Dee Ann Turner is a retired veteran of Chick-fil-A who spent 33 years rising to be one of the first female officers of this iconic company. Dee Ann started in HR before eventually leading the talent and franchisee selection and the sustainability division, in the last part of her career at Chick-fil-A. She also helped to design the talent systems and processes of the culture of Chick-fil-A, and in July 2018, Dee Ann ventured out on her own to start her own company. Today, she is an author, speaker, consultant and coach at helping organizations globally strengthen their organizational culture and talent systems.

In the second part of this two-part episode of The Culture Gap, Dee Ann sheds light on how she helped Chick-fil-A to design an intentional culture in which every single customer experience went above and beyond expectations, and how principles rather than rules helped make this possible. She also shares her wisdom about accountability, scaling for growth, and the intersection of customer and employee experience. Find out more about some of the many lessons she has reflected on in writing her three books. Welcome to Culture Gap.

Key Takeaways:

[:45] Daniel introduces his guest for this episode — Dee Ann Turner.

[1:26] People don’t get behind rules, they get behind principles. What are Dee Ann’s beliefs about rules and principles and how to balance them?

[6:38] Dee Ann shares an anecdote about Chick-fil-A where putting rules over principles almost ended really badly.

[10:54] What advice does Dee Ann have about knowing when to invest more effort into growing an employee vs. just calling it quits?

[15:40] What distinguishes a customer experience from employee experience? What should CEOs know about the intersection of experience for customers and employees?

[18:21] Dee Ann shares some anecdotes of how customer experience and employee experience were intertwined at Chick-fil-A.

[23:25] What is Dee Ann’s next book going to be about?

[25:40] What are some common questions Dee Ann gets asked about corporate culture?

[29:18] What wisdom would Dee Ann impart to her younger self?

Brought to You By:

The Culture Gap Podcast

THRUUE

Podfly Productions

Learn more about:

Dee Ann Turner

Chick-fil-A

Bet on Talent: How to Create a Remarkable Culture and Win the Hearts of Customers,
by Dee Ann Turner

It’s My Pleasure: The Impact of Extraordinary Talent and a Compelling Culture,
by Dee Ann Turner

S. Truett Cathy, Founder of Chick-fil-A

The Culture Gap Podcast Episode: “Dee Ann Turner, Veteran of Chick-fil-A, Inc. (Part 1 of 2)”