Employee engagement matters. The connection to the bottom line is clear. Yet studies by Gallup continue to report employee engagement levels at less than one-third.
How do you create a positive workplace culture where employees feel valued and engaged? It varies for every company. To shine light on the topic, we consulted a few of our fellow Best Places To Work in Indiana honorees for their advice - what makes your organization a great place to work? What is your lesson to share with other companies?
Lead With Your Mission
Pathfinders Advertising | Mishawaka, IN
Your company needs a purpose. This is ours: “At Pathfinders, we develop smart marketing solutions for our clients that consistently deliver results for them, provide high satisfaction for us, and long-term partnerships and financial rewards for both.” That’s what we live by day-in and day-out. It’s at the core of our beliefs and how we make important decisions. It’s what makes our company a great place to work because it’s something that everyone can get behind.
We start every client relationship and project with strategy in mind. Once we know whom we’re talking to and what we want them to believe in, the action steps come easy. The same strategic approach can and should be applied to your company’s purpose. Our people are our most important asset, and we want them to share the company’s purpose in helping drive our clients’ businesses forward. So things like bus trips to Indianapolis, 80-degree short days, summer hours, birthday celebrations, grill-outs, dilly bars in the conference room, new client toastings, a sand volleyball team, and community involvement initiatives engage our employees daily to work towards our shared mission and purpose for being in business.
At the end of the day, find out what it is your company believes in and let it be what makes you get excited to get out of bed each and every day to “go to work”.
Show Employees You Care
Brotherhood Mutual | Fort Wayne, IN
What makes Brotherhood Mutual a great place to work? The answer is grounded in the substance of a mission and supporting core values that resonate with employees and reflect in our corporate character.
Our business is church insurance. Many of our employees are involved in the life of their churches as Bible school teachers, nursery or youth workers, board members, even bi-vocational pastors. They understand and support the corporate mission of serving the Church because they do it themselves.
Inherent in our corporate culture is the desire to show employees that we care about them—not just as workers, but also as individuals with responsibilities and ambitions that bridge both work and home. We offer professional development opportunities, comprehensive health benefits, robust wellness programs, as well as, unique benefits such as the Catalyst Project and paid outreach opportunities.
The Catalyst Project offers valid work experience and an opportunity to earn money for college for an employee’s child who meets the eligibility criteria. To date, we’ve seen over 180 children of employees go through the program and gain significant experience for their future. We also offer a paid service day for company-sponsored outreach programs for employees to volunteer for United Way, Habitat for Humanity, and other community service group activities.
Our employees feel that the company cares about them. In turn, they care about their coworkers, our customers, and our community. It’s caring employees responding to a corporate purpose they understand and personify that makes Brotherhood Mutual a great place to work.
Foster An Ownership Mentality
Gibson | South Bend, IN
Striving for engaged employees? Treat them like owners. Or take it a step further as we’ve done – and make them owners!
We want employees to participate in our success. By implementing the Gibson Employee Stock Ownership Plan (GESOP) in 2010, all of our employees are owners. The GESOP has helped drive engagement, keeps us focused on the future, and encourages us to remain independent. In the end, our clients win because it creates low turnover, consistent relationships, and service by an owner every day. Along the way it creates an amazing amount of engagement and collaboration between teams and teammates.
Not only does the GESOP provide our employee owners with a vehicle for wealth creation, but also imparts an ownership mentality throughout the organization. Each person has a vested interest in our future success…and theirs!
A distinct culture has developed. Our employee owners recognize that their actions not only impact the company and themselves, but also impact their coworkers. The GESOP has been a galvanizing force. We all get it. We’re all owners. That’s the power of an ESOP and an ownership culture.
Even if you don’t go as far as to make your employees owners, there are many great things that create a sense of ownership. Increasing transparency and improving internal communications to keep employees in the loop, and providing employees with the freedom to bring their ideas and thoughts to a project, among other tactics.
We all have areas to improve on. We are proud our employees feel valued, respected, and engaged at work. It’s a huge accomplishment. What we’ve found as a consistent attribute of Best Places To Work companies is the constant striving for excellence, it is a thread woven into the fabric of the culture.
What makes your company a great place to work? Share with us!
