Is Your Workplace an Award Winner? Engaged Employees = Productive Workforce = Higher Profits

Mark Crawford
May 3, 2010 | COMMENTS

Do you really know what it takes to build a world-class work environment? Probably not, because as CEO or president you're busy with everything else that's going on—the economy, the competition, cost control, new regulations, etc. You may think your workplace is good enough—but is it?

HR experts know that when a company's workforce is content and fully engaged the company makes more money. Employees are more productive and motivated to serve customers at a higher level. If your work environment is subpar, it's likely your profits are, too.

Creating a world-class work environment starts at the top—what kind of boss are you? Do you communicate well? Do you listen? Do you believe your workers should be happy just to have jobs in this economy? Is your employees' well-being part of your cultural thinking? Do you budget for it? Do you know where to start?

As director of Gallup 's Workplace and Leadership Consulting Division, Tom Rath determines the Gallup Great Workplace Awards every year. “Our winners establish new global standards for engaging people,” he says. “When compared to the millions of workgroups we have studied around the world, the awardees have worked tirelessly to create an environment that values people. They go far beyond trivial perks to ensure each employee has an emotional connection to the company's mission and growth.”

Start at the Top

The “Best Workplace in the Americas ” award is given by the Printing Industries of America—an award Suttle-Straus in Waunakee has won 10 consecutive years. "Becoming a top workplace was not necessarily a goal we specifically set out to establish,” says John Berthelsen, president and CEO. “Early in my career I decided that when I had the opportunity to lead an organization I'd make it the kind of work culture that was employee-focused and where people would want to be employed.”

One of Berthelsen's first bosses would take $75 out of the petty cash box and tell a fellow employee to mark it down as a COD freight charge. “If you see the boss setting an example like that,” he says, “how do you think the average employee is going to feel about the company? The boss has to lead by example and set the standard for everyone else to follow.”

For the fourth consecutive year Beloit 's ABC Supply Company, one of the nation's largest suppliers of building products, has received the Gallup “Great Workplace” award—meaning it has one of most productive and engaged workforces in the world.

“Ken and Diane Hendricks founded ABC Supply on values that emphasize respecting customers and associates and encouraging entrepreneurship and hard work,” says Kim Hendricks, vice president of organizational development. “Ken constantly reminded us of our values in presentations to managers and daily conversations with associates. He knew motivated and highly-engaged employees contribute to financial success. Understanding how employees feel about their workplace is the key to addressing problems and developing approaches that raise employee engagement levels.”

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

ABC Supply turned to Gallup to determine how to develop a progressively better workplace. Gallup 's well-defined process is based on decades of study of workplace groups around the globe.

“Gallup had developed a short list of 12 key questions that accurately measure associates' levels of engagement in their work,” says Hendricks. The anonymous survey is conducted twice a year—the questions are actually statements such as “I know what is expected of me at work” and “At work I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.” Each work group manager then shares the results with the group and discusses ways they can boost productivity and engagement.

Badger Mining Corporation (BMC) in Berlin is another award-winner—it has placed either first or second over the past five years as "Best Small Company to Work for in America,” an award co-sponsored by The Great Place to Work Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management. Badger Mining Corporation's key to success? Communication and empowerment through teamwork.

“In the late 1980s BMC decided to make a cultural shift to a team management philosophy,” says associate development leader Beth Nighbor. “The decision was made by the owner, so there were no issues with buy-in at the top. Decisions are not made by one or two people; instead teams of people work together on decision-making and problem-solving. We also empower people to do their jobs the best way they know how. For example, anyone has the authority to shut down the plant if there is a safety concern, without any fear of repercussion. This is a very expensive undertaking; however one of our core values is safety and we want everyone to go home safe at the end of the day.”

Communication and empowerment also build trust. “We trust our associates to make decisions through self-directed work teams,” continues Nighbor. “Associates feel like what they do and say means something. Some associates who have left BMC and returned say there is no other company out there better to work for than BMC. The fact that our voluntary turnover remains at about 2% tells us that our associates are happy.”

Every-day communication is also important. “I hand out paychecks every two weeks to each person,” says Berthelsen. “It keeps a personal connection to each of them and ensures I know the names of every employee in the company. I also present everyone with a birthday card and gift each year, something one of my early bosses did that I thought was special. I also write an employee newsletter that goes into every paycheck envelope. This has been going continuously for over 22 years and many employees look at it before they look at their pay stubs.”

What's in the newsletter?

“Everything from birthdays to sales results and anything we think employees should know about,” says Berthelsen. “We put in pictures whenever we can. We tell them what the trends are in the industry and what our plans are to deal with things going on. It avoids lots of ‘heard it through the grapevine' activity.”

Tracking Results

Suttle-Straus participates in peer-group organizations to discuss shared issues. Berthelsen also conducts internal workplace improvement committee meetings several times a year where he meets with employees from all parts of the operation (with no supervisors present) for one-on-one feedback about concerns, issues, or ideas. “We use their ideas to adjust our processes,” he says. “Salary and benefits have to be competitive, but interestingly one of the top responses we always get when we ask what they like about working here is the people they work with and the environment.”

Susan Pschorr, Suttle-Straus's HR director, indicates the application process for the Best Workplace in the Americas award is very involved. “Our submission is a couple of inches thick and includes statistical information about management practices, employee turnover, training, safety, and benefit plans, as well as narrative about the work environment, recognition programs, communications, health and wellness programs, financial security, employee development opportunities, and work-life balance,” she says.

That in itself is a valuable learning experience. “We are always thinking of ways to enhance our workplace and our application,” she adds. “Writing the application allows us to document the value of all our benefits and programs and keeps us mindful that no matter how good a workplace is, it can always be improved.”

Nighbor agrees. “The award application process is very involved and requires many hours of work by our associates, who fill out surveys anonymously,” she says. “The results are benchmarked against the other companies, so we know where we excel and where have work to do. We also purchase a copy of the comments and use these as ways to implement continuous improvement.” 

Why It's Worth It

Sales figures usually reflect a motivated and productive workforce. Until the recession of 2009, Suttle-Straus enjoyed steady growth, increasing from $11 million in sales and 91 employees in 2000 to $33 million in sales and 206 employees, in a highly competitive market.

ABC Supply sees a correlation between the number of highly-engaged associates and financial success. “Our most recent results showed world-class ratios of engaged associates to disengaged associates at a time when the construction industry was being severely impacted by the recession,” says Hendricks. “We had a ratio of 9.7 engaged associates to every 1 disengaged associate, a ratio that exceeds Gallup 's current world-class engagement index of 7.5 to 1. Although our sales were down, the decline was not nearly as steep as for the rest of the industry and we picked up market share.”

“Benefits of being a top-rated workplace are that we are an employer of choice,” adds Nighbor. “For every job posting we receive anywhere from 50 to over 200 applicants. Our low turnover rate (2.5%) for the past ten years tells us our associates are happy and satisfied with their work, benefits, and most importantly the culture at BMC. As one associate stated in the survey, “BMC cares about people and the environment and every action by the company supports this.”

Parting Advice

Berthelsen admits 2009 was a tough year—“it was first time in 29 years we did not grow our workforce,” he says. “In fact, we had to go through some workforce reductions, a very painful process. We increased our communication and were very honest and open about what was happening with our customers and with our company. For the most part, everyone understood we had to do this to keep the company stable.”

"Some things that make a best workplace cost money—health benefits, 401(k) match, and training and development,” says Pschorr. “But many others don't, such as communication, listening, promoting a culture that supports a clean, safe work environment, sharing ideas, and supporting a balanced work/home life.”

In addition to financial and associate engagement results, ABC Supply also measures success according to degree of customer engagement . “Our processes must evolve to support our culture of continuous improvement,” says Hendricks. “We are committed to improving our delivery of world-class service to our customers and developing recruiting and training programs that will support our customer-driven strategies.”

Reprinted with permission from the Capital Region Business Journal, a publication of the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison, Wisconsin.