Passion in the Workplace

One of the corporate values espoused by my current employer is passion. Passion about quality, about what we do, about service.

I think corporate values are one of those things that a lot of people tend to tune out, as mere corporate buzzspeak. In some organizations, this may be true. In the smart organizations, it goes rather beyond all that, and, whether it is explicitly laid out as one of your values or not, I think passion is hugely important.

Have you ever worked a job you didn't much care for or about? How motivated were you to do well? And how easy was it to get up every morning and head into work? I know for me, once I found a job that I could get excited about, it made everything easier. It has always been important to me to do well at any job, starting with my first one working in the local grocery store deli. I take pride in my ability to perform well, even in a job that really isn't that intellectually stimulating. (Slicing lunchmeat barely requires an IQ, especially with scales that do all the work for you. I remember being so excited when I got a job that allowed me to handle cash- it seemed like such a step up.) At the same time, though, my jobs felt so much easier when I was working for a company I wanted to be working for, and doing a job I wanted to do. That extra little bit of effort that makes the difference between a good performer and a great one has a lot to do with passion.

I started out as a salesperson. First, it was shoes, then lingerie, then glasses. The shoe retailer I worked for sold low-end shoes, and were very much focused on price. Their products didn't typically last too long, and were quite inexpensive. It drove me nuts when someone would come in and try to haggle down the price of a pair of shoes that were already marked down to $5. First off, in case anyone didn't know, the clerk you're dealing with in a chain store very rarely has any ability at all to lower the prices on anything. Second off, if the shoe is marked down to $5 from an original price of $29.99, chances are that's as good as it's ever gonna get for you. This wasn't a job I was particularly fond of, but it paid the bills for a year or so in university. I still did my best, but it was hard to get up and go to work in the mornings, especially when I ended up with a boss I couldn't stand. Ultimately, when I moved on, I ended up in a company that focused on quality instead of price, and where the goal wasn't to sell at all costs, but to ensure that it was a good sale, a product that suited the customer's needs. It was a job where I was encouraged to refuse to sell a poor-fitting pair of eyeglasses, because we knew the customer in the end wouldn't be happy with them, and one where the price was what it was, and we made no apologies for costing more than some of our competitors- we sold high-end product. Suddenly, my sales shot up. Suddenly, I didn't have to feel like a salesperson, pushing extras on customers who just wanted a pair of shoes for a low price. Suddenly, I could find out what the customer actually needed, and reccommend a good product on that basis. Suddenly, I was passionate.

I've never looked back. For me, quality is hugely important, and I want to work for a company that feels the same way. Knowing that their values aligned with mine meant that I went to work happier, and talked to customers more, and sold more. I'm not a salesperson; I still don't think of myself that way, even though I was one of the most successful in the Western half of the company. Instead, I think of myself as an educator in a sales role. My job is to find out what my customer needs, and teach you about your options. Based on that education, my customer and I come to a conclusion, and purchased accordingly. I had very high levels of customer satisfaction, as well as high sales, and a reasonably devoted customer base.

That said, I don't particularly intend to pursue a career in sales. I am also passionate about HR. It grabs me in a way that sales really doesn't, and while that job was a wonderful role for me while it lasted, I also think I have outgrown it. But now I understand a little better why the company's philosophy matters to me as an employee. I have great respect for anyone who turns down business on the basis of a poor values fit. Understanding that not all business is good business is a valuable lesson to learn, and it has made that company quite successful in their market. You need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk, and that was the first (though hopefully not the last) company I ever worked for that was truly aligned with its values.

See this article for more on passion.