‘Shared Purpose’

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Sorbet as a Company Behaving Awesomely

Insights around

Introduction

©StriveCBA 2016

At a Company Behaving Awesomely - ‘people are stoked, things work, we’re all clear on what matters and we are constantly curious.’

Using the StriveCBA 14-Point Model, we take a snapshot of organisational sentiment in 14 areas. We then juxtapose the sentiment of leadership and staff to identify where perceptions align and differ. In our quest to build a body of proof and insights into Companies

Behaving Awesomely in South Africa, Sorbet became an illuminating case study for ‘Shared Purpose’. There is a lot to be learned from Sorbet and the work that Ian Fuhr and his team have done.

On the following pages you will find the StriveCBA model, as well as Sorbet’s ranking and some of the insights we elicited throughout our work with them.

Whilst working with Sorbet we gathered some fascinating insights into how leveraging a strong ‘Shared Purpose’ can impact your company culture. Purpose is something that many businesses find incredibly difficult to articulate. Simon Sinek motivates that we need to ‘start with

why’. A purpose statement should answer the question ‘Why do we exist?’. Southwest Airlines purpose statement serves as a great example:

“We exist to connect people to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel”

Sorbet have set themselves apart in the beauty industry in that beyond having a ‘Shared Pupose’ they have designed their operating model and the business practices around it. Whatever the industry there is a lot to be learnt form Sorbet.

“To serve and improve the lives of our guests and our citizens.”

andy@strivecba.co. 083-282-7515

The StriveCBA 14-Point Model

Pride

Shared Purpose

Trust .

Ownership & Accountability

People Push

Meaningful Communication

Knowledge Flow Awakedness

Recognition .

Customer Stoke

Innovation with Intent

Work Space

Ways of Work

Overall Experience

Our model looks at the 14 elements that make up a culture. By taking a snapshot of the organisational sentiment we identify the greatness and the gaps in an organisations culture.

Sorbet’s overall sentiment for ‘Shared Purpose’ was rated 4 out of 5 as indicated below.

‘Shared Purpose’ - As an organisation we

are all strongly aligned regarding our reason for believing in ourselves.

andy@strivecba.co. 083-282-7515 ©StriveCBA 2016

The shared Purpose Possibly one of the strongest components of what makes Sorbet a CBA (Company Behaving Awesomely) is their ‘higher purpose’ (as Sorbet call it)

purpose - Each participant in the case study not only knew the ‘higher purpose’, but looked to it as a guiding principle in their day-to-day work. The

philosophy is simple: service first, reward second.

“To serve and improve the lives of our guests and our citizens.” (Guests are the customer and citizens the staff)

The Not So Secret WeaponInduction. Having a ‘higher purpose’ is great, the really tough part comes in where you try to align your frontline staff to that purpose, and have

them act and serve in accordance. Sorbet has absolutely nailed this through their induction training, run by Ian Fuhr, which every employee attends and Ian Fuhr runs. The beauty of this is that it is nothing short of awe inspiring when the founder runs the induction. It sends a strong message and connects people to the very heart of the company. The knock on effect that this has on citizens, is that when they leave the training session they are inspired and clearly understand ‘The Sorbet Way’. The fact that the founder is prepared to show up and run these sessions is profoundly humbling

for new staff members and creates a very personal affinity with Sorbet from the outset. When asked for her greatest memory, one of the participants didn’t hesitate before saying “induction”. Everyone from new managers to store assistants attend the same induction. This goes a long

way in aligning staff to a common purpose. This is a critical ingredient in Sorbet’s recipe for greatness.

“I will never forget my induction. It stays with me almost everyday. I was blown away that Ian would give an induction, it’s still something I always speak about, that the CEO himself speaks to every employee. There are thousands and at the beginning when they enter the business they have to

come for induction, and he himself conducts that training session. I was very humbled by this. For me it was ‘that point’.“

©StriveCBA 2016andy@strivecba.co. 083-282-7515

insights

Service Before RewardAs one of the participants put it: “We [head office] are here to serve the people that are in store, and the people that are in store are here to serve the guests.” Sorbet is very big on service. There are refresher courses on the contents of the induction as well as other training, such as the WOW training and Guest-Relations training. Built around the ‘higher purpose’ these trainings focus on service and how Sorbet aims to help their guests

“get that feeling”.

“The object is to serve. Everybody in this company understands that, and that’s why everybody goes the extra mile. We work it into our hiring process. I don’t know anyone in the business, that if you ask them something won’t be willing to help you. It does not matter what it is. To make

people happy is the driving force for what we do.“

Another participant’s greatest memory was the opening of the first store, and how in preparation for the opening everyone was all hands on deck. For her, it was an eye-opening experience that even the folk from head office would grab a broom or a box and do whatever they could to pitch in.

“For me it’s the philosophy, I feel that you need to have meaning in life and I feel that my job is in alignment with my beliefs, which is very rare. How many people can say that?”

©StriveCBA 2016andy@strivecba.co. 083-282-7515

insights

Conclusion Actions speak louder than words. Sorbet act. Their induction and follow up training are active leveraging for shared purpose and allow for regular realignment. All staff are empowered to serve in the best way they possibly can, and their ‘higher purpose’ serves as the foundation for everything

they do. Everything needs to check the boxes of ‘Serving and improving the lives of our guests and our citizens’.

The key takeaway here, is that Sorbet does not merely have a ‘higher purpose’ statement, they have a ‘higher purpose’ that guides the day-to-day running of the business. If your business has no purpose you are likely drifting aimlessly, when a business lives it’s purpose it always has strategic

direction. As a final thought, how well could you sell something you had never used and had absolutely no connection with? At Sorbet, every staff member receives a treatment voucher each month, to enjoy treatments of their choice at their salon. If citizens know what it’s like to “get that

feeling” it is a lot easier to ensure their guests get it too.

“If you can put a smile on one persons face and everyone working for Sorbet can put a smile on someone's face - I’m sure the world would be a better place.”

©StriveCBA 2016andy@strivecba.co. 083-282-7515

conclusion