Culture in an organization is a tricky thing. On Wikipedia its defined as encompassing values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization. Seems pretty important huh?
While there are many tools and strategies available to influence and create the desired culture in an organization (cultureIQ for example), I have found that the larger a company gets, the more difficult it becomes to define and construct the culture traits of the company. Eventually, its as if the company culture takes on a life of its own.
Culture at laborSMART is something I view as a precious treasure. It must be protected, checked on frequently, and careful adjustments must be made when the Company’s DNA gets off track. To me, culture is more important than strategy. Culture is that “secret sauce” of a sales and service organization. Difficult to measure and quite the intangible, culture can determine the difference between mediocrity and excellence.
A few days ago I tasked Lindsay Gruschow (Career Specialist at laborSMART) with polling some of our top performers on why they felt someone should want to come work at laborSMART. I needed bullet points for an online recruiting campaign. I really anticipated the responses to be related to financial gain, 80% company paid medical insurance, paid time off, and the like.
Here’s a copy/paste of the responses when asked why someone should want to come work at laborSMART:
- Opportunity to work with a diverse group of people
- It’s like working for Family
- It doesn’t ever feel like work
- Everyone strives for excellence in our personal capacity, as a company , and with our clients
- Reliable Workforce
- No limit on clients we can serve
- Love the hustle and rush with new contracts
- Awesome teammates
- Likes her Boss
- Winning Contests
- Putting people to work
- Getting temp workers hired on full time is a great feeling
- Unlimited growth potential
- Opportunity for financial growth through incentives, bonus programs and stock options (in the future)
- Unbeatable Benefits Program
- Earn Rewards by living a healthy lifestyle which is provided by the Humana vitality program that LSI pays for.
- The You Earned It rewards and recognition program allows for real time interaction and engagement across all levels of the organization
- Environment of Innovation where ideas are encouraged, welcomed, and ultimately implemented
- Supporter of continued education (I.E. I say this because you all work with my school schedule)
- Culture of Integrity and Trust
- Great Compensation Program
- Culture of Evolution and Change ( In this day and age, we must change frequently and adapt quickly…I love that)
Of 22 total, just 2 items were directly related to financial gain. As difficult as it is to define culture, these answers provide somewhat of an indicator that we are getting it right. These individuals aren’t looking at laborSMART as just a job. They see being a laborSMART employee as a lifestyle. Inherently they are better positioned to outperform their peers, and competitors. Their mindset, attitude, motivation, and values are perfectly reflective of the culture we want at laborSMART and this is going to drive the quality of results they deliver for the company, themselves, their clients, and the people around them.
These individuals will likely make more money in 2016 than 95%+ of their peers in the entire industry. Their personal financial success is a foregone conclusion if they are truly exhibiting the above. Their staff will want to do a good job for them. Their clients will want to do business with them. laborSMART will want to retain them and ensure they are engaged.
Its all about the Benjamin’s, but its really not. Long ago I realized that money was nothing more than a byproduct. People don’t make fortunes by saying “I’d like to be rich.” People gain from being passionate about something that brings positive impact and value to those around them.
Our Vision Statement has never been shared with the public before, because it is an internal facing document. I’ve pasted below. This is the one of the first company documents newly hired branch managers see during training.
Our vision is to foster a sales and service driven culture that enhances your personal and professional success, and enables you to create and capitalize on opportunities that deliver superior financial performance as an Ambassador of Labor Smart.
I didn’t quite get the answers I was looking for to prepare the recruiting campaign collateral, but seeing our vision being lived by the laborSMART team that responded to Lindsay’s inquiry has me losing sleep from excitement. By making culture a top priority, laborSMART has gotten much more than just good employees. We have Ambassadors. The Benjamin’s will take care of themselves.
