Culture Victory!

Every once in a while I get frustrated with the business I am in. Either the month does not turn out like I thought it should or something goes wrong that I was not expecting. Whatever the case, it is always nice when something happens at the same time that makes it all worth it – especially when that something is related to the culture we are trying to create.

Recent Culture Example

While I will not go into too much detail (in an effort to protect the innocent!), I will give you a rough sketch of what happened. Hopefully you can get some encouragement that your efforts in this area of culture will bear similar fruit over time!

One of our employees had a very critical, time-sensitive situation that required additional money they did not have. Hearing about this situation, a co-worker made the quick decision to seek assistance from our Impact Fund. As a result, the employee was able to successfully resolve their situation in a way they would remember for the rest of their life.

Without My Knowledge!

While this is pretty amazing to me on its own, the more incredible part of this situation is that I knew nothing about it until days later! We are not a huge company, but clearly I cannot always know what is happening in the life of every employee. None of us can.

At one point in time, this frustrated me because it meant we could not help those whose needs went unnoticed by me. As badly as I wanted us to be able to meet every need as it came up, it just wasn’t feasible. I knew there was not really anything we could directly do about it, but it bothered me just the same.

Culture & Process

What COULD be done was to engage the other leaders in the company and create a process that could address the individual needs of the employees as they came up. This process, reinforced with a culture of serving and giving, could address this overall need. That is what brought about our Impact Fund.

Effectively, this is a fund made up of voluntary contributions from employees. The money is deducted from their paycheck each pay period according to whatever amount they choose. Some give $2 per pay period and others give $50.

This money is accrued as given. It is only used to meet employee needs that come up in emergencies. It may be a family health crises or a community disaster like damage from a tornado. It could be as simple as supplementing their utility bill payment or putting gas in their car.

Victory!

It is not a complex process and fortunately does not require onerous paperwork or applications. If there is a valid need that can be met with a reasonable amount of money, the decision is made quickly and the funds disbursed immediately. Obviously, based on the recent situation I described, it is working as intended. To quote a friend of mine, “Victory!”

It is exciting to see results like this come from such a process. It is more exciting to see it happening without my knowledge. It is a reflection of the culture we have been working to create over many years.

It is also a reflection of the quality people we have working here. It makes me very proud to be a part of this company.

What kind of culture are you creating?

Is your culture constantly being reinforced?

What kind of culture victories have you seen?