By Steve Moran

Recently on Foresight TV, I interviewed Garry Ridge, the CEO of WD-40 about how he has created a culture where more than 93% of all 500+ employees love coming to work every day. It is hard to imagine that any senior living CEO could tell the truth and have those kinds of numbers.

Not only that:

  • They grew during the pandemic
  • They have never had trouble recruiting new team members including in this massively tight marketplace. They are an organization people want to work for.

And what do they do? Sell oil in a spray can!

But That is Not Really What They Do

If you were to ask Garry what his company does, he WOULD NOT tell you that they sell oil in a spray can, instead he would tell you that they are in the memory-making business. Here is what that means:

They exist to create positive “lasting memories solving problems in factories, workshops, and homes of the world.”

And I bet each of you has a can or WD-40 in your home and has positive memories of using WD-40 to solve a problem … that if you had a squeak in your home, that wasn’t a mouse, you would go hunting for your can of WD-40.

Bigger Deeper

But it is much bigger than that. More than anything else when Garry walks into his office he is thinking about how to make sure his team members have a great day. That they are doing things that are meaningful to them, that they are working at their full potential.

And … he is not just interested in making sure his team members are happy at work, but he is interested in making sure they are happy at home and their families are happy at home.

How Much Do You Care?

The thing I hear over and over again from team members from the front line to regional directors is that they feel like their leaders don’t care about them as people. All they care about is getting the work done … in effect meeting a quota.

I know that is not true for most of you but it is worth thinking about how you are perceived.

How would your organization be transformed if you as a leader were focused on your team’s happiness; if your executive directors were focused on their team’s happiness; if your department heads were focused on their team’s happiness …

At work and at home.

I would love to hear your thoughts.