Integrating Values from the Boardroom to the Factory Floor
November 2009
THE SITUATION
For over 15 years, TMSi Logistics, a highly respected Top 100
national logistics firm and Inc. 5000 company, has differentiated
itself through a performance-driven culture resulting in cost
savings and improved service levels.
From the start, the culture of the company was based on the
strong personal values of the leadership. In 2002, TMSi decided to
put their values down on paper. In this process of self-discovery,
they also asked “What is TMSi?” The company doesn’t own any
assets; the trucks and buildings they use are all leased. They
realized that they are a service agency focused on people and
processes. They needed to empower their leaders and invest in
their people to get better, more sustainable, results.
THE STRATEGY
The TMSi shift in focus, from a top-down approach to an emphasis
on leadership, was based on the understanding that employees
primarily experience the company through their interactions with
their managers.
To support this effort, TMSi used the Cultural Transformation Tools
to carry out the following assessments:
1. Small Group Assessment (SGA) of the executive team – 7
people
2. Cultural Values Assessment (CVA) of the managers in the
company – 125 people
3. Management Values Training – All of the 125 managers went
through training to learn more about values. TMSi recognized
that they needed managers’ buy-in to a values-based approach,
otherwise the strategy would not work. In the training
programme managers learned about Maslow’s theoretical
foundations, the Barrett model, and discussed common
definitions of values.
Tel: 1 828 252 5550
Fax: 1 828 252 5558
Web: www.valuescentre.com
37 Haywood Street, Asheville
North Carolina 28801
United States
Industry: 3rd Party
Logistics Provider/
Supply Chain
Management
# of Employees:
1300
Annual Revenue:
$140,000,000 USD
Offices:
1 Corporate Office
2 Corporate Support
Offices
15 Warehouse Locations
Country: USA
CULTURAL EVOLUTION
The process has been well-received by TMSi’s managers and
executives. They’ve made a strong commitment to embed values
into their culture by taking the following actions:
1. Cultural Transformation Leaders – three employees in the
organization are working as cultural transformation facilitators
2. Annual CVA – TMSi continues to conduct an annual Cultural
Values Assessment
3. BNS tied to Scorecard – they will be evaluating their espoused
values and performance goals in relation to the Barrett
Business Needs Scorecard (BNS). Current measurements are
conducted in operations and leadership but TMSi recognizes
there is a much greater opportunity by creating alignment of all
Business Needs to the business’ performance, as well as
individuals being held accountable by virtue of their
performance reviews.
4. Integrating Values on the Factory Floor – they have a plan for
bringing the values conversation to the employees on the floor
over the next year. Time is of the essence on the floor. Floor
meetings are kept to a maximum of 15 minutes. Managers will
introduce one value a month in these meetings, and reinforce
them weekly. They will share stories and promote a short
discussion about what each value means to that group of
employees. The following week, they will have an opportunity
to share stories of how they saw those values in action over the
prior week.
TMSI LOGISTICS CORE VALUES
Financial Stability
Creating financial stability with integrity in a way that will serve the
company, our employees, and our customers.
Customer Focus
Excellent interpersonal relationships with internal and external
customers.
Being the Best
Maintain best business practices, systems, and processes that
improve work methods and consistent delivery of services to
customers.
Servant Leadership
Serving others to create extraordinary, sustainable relationships,
leaders, and results.
Integrity
Acting in a trusting and trustworthy way and doing what you say
you will do.
Making a Difference
Focused on impacting the world around us.
