The Logistics of Company Culture

RENO, NV — October 9, 2019 — Any company can craft a bold vision statement, but it takes true leadership to translate that vision into everyday reality within its corporate culture. A healthy culture starts at the top and filters down to each employee, regardless of their role.

It’s no different with supply chain companies and third-party logistics providers. One key to establishing a high-performance culture that is aligned with your core values is ensuring that the message is heard throughout the supply chain – from CEO down through the warehouse and distribution centers. The value of this approach can be proven with metrics such as increased productivity and improved employee morale, but establishing your company’s core values is only the first step. You must also develop a way to effectively communicate those values to all levels of management and personnel. Without an intentional focus on communication, you risk a breakdown in your company culture.

Finding the right strategy to communicate these values throughout your supply chain company can mean the difference between an average company and an extraordinary one. The six values we live by include financial stability, a customer-centric approach, being the best, practicing servant leadership, maintaining integrity and making a difference, both for our employees and our community.

According to Forbes, an approach such as this one can pay off in more ways than one. For starters, a company that walks the walk can reduce employee absenteeism, cut down on costly turnover and boost overall employee satisfaction. It’s no secret that higher employee engagement leads to more satisfied customers, meaning supply chain companies with a happy, healthy workforce tend to have a client roster that’s of a similar mindset.

Business author Ken Blanchard once said, “The key to successful leadership is influence, not authority.” There are a lot of lessons to be gleaned from this quote, but the bottom line is that when you lead by example while adopting a servant-leader mindset, you’re setting an example that will permeate throughout your company’s culture. At LEGACY Supply Chain Services, we strongly believe in living our values every single day. Here’s how you can do the same.

The Road to a Successful Culture

To take this philosophy and put it into practice, consider the following:

• Include your values as part of the hiring process: By asking the right questions during the initial interview, you can start to get a sense of whether a person will be a good cultural fit for your company. Monitoring new employees throughout the onboarding process for any signs of trouble will lead to predictable, repeatable success more often than not.
• Offer company-wide training: We’re not talking about forced “rah-rah” sessions, but rather a transparent approach. If you say one thing and do another, employees will catch on fast, so use training events as an opportunity to be open, honest and to set expectations.
• Display values prominently around the workplace: Motivational posters in conference rooms and break rooms are commonplace for a reason: they’re effective on both conscious and subconscious levels. Use these posters to model the values your company considers the most important. The more positive reinforcement you can offer, the better.
• Measure engagement and alignment to core values: You have KPIs in place for your business metrics, so why not have them for employee engagement and satisfaction? This can be anything from a quick, informal survey to a walk in the park with the boss on a particularly nice day. In our experience, when employees are treated as equals and brought into the conversation, they will surprise you with their insights. Keeping your finger on the pulse of the culture is critical to long-term success.

Bringing it all Together

Ultimately, there are many creative ways to communicate your core values throughout the company — such as creating videos, going away on retreats, or designing incentive-based competitions that reward employees who best embody and demonstrate your core values. But it all comes down to aligning your people to your company’s values, proactively measuring that level of alignment, and ensuring leadership across the organization reinforces the behavior through communications. We think one excellent way to create the culture of your dreams is to help veterans make valuable contributions to the logistics and supply chain industry, and we encourage you to do the same.

In the end, effectively communicating your core values throughout disparate parts of your supply chain can be a challenge, but one that is attainable with a solid strategy. For further advice on how to improve your company’s culture, download our whitepaper, Company Culture Counts.