate all the benefits their getting from choosing these products. This is obnoxiously overbearing in my view, if you helped a customer find the right products and went over all the benefits, then there is absolutely no need to do it again as your ringing me out. Another example is our lift safe values that I blatantly ignore, choosing to instead climb the buckets of paint and shelves to grab things from the top rather than dragging out a ladder. I also frequently bash the company or managers when they employ practices that are unfair to the part-time employees or simply try to pass off their responsibilities on us. While i'm sure my insubordination causes a degree of discomfort as i espouse opposite believes as the company or point out its use of unfair practices or ridiculous new policies. However, I also believe my role is necessary to draw attention to the short-comings of our organizational culture and to help give other members the courage to stand-up and report their managers for unsupportive, attackative, or simply lazy behavior.
4. Interactive Cultural Elements
One interactive cultural element present at Sherwin-Williams is the use of what we call pro-shows and other promotional events. Every few months or when we have a significant new products come out we will host a pro-show at each store location, or at least those that will be stocking the new items. These shows include demonstrations of the new products, special sales and deals that day for contractors, and free lunch provided by the company. These shows help to demonstrate a culture of customer care and appreciation, as well as highlighting our focus on contractors and other professional customers. While the company is attempting to appeal to more homeowners, we have historically focused on the professional side of the business and it shows in our culture from the prices we charge to the products we carry and the events we host.
Another interactive cultural element occurs between employees and is only understood and identified after having worked there for some time. At our company there is a very strong sense of individual responsibility and hard work ethic. Though neither of these things are ever specifically discussed or mentioned by members, over time you develop the understanding that the company is depending on your individual drive and desire to work hard. Employees are often left to their own devices and must learn to understand the products and processes of the store with minimal help. Part-time employees make up the bulk of their workforce, with only managers and higher being employed full-time. This promotes a culture in which members are relying on each-other to simply do their part and help the store function, which also creates a lack of communication between employees, as each is relying on the other to simply know what to do and how to do it.
5. Context Elements
History strongly affects the direction of our organization. As can be read in the rest of this blog, history of the organization greatly affects how we train employees, the values the company attempts to promote, and what customers we focus on. With a strong history of innovation, growth, and employee care, the company often tries to protect employees with things such as the numerous safe guards against being fired and the ease of access to higher up district managers. Higher managers will often hear the complaints of part-time employees and help them resolve the issues, being much more in touch with local stores than one might expect. Our history even shapes our business plan on a daily basis, with the company attempting to expand from our history of professional service to also serving the everyday homeowner.
Place is a more difficult cultural element to identify but is certainly present at Sherwin-Williams. Having expanded to over 4,000 locations in dozens of countries across the world, there is an undeniable aspect of needing to adapt to the local cultures and operate smoothly within them. Because of the attempt to promote high levels of care for employees, Sherwin-Williams always promotes and highers employees form the local communities they operate in and do there best to prevent turnover and keep all employees for as long as possible. These local employees in foreign countries serve as the connection to the people in that region in many ways. They are not the only connection however, as there are many differentiated commercials and products that are present at different locations. By specializing the products, promotions, and employees that are used to best serve each region, rather than one uniform practice for all locations, Sherwin-Williams demonstrates its flexibility and sensitivity to local cultures and customs.
