ACE HARDWARE – THE POTENCY OF PURPOSE

Do purpose-driven companies perform better? 

When this family-founded hardware store in rural South Africa started delivering service worthy of a visiting president to every customer in the store, Ace Hardware directors Ahmed Tar and his brother Tar Ally propelled a small family business towards growth and the opportunity of retail expansion.

In Burgersfort, Limpopo, far from the hustle and bustle of big city life, Ahmed and Tar’s grandfather, Ebrahim, opened the doors to a business that would be a legacy for his family for generations to come. It was a legacy that went beyond the constructs of the business; a legacy intertwined with the very heart of the community. 

Ebrahim was the kind of man who fearlessly provided safe hiding for activists during the apartheid era – and these were the kind of open-hearted principles he infused into the business as well. When he handed it over to Ahmed and Tar, his wish was for them to continue the business in a way that honoured the community of Burgersfort.

The brothers had grown Ace Hardware into a solid business, but they also knew it was time to take it to the next level. It was on their journey with their Grow coach, that Ahmed and Tar were able to refine Ace Hardware’s purpose to the community, become impactful leaders themselves, develop a winning team, and ultimately, grow their profits.

“When we first engaged with Grow, we needed more structure in the business as well as a clearer channel for information to flow between us and our team. We also wanted to evolve in a way that brought everyone onto the same page. As a family-run business, we wanted our team to become truly connected to the community, to what we do, and to allow more scope for the managers to run the business themselves.” says Ahmed.

One key focus of the initial strategy sessions with their Grow coach was to create a purpose and a vision for the business. “For most people, working in a hardware store in a rural town is just work. We really needed to create a culture that everyone in the team could live and breathe.” says their Grow coach.

Ahmed and Tar also wanted the business to become an example of a scalable, profitable and socially uplifting faith-based business. Their hardware store serves a primarily low-income community, and Ace Hardware is where these people turn to build their first homes. “That is our purpose: to help our customers build their dream homes. No matter how small their budgets, no matter how long it may take them, and even if they’re building piece by piece, they deserve our respect. So yes, the grandmother who comes into our store with just R150 in her pocket is treated like the president.” says Ahmed. 

Where once there was no clearly defined vision, Ace Hardware started embracing a profound purpose firmly rooted in the principles of excellence, respect and honesty. The wheels of change were in motion.

Having aligned the entire Ace Hardware team to one purpose and its core values, their coach worked closely with Ahmed to quantify the business in terms of what was working and where the team needed more support.

“At the time we started working together, Ahmed didn’t have the data he needed to implement his ideas and drive change. He’s a quick thinker with a fountain of ideas and an innate understanding of what needs to be done, but there just weren’t enough systems in place to provide that information and they lacked the data that was needed to implement these systems. So, we started developing those systems and gave Ahmed the right tools to build into his leadership style.”

Amongst these tools were dashboards and scorecards. In building a dashboard, Ahmed and Tar now had an ‘at-a-glance’ visual summary of key performance indicators and a real-time understanding of how their teams were doing. The performance scorecards added another depth of structure and clarity, allowing the company leaders to measure the effectiveness of their staff and activities against their strategic goals.

With this holistic view at his fingertips, Ahmed cultivated a deeper understanding of his team and their behaviour. He was able to diagnose challenges and channel constructive feedback to the team. Stepping into his own as an impactful leader through the process, Ahmed now had the confidence to support and inspire his team to grow in their roles.

The scorecards also provided new clarity for the managers and staff. Their roles, responsibilities, and daily duties were clearly defined, their feet were on the ground, their eyes were on the bigger picture, and as a unit, they became far more coordinated and effective. “They really appreciated the transparency and accuracy of the information that our new systems provided,” says Ahmed.

 “As for Tar and myself, there is undeniably an ongoing benefit in getting experienced advice. It’s our coach’s working experience that is continuously guiding us and maintaining this momentum of improvement in the business.”

Once the scorecards had been activated, there was striking evidence as to who in the team had embraced the Ace Hardware purpose and the challenge to grow, and those who didn’t quite measure up. For the first time, Ahmed and Tar had the kind of accurate and up-to-date information they needed to align their decisions with their goals. 

For those who were rising to the opportunity, this was no longer ‘just a job in a hardware store’. They started living the company culture, playing to their strengths and becoming more proactive. In turn, they were empowered with more input in setting company goals, additional training and a structured incentive programme. The working environment had become personally meaningful for all Ace Hardware employees.

To complement this thriving team dynamic with new hires, their coach next worked with Ahmed on the implementation of the Topgrading methodology. A 12-step hiring process and analysis tool that helps identify the highest performers for each role; the process ensured that Ahmed and Tar only added to the growing health of their team and company culture.

Powered by data from the systems developed over the last two years, the business and its people are flourishing, and Ahmed and Tar can lead Ace Hardware with intelligence and informed decisions.

Everyone in the team is activated and they’re enjoying the journey and feel included in the growth process of the business. Ahmed says, “Even the way they think is different. They’re a lot more proactive and creative. They don’t wait for me to come up with the ideas anymore – they bring their ideas to us.”

Ahmed himself is now free to focus on bigger things. The company is now bringing in an Area Manager, profits having since increased and plans are underway to launch a new store.

Ahmed says, “There has been so much progress and value on this journey with our coach, and without a doubt, it is a journey we will continue with Grow.”