Jack Daly’s Four Keys to a Strong Culture

Let me ask you a question: How much time do you honestly spend on culture in your workplace? I know, I’m often called the Queen of Culture, and even I struggle some days or weeks. It can be so busy that you sometimes forget to be intentional. However, according to Jack Daly, the best professional sales trainer in America, some of you act as if it’s simply not important. Say it ain’t so, Jack.

“What I hear leaders say is how important culture is. But when I ask them for the percentages of their time, culture is way down the list. We give lip service, but we don’t give action to it [culture],” Jack said in the second of a two-part “Sunny’s Silver Linings” podcast. “So if attracting top talent and retaining them is important to your organization, then invest the time in the culture side and make your workplace a place of desirability.”

Ask yourself these questions: Where do I spend my time as a leader? What percentage of my time is spent on the financials of my business? What about Sales? Day-to-day operations?

Now ask yourself this question: What percentage do I spend on cultivating culture?

Whether culture is low or high on your percentage list, Jack offered four key ways to help improve the culture in your MSP for you and your team members:

Implement a recognition system

People starve for recognition. Jack says that recognition can be as simple as a handwritten note to the individual saying, “Thanks. You’re doing a great job. You’re highly appreciated.” Here’s some shameless self-promotion: ITBD’s new employee/client engagement platform, Team GPS, features a recognition and rewards component that will help you in this area.

Improve your communication process

Your team wants to know how the company is doing, where is it going, etc. They want to hear more frequently from the leaders. Jack is a strong advocate of 15-minute morning huddles. He noted that some leaders claim they can’t take their employees away from their work for 15 minutes. Others, however, who conduct huddles say that it’s the best thing they could’ve ever done for communication.

So why such contrasting views?

It’s all about “Urgent” versus “Important”. Jack said that people tend to underperform to their capabilities because they rush to the urgent at the expense of the important. So if what’s important is “How are we doing?” and “Where are we going?” – topics that can be reviewed in a huddle – then you must carve out that time in the course of the business week. So tend to the important stuff and don’t rush to the urgent stuff.

Enhance your empowerment processes

People want to be given the power to make decisions without having to always get approval. But when that doesn’t happen, they search for a place that will give them autonomy.

“I create an environment in my business where the employees feel comfortable making decisions as if they own the place,” Jack said. “I plead with my people, ‘I can’t be there when you’re in front of the customer, so just ask yourself, what would Jack do? And just do it. Don’t phone me. Don’t email me. Don’t ask for permission.’”

In other words: Allow your team members to make executive decisions. That’s empowerment they will appreciate.

Create personal and professional development processes

Jack said that, if you can help people achieve their goals, they’ll want to stick around. But you must get those people to make public what their goals are or else neither you nor any of your leaders can help them see those goals come to pass. Jack said it this way:

“Build a culture where the people who work there say, ‘The leaders of the company care about me personally.’ If we win over their hearts, they’ll stay with us.”

I absolutely believe that you can easily and affordably put these four key practices into your MSP. They all make sense and your team members will see and appreciate your efforts in creating a comfortable, positive workplace that they won’t want to leave.

Click here to listen to Part 2 of the podcast featuring the great Jack Daly.