Kelly-Moore Paints: True Colors - American Executive - RedCoat Publishing - American Executive

Kelly-Moore Paints: True Colors

Retail
Written by Mike Sharkey
Monday, 01 October 2007
In 1977, Steve DeVoe took a job behind the counter at a Kelly-Moore Paints store in Olympia, Wash. Thirty years later, DeVoe still works for Kelly-Moore. Only today, he’s not wearing a nametag; his name is on the door to the president’s office. “From day one, if I worked hard and did my job well, the company would provide me with the tools I needed to accomplish whatever I wanted,” said DeVoe, who was named Kelly-Moore’s president in 2006. “That’s what’s kept me here. It’s a 165-store company that still has a family atmosphere. We work hard to do that—even sometimes at the expense of profits. We make sure we do what’s right for our employees and our customers.” Such superlatives often roll off the tongues of chief executives, but DeVoe is living, breathing proof that San Carlos, Calif.-based Kelly-Moore isn’t just talking the talk. And doing what’s right is something DeVoe has already taken to a whole new level at the company in his 18 months on the job. Here’s how. Steve DeVoe, President Call me With more than 2,000 employees and 165 locations in nine states (and plans to open 10 new stores this year) DeVoe knew it would take more than words to make sure everyone felt like a part of the Kelly-Moore family. As a first step, the new CEO made it mandatory for executive team members, himself included, to get out in the field and connect with employees and customers on a regular basis. One of the things DeVoe and his team heard the most from employees early on was that management had a do-as-we-say-not-as-we-do attitude. DeVoe addressed the concern at the company’s annual meeting by flipping the traditional management pyramid upside down. He told employees that they were his customers and it was his job to serve them and give them the tools they need to succeed in their jobs. Following the meeting, DeVoe and the executive team conducted meetings in every Kelly-Moore district and made a commitment to all employees: the standards we hold you to for service to our customers are the same standards we will hold ourselves to when we serve you. “And I made a personal commitment,” DeVoe said. “If any employee doesn’t get the service they need when they call the corporate office, I encourage them to call me directly.” The company also established a corporate projects management team—a group of executives that focus on interacting with employees on the front lines and identifying processes that need to be changed or issues that need to be addressed. “I work with a fairly simple philosophy,” DeVoe said. “A lot of small issues can add up to become a huge issue. When the team is in the field, they’re taking care of all of these small issues before they can become big problems.” The corporate project management team not only identifies issues, it gets front-line employees involved with resolving them. Employees aren’t just talking to executives about the problems they face, they’re being empowered to help fix them. The result of the combined communication efforts is a 2,000-person organization where everyone feels like a part of the same team. “That’s the biggest challenge and it will continue to be, because as we grow, it’s something that’s easy to lose sight of,” DeVoe said. “Giving 2,000 people a voice in the company that they work for is the thing we’ve worked hardest at and will continue to work at.” How about dinner? The companion piece to Kelly-Moore’s employee communication effort is an initiative to listen and respond to customers like never before. Steve DeVoe describes how this iconic paint manufacturer and retailer is connecting with employees and customers like never before. DeVoe and his executive team reached out to customers much like they reached out to employees—by getting out from behind their desks and out in the field. And DeVoe took the initiative a step further. District managers were asked to compile a list of 100 customers, both satisfied and unsatisfied, and invite them to a dinner with the president of Kelly-Moore Paints. “I take a few members of the executive team, and we sit down and talk with customers about what we should improve on, what we’re doing well, and what their view of the company is,” DeVoe said. “No questions are too big or too small. And customers don’t pull any punches. The information that comes out of these meetings has proved to be invaluable.” At one of the first dinners held in Dallas last year, customers told DeVoe that Kelly-Moore needs to do a better job of getting custom paint colors right and getting them right repetitively. The chief executive responded by purchasing automated tinting equipment for every Kelly-Moore store that didn’t have it. Within two weeks of the dinner, customers in the Dallas area saw that the president of the company listened and responded to their concerns. “We’re showing our customers that we’re not just any paint company,” DeVoe said, noting he also hands out his card with his personal contact information to customers. “We’re listening to their wants and needs and acting on them. That’s been very positive and powerful with our customers.” “When we started to reach out to our employees and our customers, from a cultural standpoint, people were skeptically optimistic we would be able to pull this off,” he continued. “But now it’s really resonating throughout the organization and out to our customers. At these dinners, our customers are telling us that whatever we’ve done in the last 18 months, it is the right thing.” The right thing is what Kelly-Moore has done for Steve DeVoe since he joined the company 30 years ago as a clerk, and it’s what DeVoe intends to do as president for every employee and customer.

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