The Welsh Wire: Culture Insights

With employment markets tight all across west Michigan, more and more businesses are focusing on the ways that great company culture can be an important part of their attraction and retention strategy. Here are insights from recent Welsh Wire guests:

“I like to say that as much as we talk about individual identity development, organizational cultures, organizational identity, if you want to develop your organizational culture, then you work on these identity pieces,” says Tom Emigh, Leadership Coach & Principal for Acorn Leadership. “Employee engagement literature talks about all the great outcomes that you get when employees are engaged. They work harder, they stay with you, they’re less likely to be injured, they’re less likely to be unnecessarily critical. They’re more likely to take risks and see what’s going on. And employees who are engaged are often [part of] really strong, positive, vibrant cultures.”

Stacey Hamlin, CTS Telecom president and CEO,  says they have a unique company culture. “We have an amazing staff, they’re so engaged, are so committed,” she says. “We have a mantra that  we answered the call. And it’s a dual meaning. It’s our calling to serve our customers.

Wade Wyant, Executive Advisor/Scaling Up Coach at Red Wagon Advisors, says top down accountability is an important element of successful culture. “The more you can build a culture and a system that we’re talking about — pure accountability, it’s where peers are coming together, just like in a sporting team. You see this all the time and it happens.”

Community involvement is a key part of the culture at TowerPinkster, according to Jennifer Swan, Senior Architectural Project Coordinator. “We actively support the communities in which we live, work and play,” she says. “And so as a company, we feel it really is our responsibility to our staff to expose them to what community opportunities exist out there, kind of what that looks like and feels like — anything from industry events to just supporting the local nonprofit organizations. We really just try to get our folks out there and really experience what it’s all about.”

Learn more about nurturing company culture on this week’s Welsh Wire podcast.

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