How Business Culture Affects the Bottom Line

How can you run a business with the primary goal of great relationships rather than the bottom line? Watch the video or read the transcript below. 

00:00all right so we're here live again with00:01the ultimate why my name is Randal00:03Weidenaar a culture change consultant and00:05we're gonna discuss a little bit of a00:07contrast here people often ask me how do00:10you run a business when your ultimate00:12game or ultimate goal of the business is00:15is a relational one what of connecting00:17well with people that's what we that's00:20what the ultimate why motivation is and00:22if most people measure businesses purely00:26by financial measures obviously00:27financial measures are important it's00:30not an either-or situation but we can00:33only have one primary point of00:35measurement only one primary direction00:37that we're heading into either either00:40relationships are going to follow the00:41finance or the finance is going to00:43follow a relationship so let's look and00:45see what this looks like when we have00:48differences in this set up here okay so00:50the ultimate why is going to lead first00:54of all is an intrinsic type of00:56motivation meaning it comes with from00:58within you so each individual and in the01:00organization is gonna be finding the01:02motivation from within themselves rather01:03than from somewhere outside with finance01:07as a motivation everyone is looking01:09outside of them for something to come in01:11to fill the fill up their void inside of01:14themselves so it's sort of a consuming01:16and never-ending thing if you can find01:18it within yourself then that resource is01:20internal to you and the resource here01:23for motivation and for satisfaction is01:25external to you01:27so here employees in general according01:31to surveys when you have this01:32relationship focused are more engaged01:34because you're focused on the01:35relationship and conversely when you're01:38focused on finances the ultimate one01:40you're not as engaged it's usually about01:43a 77030 mix and so you'd have 70%01:47engaged here and 70% not engaged on this01:49side those are general tendencies not a01:52rule across the board but that's the way01:54numbers generally tend to stand up when01:56we do surveys and studies of these01:58things so how are we approaching what I02:03like to call the community the people02:04that you're serving here in this way02:07you're trying to create value because02:09that's a relational proposition and here02:12you're wondering are my02:13get paid you're trying to ultimately02:15extract money from the people that02:17you're serving that's your goal that's02:19your primary goal people you know some02:21of these organizations that'll like02:22those hobbies there's gonna be some nice02:23people down there doing nice things but02:25ultimately the bottom line is how much02:27can I extract from the people that I'm02:30serving and we call them consumers and02:33over here we would call them the02:34community that you're serving so just a02:37slight difference there and how you02:38approach the people that you're working02:41with and the community of your consumers02:43your clients the people you're serving02:45and here on this side this is kind of02:47the ethical column so I don't see any02:50generally ethical problems that that02:52come about when you have a relational02:53focus because you're having the other's02:56best in mind always fundamentally that's02:59a motivation that will lead towards good03:01ethical outcomes obviously there can be03:05problems and centered organizations that03:06have that nothing's going to require or03:08create a perfection utopia but down here03:12if our primary motivation is financial I03:15could compromise quality in order to03:17achieve a financial end I could somehow03:21compromise integrity in order to achieve03:24a financial end because finances my03:26first integrity is not my first value03:28here relational focus encompasses03:33integrity as a primary value and then03:36obviously there's going to be relational03:37issues you will stop over people in03:39order to get to the goal of Finance so03:43here this is how the the consumers feel03:46or the community might my language tends03:50to feel so with the ultimate why03:52according to Gallup when you have03:53engaged employees and a relationship03:56focus you're gonna have a 23% greater03:58share of the wallet in in your marketing04:02terms and here you're going to be 23%04:05less actually than then a competitive04:07firm with a relational focus so and04:09they're gonna sort of a commodity focus04:12like the your community's gonna treat04:14you like a commodity and you're gonna04:16feel treated like a commodity likewise04:18so how do the three main groups in these04:23organizations stack up employees04:27company and consumers it's going to be a04:29win-win-win relationship and generally04:31in in this it's going to be a lose-lose04:33even if you have finances as a primary04:36goal that's what you're going to be04:38serving and finances might win in the04:40end but the human beings involved are04:43not the winners in this overall outcome04:46because that's not your focus that's not04:47your goal when your goal is not to04:49create a positive outcome relationally04:52for human beings why should you be04:55shocked other than things not working04:57out well for human beings involved in04:59your in your organization it's not a05:01shocker05:01okay so ultimate why as a primary goal05:04let's let's give some examples now of05:06different corporate organizations so for05:10the ultimate why let's look at a plant05:13that caterpillar set up that focused on05:16employee engagements Ingle and this05:20plant according to the statistics from a05:21Sherm article that I recently read had05:24an eight million dollar increase in05:26overall profits just one plant so the05:31statistics are and the irony is is like05:33if I focus on this I can actually05:36achieve these outcomes of good finances05:39as well because actually it's creating05:42value for everyone and and finance05:44should be just a reflection of creating05:46value for human beings because that's05:49really what money is money is not05:50intrinsically worth something we give it05:53value okay so let's look down here05:57what's a good example05:59Enron was a good example of this you06:02know they they feign to have this they06:04had values statements and mission06:07statements on the wall but their culture06:09was really focused on extracting as much06:11money as possible and that's the vibe06:13that that most of the employees got from06:15the higher-ups and so you know all of06:18this came to pass in terms of how people06:20felt and how things panned out and06:22ultimately they're no longer in business06:24because of their ethics violations of06:27the way people felt treated by them06:30ultimately wasn't a relationally focused06:32organization and these things panned out06:36so those that's a brief overview what06:38it's like to have a company06:39that is focused primarily what is the06:42primary focus that one focus that you06:44have it's not that when you focus on the06:46Y the ultimate why other things that are06:49good don't ensue they do it's just that06:53when we make this our primary focus we06:55lose out on many things that we set out06:59for as human beings to live life for why07:03are we living life the ultimate why says07:05we're living we're a living life for07:06ourselves the teams we work for and the07:09communities we work for there's07:11relational focuses are the primary thing07:13the primary motivator for every human07:15being in every organization and so07:17thanks subscribe and like our channel if07:20you'd like to follow us every week and07:23also you can follow us on our other07:25social media and we'd like to keep you07:28up on our weekly vlog so stay tuned and07:30we'll talk to you next week