Dina Dwyer-Owens

Even around our values, we had to create a system for keeping those values front and center. We learned our lesson when Don Dwyer passed away in 94. He was the one who would hold us accountable to the original values. So he'd let you know if you felt you were loyal today or you weren't. You know, the values weren't that black and white. Well, today, our values are very clear.

Even around our values, we had to create a system for keeping those values front and center. We learned our lesson when Don Dwyer passed away in 94. He was the one who would hold us accountable to the original values. So he'd let you know if you felt you were loyal today or you weren't. You know, the values weren't that black and white. Well, today, our values are very clear.

One of our values is continuously striving to maximize internal and external customer loyalty. And the internal customers are our employee. The external customer is you, the person who's calling us to your home or business to take care of keeping your, again, your home or business comfortable. So the values really have been the foundation for our success.

One of our values is continuously striving to maximize internal and external customer loyalty. And the internal customers are our employee. The external customer is you, the person who's calling us to your home or business to take care of keeping your, again, your home or business comfortable. So the values really have been the foundation for our success.

But had we not put a system in place, we wouldn't be where we are today. And I think people make this more complicated than they need to, but they're not in franchising. So as a franchise organization, we always think about systems, systems, systems. If something's not working, it's probably because the system is not there or people haven't been trained to it.

But had we not put a system in place, we wouldn't be where we are today. And I think people make this more complicated than they need to, but they're not in franchising. So as a franchise organization, we always think about systems, systems, systems. If something's not working, it's probably because the system is not there or people haven't been trained to it.

So when we created the operationalized code of values, we knew as a leadership team, Number one, we couldn't just throw them in the face of our employees and say, hey, look, starting today, these are going to be the new values we're going to follow.

So when we created the operationalized code of values, we knew as a leadership team, Number one, we couldn't just throw them in the face of our employees and say, hey, look, starting today, these are going to be the new values we're going to follow.

Instead, we said to our employees, and we didn't realize we were being so smart when we gamified our values, but we basically said to our employees, we think this is going to be the solution to keeping our culture special. We handed them a laminated card. On one side of the card had the original values, Dawn's values.

Instead, we said to our employees, and we didn't realize we were being so smart when we gamified our values, but we basically said to our employees, we think this is going to be the solution to keeping our culture special. We handed them a laminated card. On one side of the card had the original values, Dawn's values.

On the other side of the card had the new operationalized values, the rich values. And we said, we need your help. For the next 90 days, we want you guys to study these values. And in order to show our commitment to you, we want you to give us feedback. Anytime you catch a management team member violating a value, we want you to give us a beep. And as silly as that sounds, it worked.

On the other side of the card had the new operationalized values, the rich values. And we said, we need your help. For the next 90 days, we want you guys to study these values. And in order to show our commitment to you, we want you to give us feedback. Anytime you catch a management team member violating a value, we want you to give us a beep. And as silly as that sounds, it worked.

So the employees really studied these values much more than I would have ever imagined because they loved the idea of catching their bosses doing something wrong. So if you could imagine the roadrunner running through our building for 90 days, that's what it sounded like around here. We were being beeped.

So the employees really studied these values much more than I would have ever imagined because they loved the idea of catching their bosses doing something wrong. So if you could imagine the roadrunner running through our building for 90 days, that's what it sounded like around here. We were being beeped.

It's just a verbal beep, beeped right and left because we were so bad at the new operationalized values. So once we played that game, we brought the team back together. We asked them what they thought and they loved it. And they added a value that I think is the toughest one we have today.

It's just a verbal beep, beeped right and left because we were so bad at the new operationalized values. So once we played that game, we brought the team back together. We asked them what they thought and they loved it. And they added a value that I think is the toughest one we have today.

But we said, okay, so going forward, because this cannot die when the CEO of the company dies or the leadership team dies in this company. It's got to be sustainable. So let's create a system. We said anytime we have the meeting of three or more of our team members or our franchisees, we're simply going to bring the values front and center in that meeting.

But we said, okay, so going forward, because this cannot die when the CEO of the company dies or the leadership team dies in this company. It's got to be sustainable. So let's create a system. We said anytime we have the meeting of three or more of our team members or our franchisees, we're simply going to bring the values front and center in that meeting.

So before we talk about anything else, we're going to either review all 15 values in our case, because they're really behavioral statements if you want to think about them being that black and white. And sometimes we might just highlight a value that we're not so good at. Maybe we've gotten some feedback from a customer that we're not doing a great job responding in a timely fashion, for example.

So before we talk about anything else, we're going to either review all 15 values in our case, because they're really behavioral statements if you want to think about them being that black and white. And sometimes we might just highlight a value that we're not so good at. Maybe we've gotten some feedback from a customer that we're not doing a great job responding in a timely fashion, for example.