In October 2014 the author arrived at work to find one of his company’s big-rig trucks aflame in the parking lot, obviously a victim of arson. This was an extreme manifestation of a corrosive problem: Traeger’s culture had become poisonous, characterized by lack of trust, negative attitudes, and a stubborn refusal to collaborate. Very early in his tenure, employees would ignore Andrus when he asked for data, or simply refuse to work together on a project. Once, when he was visiting headquarters, the CFO said he couldn’t find any time in his schedule to meet with the new CEO. Although the majority owner had no operating role, he talked daily to people at all levels of the company and was aggressive and abusive. People were afraid of him, but they acted as if he were in charge.
After the truck fire, Andrus resolved to start from scratch. He bought out the majority owner, moved the headquarters from Oregon to Utah, carefully winnowed the employees, worked to create a physical environment that feels true to the brand, and built a community of fans and influencers on social media. The company’s strategy, marketing, and product line were all overhauled. In just five years, sales grew from $70 million to nearly $400 million.
One morning in October of 2014 I pulled into the parking lot at my office to find it surrounded by fire trucks. On the previous visit I’d made a big announcement: Traeger, the Oregon-based outdoor cooking company where I had recently become CEO, would be closing its warehouse and trucking operations and outsourcing them to UPS. The move made strategic sense, and we had offered generous severance and outplacement assistance to the several dozen employees affected. Nonetheless, the news hadn’t gone over well. When I got out of the car, I learned that one of our big-rig trucks was on fire. We didn’t know who was responsible, but it was obviously arson.
See The Original Blog:
https://hbr.org/2019/03/traegers-ceo-on-cleaning-up-a-toxic-culture?fbclid=IwAR06lAZxOHG-z_xXsW4pXSLAvcY3pNr7I04cTwuHUOZHmXxwmxekvWF8oHY
