And, having sat in on Iceland’s store managers’ conference this week, it’s easy to see why. Firstly, Iceland founder Malcolm Walker turned around a business that, in his own words, was “a joke in the retail industry” when he returned. Secondly, he has created a culture in which his staff want to try their best for him.
Talking to store managers at the conference was eye-opening. They regard Walker as an inspiration and pick out his honesty as one of his most appealing attributes.
One store manager told me that when Walker returned and the business was on its knees, he told staff they were in a bad way. But he also told them he could fix it with their help. “It really helped to know exactly where we were and, yet, instead of scaring us, it really made us focus on what we needed to do and we were all behind him [Walker],” said the store manager.
And fix it he did. Iceland’s average sales for the past three years are up 40 per cent and despite the slowdown this year, Walker says the business is “flying”.
Walker must be congratulated for the turnaround of Iceland and yet he would point out that he couldn’t have done it if his staff were not behind him. And, now the business is back in shape and outperforming, his staff are no less important to him and the conference reflected that.
Iceland’s store managers and their staff are encouraged over the Christmas period with very generous incentives. This year, for example, a new BMW is up for grabs. And throughout the day, they are treated to fantastic performances such as Girls Aloud and violinists The Sirens.
But, while entertainment goes a long way to making staff feel special, it wouldn’t have been worth it if they didn’t believe in their management. This culture of honesty and hard work has paid off for Walker. His staff know that now they’ve got through the good times, they will be rewarded.
Rather than be blasé that the business is performing well, the excitement that it might perform even better is paramount. One store manager told me that Walker may be generous with incentives, but regardless of this they also want to do well for him because he took a chance on coming back to the business and put his soul into it. “The passion he showed filtered down to us and we haven’t looked back,” he said.
Building such a culture is, arguably, easier in a relatively small company. However, with Walker at the helm, it seems likely that it would be the same in a much bigger company too. And while the discounters are doing well, it’s probably safe to say the culture is not quite as passionate or fun as that at Iceland.
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