Why Canadian Business Should Take Note of Blake Nordstrom Death

Blake Nordstrom was 58 years old when he died last week.  I hadn't heard of him prior to his death but I bought a really expensive pair of shoes a couple of decades ago from Nordstrom's.  It is rare that an actual namesake of the company is still in charge.  He was Co-President with his two brothers, still controlling the company that their grand-father started.  When I started looking into his life, it seems like he was a very stand-up fellow that never took his wealth for granted.  It seemed no one ever told him to suffer from white male privilege.  The whole Nordstrom organization seemed genuinely in grief.  A company spokesman issued a statement saying, "Everyone who worked with Blake knew of his passion and deep commitment to employees, customers and the communities we serve." 

That message speaks volumes to me.  Nordstroms is a retail giant.  Yet, his commitment to employees was first before his commitment to customers.  One would think the company would be devoted to profit making and you don't make profits by a commitment to employees, you make it from a commitment to customers, right? 

Well, that is what some short-sighted companies, such as Tim Horton's, would lead you to believe.  They are so profit orientated that they put customers first above employees.  It was a year ago when the Ontario government raised minimum wage and the company started cutting paid breaks, benefits, and hours while individual franchises make approximately $300,000/year.  The same company that publicly fired an employee for giving a child a $.10 timbit.  The customer is always right.  That is what big business has been telling us.  They are the ones that give us profits.  That is what we have been led to believe. 

Apparently, there is an alternate way to do business.  Blake Nordstrom knew it.  His first commitment was to his employees and then to his customers.  It reminds me of Richard Branson's most famous quote: "I have always believed that the way you treat your employees is the way they will treat your customers, and that people flouish when they are praised."  That is the actual quote.  It is usually reported as "treat your employees exceptionally well, and they will treat your customers exceptionally." 

It actually seems to make common sense.  Take care of your employees and then they will take care of your customers.  In a way, taking care of your employees is taking care of your customers.  It is like accomplishing two things at once. 

But, what happened to the customer is always right?  Business researchers are saying that isn't the magic phrase that translates into a bottom line profit.  It turns out customers don't always want to be right, but they do want to be heard.  And, apologized too, when necessary.  But, not that made to feel like they are always right.  It turns out when that happens customers worry about the consequences to the employees. 

Perhaps more companies should take note of Blake Nordstrom's philosophy. 

We have seen some results in Manitoba.  Stella's Restaurants have been in the news for all the wrong reasons.   #NotMyStella's became a trending hashtag.  Current and former employees made allegations, and the allegations were so troubling because apparently management knew about this and looked the other way, presumably worrying about their customers satisfaction.  The result has been that several of their top execustives are no longer with the company.  The company had to hire an HR firm to come up with some policies.  All employees and management had to take paid time to learn about workplace harrassment.  Two of the restaurants have unionized their employees.  It appears that if they had paid more attention to their employees (and done the right thing) this could have been avoided. 

The last couple of days we have seen the news that 5 families are suing a company that provides long term care for profit.  None of the allegations have been proven in Court, but I am sure we have all been affected by some of the images.  Many people have made the point that caring for our vulnerable seniors should not be in the hands of a for-profit company.  It makes me wonder.  Obviously, it wasn't the Board of Directors that were (or were not) providing direct care to these seniors.  It was their employees who were actually providing the care.  I wonder if it is possible that the company was following the old time business model of taking care of customers at the expense of their employees.  The employer, in this case, has four key values.  Respect.  Integrity.  Compassion.  Excellence.  It seems that if the company was extending these four values to their employees that these employees would have transferred that to the seniors that they were charged with caring. 

All this year, I plan to scatter seeds just to see what grows.  The seeds I am scattering today are take care of your employees and your won't have to worry about taking care of your customers.  Employees should not be viewed as the biggest line item on a budget.  They should be viewed as your biggest investment.  It is called Human Resources for a reason.