The premise of Secret Millionaire is to place, obviously a millionaire, in a community that is stricken either by poverty, violence or both.  They are given an opportunity to meet community members who are helping to turn the tide.  Both of the episodes that I have watched thus far have had me close to tears.  The generosity of the millionaires is second to none and those organizations that are trying to make a change, I salute them.  With so many different charitable organizations vying for donations, to find these rare gems in these communities was amazing.  To see how humble they were and giving because it was for a greater cause just makes you want to get out there and do the same.

Here at WOW! one of our core values is Servanthood.  This year we are encouraging our employees to give back to the communities we serve through our new program called WIN (WOW! in the Neighborhood).  I am sure you’ll hear more about this program in a blog post in our Voices of WOW! section.  I just wanted to share with all of you that we truly believe that giving back is part of our culture.  Through food drives, raising money for causes close to our hearts or giving time to an organization, we believe that giving back is just another extension of who we are here at WOW!

I would love to hear from you on which community organizations are making a difference in your neighborhood.

I would love to hear about what you would like to see us talk about this year.  So, don’t be shy, comment away!

The  idea for the New Year will be to combine the “Customer Experience / Support” with the “Culture” and “Education” sections and create the new “Voices of WOW!”  These new posting will be from the WOW! senior leadership team, giving you thier perspective and views of what is in the works for WOW!.  We would love to hear from you and find out what topics you would like to talk about as well.

Thank you to all that have contributed to the articles and to those of you that have responded!! I have had great time writing these articles and responded to our customers.

Have a very Happy and Safe Holiday Season!!!

Sincerely,

William Wright
CEO Customer Advocate
WOW! Internet, Cable and Phone

We talk all the time at WOW! about the fact that it’s not what we do, but how we do it.  How we do it differently from our competitors is a result of the engagement and commitment of our frontline employees… to create a better experience for our customers.  Why do they do it?  Because it makes them feel good, feel proud and… well because it’s fun. 

It’s hard to believe I’ve been contributing to this blog for a whole year – yes, time flies as you get older (groan), but more importantly time flies when you’re having fun.  I guess that’s the last message I’d like to communicate in this space called ‘Culture’ on our blog.  At WOW!, having fun at work is something we’ve come to expect and I believe it translates to how.

In a work environment that is focused on Serving Others, where Respect, Accountability and Integrity rule the day… week… month… year, a natural byproduct is this:  People are happy to come to work.  There’s no worry about back-stabbing, sabotaging, blame-laying or spotlight stealing.  Our core values don’t permit these things.

When people are happy to come to work, there is a whole different kind of energy that pervades the workplace, for example:

- Particularly hard jobs become team challenges
- Unexpected ‘priority projects’ become volunteer opportunities
- Extra efforts are appreciated and recognized on the spot and…
- When there’s a reason to celebrate, congratulate or even reach out to the community, participation is whole-hearted and heartfelt.

So here’s my logic:
1. Core Values make you feel good at work.
2. Feeling good creates fun.
3. Fun Drives The How.

I have to admit I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to write about in this last ‘culture column’ and I also have to admit that I left it to the last minute.  It’s due to be posted today – 12/14/10.  So now I need to  get this up on the blog and then get back to having fun… oops – I mean get back to work… at WOW!.

Best Wishes for a Happy and Personally Rewarding New Year!

Then imagine you work for WOW!. 

Guess what? 

Your supervisor calls the garage who maintains the vehicles for their office, and the garage owner offers to repair the car for the cost of parts alone.  Your supervisor picks up the tab for towing.  Your teammates secretly hold a meeting and take up a collection.  Their money pays for the parts.  Then they find a replacement washer and dryer set in good working condition and buy it for you.  Finally, they purchase gift certificates and donate the rest of the collected cash toward food and gifts so your family can have a real reason to celebrate Christmas.

This is just one story, in one location, in one holiday season at WOW!.  These kinds of efforts go on all year long when a member of our WOW! family is faced with unexpected trauma and need. 

It’s called Leading with Courage.
It’s called Serving with Heart.
It’s called Celebrating the holidays with Grace

This year, like last year, there is more need than ever in our neighborhoods and our communities.  Please consider a few less stocking stuffers, or a more cost-effective Christmas meal and consider spending your savings on someone else.  You can touch the life of someone who has very little to celebrate this year.

I’ve quoted our CEO in this column before, but it’s appropriate to repeat it here:

“NOTHING FEELS BETTER THAN GIVING.”

Happy Holidays from WOW!

  This is not something that WOW! enjoys doing but it is something that needs to be done in order to bring the service to you.  WOW! is always looking for the best balance of the needs of our customer with the very real cost of doing business.

  Happy Holidays to you and yours!!

This month we had an unusually lively group of technicians and they asked a lot of questions.  As a result, I ended up describing the original Career Path program launched in 2003, and the iterations it had gone through over the past seven years to accommodate changes in our market, changes in our product offerings and changes in technology.  As the training came to a close, one of the technicians spoke up and said, ‘You know, I worked for ‘X’ company for over three years. I never had a performance review from them, not even one, and I sure never got any pay increase because of my skills.’ 

I was more than surprised.  No performance review in three years?  No pay increase as the employee was able to perform more complicated work?  I realized once again, that I sometimes take for granted the culture and core values of WOW!.  We do pay for performance – top performers are rewarded in multiple ways at WOW!.  We also pay competitively.  If someone can do A, B, and C jobs, that someone should be making more than a coworker who can only perform A-type jobs.  And we are committed to our annual review process.  Employees deserve to get feedback, find out where they are excelling, where there is room for improvement and what they contribute to their team, their department and the business.

It’s a simple matter of Respect – treating employees the way anyone would like, no, the way anyone would expect to be treated
It’s also a matter of Integrity – doing the right thing and connecting compensation to skills and performance
It’s a simple matter of Accountability – making pay adjustments timely and appropriately
It’s a matter of Servanthood – showing employees that as managers, we know we owe it to them to follow the first three statements above.

There’s those Core Values again.  They’re pervasive as all get-out at WOW!, even where compensation is concerned.   Next month, when I stand up to train new technicians on the Career Path Program they’re about to enter, I will tell them about the real roots of the program – the Core Values that are the foundation  of WOW!.

“I have worked for WOW! for five years and I can truly say WOW! is part of my family.  If you ever wanted to work for a company that cares and supports their employees and helps them strive for ‘gold’ in their career, then this is the company for you.  I cannot imagine working anywhere else”

“It only gets better and better and you WILL have a WOW! Moment while you are here… it’s just a matter of time!”

“Working for WOW! has been one of the best experiences of my life.  Since working here I have gained a level of self-respect that will never go away, and I have the courage to step out and do things I never would have imagined possible.”

Can you imagine working for a company where the culture and atmosphere inspire employees to say things like that?!  At WOW!, it’s all in a day’s work, and it all boils down to our focus on Servanthood.  Everyone at WOW! learns (and eventually believes in their own heart) that it is an honor to serve others.  When you are in a Human Resources department, whose primary function is to serve others, it is extraordinarily rewarding to have other managers, department heads and yes, even the executives of the company have the same mindset… the honor of serving others. 

Servanthood is a self-fulfilling practice.  When you ‘do’ for others, I guarantee there will be a time, maybe when you least expect it, that others will ‘do’ for you.  As we approach our national day of giving thanks, I would like to express my own gratitude for being part of this unique company and send out my own Thanksgiving wish:

May everyone who reads this either give or receive a WOW! Moment today.  Happy Thanksgiving!

It is clear that ancient Egypt had tremendous intellectual investment in mathematics, science, and architecture, as we see the evidence of those capacities in the ancient buildings and monuments that still exist in the country–the pyramids, for example, are one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and the only such wonder still extant.  Such a monument to man’s genius having survived over 3000 years is singular and remarkable.

I certainly saw much modern technology in Egypt as well, and my sense is that it is enhancing the lives of those folks just as we feel it does for us and our neighbors.  But I was also struck by the fact that face to face human interaction is precious, and sometimes lacking in our modern world.  We might think we know the hearts and minds of people, collectively and individually, when we see them on TV, talk with them on the phone, or visit internet sites associated with their culture.  And those communication tools are a wonderful blessing, but my point is that technology should only supplement face to face interaction, not supplant it entirely.

The Egyptian people are wonderful–warm, open, expressive, and friendly.  I felt welcome and safe in that country. Frankly, having relied on CNN and Fox News for my information on Egypt and its people prior to my visit, I expected something different.  I did not expect throngs of school children and their teachers surrounding us, anxious to take pictures with them and pelting us with questions, practicing their English.  I did not expect total strangers to wave to us as we sat in very close proximity (seven vehicles deep on a four lane road!) inching our way along the motorway.  I did not expect the help I received at every turn from total strangers.  And I was frankly a little put out at our media for the somewhat skewed impressions that they imposed upon me about Egypt’s history, culture, and people.

Our present technologies are terrific, but maybe it would be a good thing to get out a bit more and connect in more fundamental ways.  I worry about our children who speed along a motorway watching a DVD, completely disconnected from the beautiful world just beyond the windows.  I worry about the college student walking between classes glued to his cell phone, completely disconnected from those talented, gifted people he passes by on his way to class.  I worry about the societal loneliness incipient in our present culture as we interact less and less with each other, reducing that precious human element to a counterfeit avatar in a chat room.  Letting our technologies/media (or our politicians) handle all our interaction (diplomacy) one with the other will leave us with information that is partial and incomplete at best.  And we will miss the opportunity to enjoy the full richness and goodness that is humanity.

Until next time….