Embedding Corporate Values into Operations Via Organization Design

By Michelle Malay Carter on October 16, 2007 

glasses.jpgI talked yesterday about how exceptional customer service flows from sound organization design.???Regardless of?well-articulated and well-intentioned corporate values statements, your face-to-customer staff are your values ambassadors.? Although “customer focus” is a frequently cited corporate value, executives admit they have no best practices for embedding corporate values into operations.? This?shows in the disconnect between what is said at the corporate level and what is experienced at the customer level.

I?am to connect the dots between Pier 1’s corporate values statements that are peppered throughout their website?and my actual customer experience in their stores.

From Abstract Values to Everyday Procedures – My Real Life Experience with Pier 1

Here is, conceptually, what Pier 1 has to say on its website about what you can expect in their stores (bold emphasis is mine):

Our stores are unmistakable.? Fragrant candles, the exotic scent of wicker, the colors and patterns of dinnerware, textured carvings and woven textiles all combine to create an eclectic treat for the senses.? Our image is quirky.? We display our wares so that each trip is a treasure hunt.? It?s the thrill of the bazaar ? the expected and the unexpected.

We employ committed, caring associates whose first priority is responding to the needs of our customers.

I love Pier 1, but do not shop there with children, as their dazzling displays lure them like a moth to a flame. I also take care not to widen my personal-space footprint with an oversized handbag, as one unconscious turn can sweep a 3-foot, pyramid display of wine glasses to the floor in a New York second.

Translating a?Conceptual Value into a?Floor Level Procedure

Now, you may think I am bashing Pier 1, but this is just the opposite.? I believe Pier 1 has made a deliberate choice to allow for a certain level of merchandise damage in order to create a unique, sensory experience for customers (a conceptual value as stated on their website).? Now, here is the unusual part – not only have they allowed for this damage, they have trained their store associates to gracefully deal with it (a concrete procedure at floor level).

More than once when shopping there, my stomach has jumped at the sound of a meticulously-crafted display meeting the floor.? Every time this has happened, the next sound I hear is the store clerks running to the scene while calmly asking, “Are you OK?” As the embarrassed customer is apologizing, the clerks simply repeat, “Are you OK?”

What value does this telegraph?? The merchandise can be replaced, my first priority as an associate is (remember the line from the website?) “responding to the needs of customers”.

Pier 1 does not expect store associates to interpret conceptual value statements into everyday practices, it has been done for them.? The result is a consistent shopping experience for the customer, and employees who can take care of uncomfortable situations with confidence and grace.

Whether by luck or intention, I suspect Pier 1 has sound organization design in its retail operations side.

I’m OK. You’re OK. Let’s fix the system.

Filed Under Corporate Values, Executive Leadership, Organization Design, Personal Observation, Requisite Organization, Talent Management

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One Response to “Embedding Corporate Values into Operations Via Organization Design”

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