Sustaining a Strong Culture in Uncertain Times: A Q&A with CEO Dave Lissy

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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Highlights

• Bright Horizons CEO Dave Lissy explains how the company culture keeps the organization moving forward no matter the climate.
• "Today, as long as you’re holding steady, you’re succeeding."
• "In tougher times, you learn just how strong your culture is especially when you have to make tougher decisions."

We have hit the half-way mark of a historical year, a year that thus far and for the foreseeable future has left many — employers and employees alike — struggling to find faith in a better tomorrow. At Bright Horizons, the mission of the organization steers the course for CEO Dave Lissy. In the following, he explains how Bright Horizons’ culture keeps the organization moving forward no matter the climate.

How would you describe the Bright Horizons culture?

That’s an easy one, “honesty,” “excellence,” “accountability,” “respect”, and “teamwork,” our HEART principles. We can say that our culture is “caring” and “nice.” But, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a high degree of accountability for our actions to those we serve and to each other. At the same time, Bright Horizons is a culture in which people can feel relaxed and can be themselves. It’s a culture where people are not expected to leave who they really are at home. And a big part of our culture is something I always say in our team meetings: “If you’re not caring for children, you’re caring for someone who does,” offering that indirect support that ultimately ensures high-quality care for children and families.

In thinking about the culture of Bright Horizons, what was the impact of the first six months of 2009?

To start, we didn’t build a strong culture because it’s the nice thing to do. It gives us a competitive advantage in addition to defining our reputation in our field.   

We went into this year like most organizations with a clear picture of the reality of the poor economic conditions in which we operate. So I would say that we anticipated the conditions that we found to be the case and continue to be cautious about projecting any significant improvement in the economy as we approach the second half of the year and plan for 2010.

And there’s an overriding philosophy today about growth: “Flat is the new growth.” Today, as long as you’re holding steady, you’re succeeding. But at Bright Horizons, we are still growing. Not quite as much as last year or the year before, but we’re still seeing growth. And I think that’s partially due to the demand for our services and also to the reputation we built prior to this year and what kind of company we’ve become known to be. Our culture is constantly attended to and not something we ever take for granted.

Bright Horizons has made FORTUNE’s Great Place to Work list 10 times. What steps were made this year to ensure the company continues to live up to the title?

Being a great place to work is constant evolution and requires us to continue to listen and make adjustments to the supports we offer to our team. For example, in order to be disciplined about our costs this year we made the decision to freeze salaries for our senior people in order to continue to provide merit increases to everyone else who is eligible. At the same time in order to help people weather the storm, we introduced a few new programs like flexible spending accounts, merchant discounts, a health advocate service, and counseling support for those looking to further their education. We’ve also introduced a new lower-cost health plan option and make every effort to listen to our team members to find out how we can continue to strengthen our total reward and recognition package and overall work environments.

How would you suggest other companies sustain their culture during this tough economy?

It’s more critical than ever for leadership to stay close to the ground and find ways to get beyond filtered information. It’s important to work harder to get an understanding of the real issues and sort through minor things in order to identify real trends. We do this in part, through our annual road trips during which [President and COO] Mary Ann [Tocio] and I travel the country to hear from hundreds of our local leaders in order to stay close to real issues that continue to emerge. We understand that we can never be perfect, but this gives us a good sense of trends.

Communication is as important as ever. With this economy, people are feeling that they want to be more in the know. So, be square with people and provide a realistic view of the short term and the vision for longer term. Create a greater level of understanding about how and why decisions are being made.

What has the past year taught you about the importance of a company’s core values?

Our core values are as important as they’ve ever been. In tougher times, you learn just how strong your culture is especially when you have to make tougher decisions. You make those tough choices in the same way and with the same principles as when the choices are easy and times are good. Even in the direst situations and when leaders have to make deep cuts, it’s important to not abandon what got you there. You don’t want to cut into the essence of what you are and what makes you a winner.

Regarding Bright Horizons’ culture, of what are you most proud?

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