The Shape of Work

#115: Rohin Samtaney on the Souled Store workplace culture, and why employee satisfaction is a key driver of customer satisfaction

September 16, 2021 Springworks Season 1 Episode 115
The Shape of Work
#115: Rohin Samtaney on the Souled Store workplace culture, and why employee satisfaction is a key driver of customer satisfaction
Show Notes Chapter Markers

On this episode of The Shape of Work podcast, we have Rohin Samtaney, Co-founder of The Souled Store - an online one-stop destination for all fan and quirky merchandise ranging from superheroes to TV shows, sports, music etc. 

Having worked as an analyst at a financial services company, Rohin along with his two co-founders with a shared passion for pop culture, decided to build a merchandising business that could provide independent artists with a platform to showcase and monetize their creativity and provide a wide range of products to buyers which include t-shirts, boxer shorts, tote bags, backpacks, wall art, notebooks, etc.

Episode highlights:

  • Why the workplace culture needs to be as sustainable as a clothing brand
  • How employee satisfaction can lead to customer satisfaction
  • The significance of a founder's role in the people function
  • The Souled Store's tool stack for the workflow and communication

How can a Workplace Culture be Sustainable? 
An organization works better if the employees are motivated. Rohin shares his views on the sustainability of the workplace culture. Three key things that motivate employees to stick to their work are:

Autonomy - Employees should be given the freedom to do their work their way. 

Mastery - Structuring their work schedule with regular challenges so that they are excited to work and improve as a professional. The ultimate goal is to upskill.

Purpose - Each employee in the organization should have their purpose, which means the 'why' behind doing their jobs which should also resonate with the organization's purpose.
If these 3 things are managed, the organization will grow exponentially. 

How employee satisfaction leads to customer satisfaction? 

Employees are a crucial part of an organization. Also, without customers, the business is non-existent. Rohin states that employees, as well as the customers, help a business in scaling up.
 
In a clothing brand workplace, say The Souled Store, where only a few customers take the time to write a nice thing, it is very important to keep them satisfied. Things such as website performance, product quality, easy-to-use checkout page and smooth navigation, play their roles in satisfaction.

What is the significance of the founder's role? 
Understanding the market size and figuring out the market fit are the leading steps to the growth of a company, says Rohin. He adds that when a company is new and tight on budget, the founder may not hire experienced people, so he does most of the decision making. 

In such cases, hiring the right people is very important. It should be based on the candidate's attitude and the three principles - Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose - that will help in the rapid growth of the organization. 

While hiring the wrong person for a role affects a company negatively, it also shows the organization's lack of clarity of where they fit in the market. He adds that as the company grows, the founder can work with experienced employees, so he does not have to do the execution work and instead focus on managing employees.

How do recognition strategies for employees work towards better suiting company goals? 
Rohin says that acknowledging employees for their work consistently is one of the best ways to keep them moving forward. The Souled Source has a system that awards the employees every month for their work on various channels such as LinkedIn, Slack group, etc, which hel

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Why the workplace culture needs to be as sustainable as a clothing brand
(Cont.) Why the workplace culture needs to be as sustainable as a clothing brand
How employee satisfaction can lead to customer satisfaction
The significance of a founder's role in the people function
The Souled Store's tool stack for the workflow and communication