Josue (Joe) Robles of USAA on Creating & Maintaining Culture

USAA President and CEO Josue (Joe) Robles describes culture as “the DNA of [the] organization”, it is how the company exercises their product and service offerings, and each employee represents the culture the organization stands for. USAA is no stranger to awards; they’ve received multiple accolades from Fortune, J.D. Power and Associates, Computerworld, and Nunwood all praising the firm’s excellence in customer service and named one of the top employers to work for in America. When asked what factors contributed to receiving these national awards, Robles explains the source comes from the employees. He describes the 23,000 employees as people who are passionate about what they do, and believe USAA’s customers, or members, are special people, and it’s not unusual to hear the USSA team say they “love their members”.  With this in mind, USAA employees are known to be self-motivated, knowing they are helping people in real need.

Robles says although the success of USAA over the last 90 years has primarily been driven by culture, in time cultures need to be refreshed to adapt to changes in the business landscape and company expectations. Several years ago, USAA called upon Senn Delaney, a firm that focuses exclusively on transforming cultures to and bring USAA’s to a higher level. During months of consultation, USAA turned to their employees from all levels of seniority for feedback on how they could contribute and improve the company culture. Through this collaborative effort the firm created 6 “Commitments to Service” to use as guiding principles, and every employee signs on to upon employment. The company also revised their employee orientation program, which now includes 4 days of intense training and development covering all aspects of the company including the importance of their corporate culture. With these new practices and mandates in place, it allows employees to stay focused on providing for their customers, and be motivated to help contribute towards USAA’s continued success. Access this week’s episode and join the conversation in sharing these valuable insights from America’s top CEOs.

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