TORONTO – While Joe Natale plans to spend Thursday with some of Rogers Cable’s technicians, and then visiting stores and call centres in the days after that “to see what it’s like to be our customer”, the new RCI CEO stressed yesterday that success begins by building the right corporate culture.
Speaking to the board, shareholders and employees during the company’s annual general meeting held in the Velma Rogers Graham Theatre at the company’s Toronto headquarters just hours into the start of his tenure, Natale stressed he has “an overarching belief that everything starts and ends with culture. It’s the foundation for sustainable success, especially in a fast-paced industry like ours,” he said.
“This means creating an environment where people can thrive professionally and personally. This means creating an environment where ideas turn into action with agility and steadfast commitment.”
Natale also said he needs his people to “obsess, truly obsess, over the customer experience" and even gave a nod to his predecessor in the CEO’s chair, Guy Laurence, by saying he is “impressed with the inroads Rogers has made” in improving customer service (proved through better churn figures in the company’s Q1 fiscal report yesterday) over the past few years.
The new CEO also stressed the need for “innovation muscle” to drive profitable growth, tying that up neatly by noting that the right culture drives focus on the customer which creates sustained growth.
Finally, Natale emphasized the significance of community and social responsibility, and that successful corporations have an obligation to support communities in which it does business. Natale, the former Telus chief, was behind that company’s popular “Give where you live” campaign which is focused on giving back to communities, in large and small ways. Natale and his wife Melissa Martin have also led or been involved with numerous Toronto charitable activities.
“Rogers has a wonderful history of giving started by Ted and I look forward to carrying this legacy forward,” said Natale.
WORTH NOTING: Rogers deputy chairman and head of the Rogers family control trust, Edward Rogers, took the mic for a moment during the AGM to publicly thank Telus for coming to an agreement to let Natale join Rogers months earlier than his non-compete contract with his former employer would have allowed. He didn’t have to do that, but it was a classy move.
