Business Culture

Usana. It is not a scam. It is a job requiring sales, but not requiring the salesperson to be proficient in sales 1. Because the product sells itself and 2. Because they offer training.  I’d like to describe the difference in the “feel” of the company. I outlined the literal/ factual differences in this company’s business structure and product line, but not the difference in “business culture”.

I’ve worked as a temp receptionist for about 3 different companies now. The first one, we’ll call it Company 1, I worked at only for a day. The second company, we’ll call Company A, I’ve been called back to work for various times when they needed someone to fill in. The last company, we’ll call SMCFS, I worked for a couple months ago for about 2 weeks strait.

Company 1 was interesting. It was my first time working with a Directory System (which helps you find the number for the person being asked for on the phone. You would then transfer the caller to the person they were seeking.) All companies have Directory Systems. Many times people within the company would now about 20 people in the directory, and not much more. There were over 100 people in this company’s directory –including employees in other countries like India and the UK. Another interesting thing was how few people noticed I was a temporary replacement for the actual receptionist. A few people asked me if I was a newly hired receptionist. Most of the people who worked their assumed I had always worked their and didn’t even notice the original receptionist was gone.

In Usana, we do not have a Directory System. We have Facebook, but not everyone is on it. Who you meet is who you know. Having been in Usana for about 2 weeks, I know about 20 people out of the 100 or so I’ve seen. Most of the people I saw the first day at Thursday Presentation were from more distant areas around San Jose and not local groups like the ones I’m now familiar with. Everyone greets you very openly and you are encouraged to make new acquaintances. You still map out the business hierarchy fairly well –Directors are always referred to as Mr. X or Mrs. Y around larger groups, even if you know them as a friend. Everyone knows who the Gold Directors and above are. The people in the group will introduce you to them and point them out to you. You feel very close to the people in your group and when all the groups get together you feel like you’re at a rock concert –the energy is amazing and everyone converges into a greater whole.

Company A is the one I’m filling in for today. The first couple times I was here the receptionist had to leave to go to doctor’s appointments. They were both Fridays. The job was/ is pretty easy. Everyone kept telling me –“Oh don’t worry. It’s Friday. No one really calls on Fridays. This is an easy job.” One thing that bugs me is how early you have to come in. 8:00 A.M. to answer the phone. And what bugs me most about it isn’t how early it is, it’s the fact that most of the employees people ask for when they call don’t actually come into work until around 9AM. So for the first hour –if you get any calls- you’re transferring them to people who aren’t there. It just goes strait to voicemail. The people who are calling don’t always know what time it is here because they often call from other countries. Today I got one call from Australia, a couple calls from India, and one call from someone who thought this was the Maryland branch. It just seems like companies are spreading themselves too thin and it causes confusion and only an illusion of uniformity. The other annoying thing is that I’ve heard multiple people at these various companies tell me “How simple and easy my job is”. It makes me feel like a caveman. Any idiot could fill this position. Granted I am being overpaid for not having to do that much, but there still seems to be some people who think this position belongs to simpletons who don’t aspire to do much.  

In Usana, everyone’s in the same boat. We all have the same task at hand. We may focus on different aspects of the task, but ultimately we are trying to reach the same goals. Goal 1: Inform the world of how crappy the more commercial nutrient supplements they waste their money on are. Goal 2: Inform people of the health benefits gained by taking nutrients from products like those sold at Usana. Goal 3: Sell products at Usana/ find new people to join your  team to gain income and achieve financial stability. Simple. Some people focus more on helping others and some people focus more on money, but ultimately we share the same goal. Everyone supports each other and everyone one wants those around them to succeed because we all benefit from it. We’re all apart of the same company and we’re all uplifting each other to reach our goals –no negativity thrown to weigh anyone else down.

Another thing I found while working as a temp is that everything is timed. You have exactly 1 hour for lunch –clock in clock out. You have a 10 minute break exactly every 3 hours. You get in at exactly 8AM and leave at exactly 5PM. This system sucks. At company SMCFS, they were more lax –one of the reasons I liked that company best. I don’t like being told when I can go to the bathroom. When you gotta go, you gotta go. I don’t like being told when I can eat lunch. I have issues with low blood sugar. When you gotta eat, you gotta eat. Being too regimented and narrow like this prevents a person’s natural, uncontrolled bodily urges take a back seat to corporate policy.

Working for Company SMCFS was by far my favorite. They actually talked to me there. In all of my other temp jobs, they asked me where I was from and what other job I had –and that was about it. At SMCFS I was actually led around the office and introduced to other people who worked their -maybe this was because I was there for 2 weeks strait, but still… They asked me what my interests were. I told them I graduated from college last year with a major in Studio art and I had been mostly interested in graphic design. John, the man who was guiding me around, was in charge of Production in the smaller 50 people company. He asked me if I could maybe work on some PowerPoint stuff and help create some images since no one in their company had much artistic experience. I said sure, and got kind of excited by that. I made 9 PowerPoint templates for them incorporating their Logo and brand color scheme. Of those 9, they chose their top 3 favorites and had me make slight adjustments to them. It felt like I was contributing in a way that was more unique and specific to my strengths and interests. I felt like I was contributing in a significant way.

2 days ago I was asked at a Usana meeting if I had any Graphic design experience. I said I had CS3 Illustrator on my PC, but not the newer version CS5 or Photoshop. I also mentioned I had experience with InDesign and explained the difference between the 3 Adobe products and what most graphic designers use each for. I was asked if I might want to work on some design-related projects, and I said sure. I mostly do side projects that involve graphic design –business cards, brochures, labels… so this wasn’t that unfamiliar to me. And last weekend during our Saturday Training, we were split into groups and asked to find one person in our group who could demonstrate a special talent. In our group a guy introduced himself as a singer, but our group leader asked if there were any artists in our group who could draw on a white board. It was like someday choking asking if anyone in the room was a doctor. I raised my hand, and said “I’m an artist.” I didn’t really want to draw at that moment –I hate being put on the spot- but I also wanted to help out the group as best I could. I was nominated over the singer, handed a pen, and shown the dry erase board. My hands were shaking nervously. I drew a flower and the Words Usana and NEX. It was cheesy, and definitely not my best work. I should have drawn a design (I’m an artist. We’re perfectionists). When all was said and done, I felt proud not only that I had participated and presented my artwork in front of people, but also that I had declared myself an Artist –instead of someone who was a temp struggling to find a full-time job, working part-time as an entry level assistant.

At Company SMCFS I also got to meet some really great people. I compare suites to cubicles people carry around with them keeping those they greet at a distance. These people let their true colors show through the gray of their suites. I had 3 favorite people. The first was a man named Frank who occasionally cussed and used slang when he was talking to people on the phone. He talked to the people who called him, his “customers”, like they were actual human beings – or even friends. None of that, “Good day, how may I be of assistance?” More like, “Hey Joe, how’s it going man? Did you see what happened last weekend with that storm that passed through? Craziness.” Frank was so awesome. My second favorite person was Hilda. She was sweet and funny with a Swedish accent. My last favorite was a girl named Erica who asked me if I could help her file some things in her office. We discussed tattoos and college J It was fun. Yes they still treated me like a temp who had fairly easy work to do, but they also treated me like a human – a guest they had invited in to their home.

In Usana, this concept is exemplary. Yah we all wear suites- it is a business- but you really get to know people. It always surprises me when I go to Toastmasters (A club that practices public speaking) and people in work clothes talk about their lives. A career Coach named Jeff mentioned going to a Shakespeare festival and he then recited the poem The Raven by Edgar Alan Poe. Len, a 60 year old man who works at Apple, got up and talked about his favorite Roller Coaster Rides. Brittany, a girl who is an accountant at her dad’s drywall company, talked about backpacking in Europe and meeting all sorts of interesting people. This is the way it is with Usana. Since everyone was invited in by a friend, it’s a friendly atmosphere. They don’t want you to be subversive or try and hide your personality. They want you to share your thoughts and be yourself.

The last thing I experienced from working at Company SMCFS that I haven’t experienced from other jobs yet, makes me glad I’m in Usana probably more than anything. You see, everything was hunky-dory until the President of the company showed up. His name was Gordon. The second he was back from his, I was introduced to him. It was my last week there, and I had been doing the tasks given to me –there just weren’t many tasks given. Gordon changed that. He insisted I be given more work. I wasn’t offended or upset about it, but it did make me feel like a mouse. The way people acted around him and talked about him… He was like the emperor. It wasn’t really respect or awe the employees gave to him though. It was mostly fear. There was uneasiness around him. Everyone would kind of keep their heads down and work diligently. Frank wouldn’t speak as loudly or use as much humor in his conversations. The workers would talk to each other about issues, but no one wanted to bring them up to Gordon. “He doesn’t need to know. We’ll just handle this ourselves.” They were afraid to bring issues to him because they were afraid it might upset him. On the last day, it was rumored I might need to come in the following week. Sumi-the receptionist I was filling in for who had just gotten leg surgery, was still not feeling well. Then Gordon came up to me and said “I don’t want to get your hopes up. As much as we appreciate the work you’ve done these past weeks, we can’t really afford to keep you here. Thanks for everything you’ve done. It was nice meeting you.” My hopes weren’t let down. I did however feel bad for Sumi. I guess her leg didn’t heal fast enough to outrun corporate policy.

The way you get treated in a temp agency is like this: There’s a guy going to the prom. His date couldn’t make it and he needs a replacement so he doesn’t look like a loner at the party. You’ve been assigned to fill in. You get dressed up and go to the prom –it’s not your prom, it’s someone else’s. The temp agency tells you that if things go well between you and the guy, you might end up dating and going steady. You go to the prom. The guy has a couple dances with you and offers you a glass of punch. You mingle and talk to some of his friends. You “fit in”. Then the night is over. He drives you home. He thanks you for filling in. And that’s that.  

At Usana, it’s different. You’re nobody’s replacement. You’re not filling in some role that could just as easily be filled by someone else. You were specifically chosen by a friend and invited into “the family”. But the clearest difference is with the leaders. Mr. Dinh is the man who founded Usana in San jose. He went out of his way to attend meetings all the way down in L.A. 5 years ago and network marketed his butt off to spread the Usana message to Northern California. He’s essentially our CEO. I once tried to explain who he was to some friends who were invited to a presentation he was at, and I said “He’s our Bill Gates”. When Mr. Dinh wanders into a packed room, everyone treats him worth the greatest level of respect. Nobody fears him. Nobody worries about approaching him and being rejected in some way. Mr. Dinh is very funny and down to earth. He is an open door inviting you in. His inclusive nature is extended to everyone –even people who don’t know who he is and don’t treat him with the same level of amazement everyone else does. Everyone’s happy when he is around. They’re excited and enthusiastic to announce that he’s just arrived. The same goes for Mr. Tran and Mrs. On. They’re treated like celebrities. Every word they speak is appreciated because they achieved their wealth under even more challenging circumstances than we have now. Their personal stories are amazing as are their insights and philosophies. And in this company, unlike any other I’ve ever heard of or seen, they consider themselves are equal.