“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
The above is a famous saying by Peter Drucker and just happens to be one of our director Tim’s favourite quotes.
It’s also a saying that Cassidy-Davies Electrical leaders, Tim and Dylan, seek to apply in the workplace every single day.
The two have accrued a lot of knowledge throughout their years as leaders of a company, including the best ways to create an excellent culture.
It may be obvious to many people reading this, but the first of these best practices is to always put people before profit. At Cassidy-Davies Electrical, appreciation for employees is shown in many ways. Like millions of other companies around the world, Cassidy-Davies Electrical has a staff member of the month award, which we call the ‘Golden Pliers Award.’ This is given to a staff member who best exemplifies one of the company’s core values – pride, wellbeing, commitment or honesty – over a given month. Every two months, a breakfast at a local café is organized for a special group of about four employees, based on which group of employees met the last two month’s KPIs the best. Supporting the growth of apprentices is of utmost important for Tim and Dylan, too. Every month, electrical apprentices gather at the office for a meeting, in which they have a bite to eat while they discuss their progress and get support with their bookwork.
Support for employees doesn’t stop there. Every week, private twenty-minute meetings are held between one of four company leaders (Tim, Dylan, commercial manager Ben or operations manager Tom) and individual employees. These “twenties” give each team member the chance to have a one-on-one conversation with a superior, providing a confidential environment in which they can talk about any problems they are experiencing.
Having fun is part of putting people before profit, so why not do it? Many fun events are held year-round, including birthday parties, Christmas parties, BBQs, and special outings – fishing trips, dinners at local restaurants, golf – for the social club. With so many sports fans in the Cassidy-Davies Electrical team, there is no better way to keep staff happy than by incorporating sport into the workplace. Cassidy-Davies Electrical runs sweepstakes for most big sporting events; enters sports teams in competitions, like table tennis and touch rugby; sponsors a rally car and takes staff and clients for hot laps whenever we can; and – perhaps the best of all – holds end-of-year staff Olympics, in which everybody in the company plays a different game for a group.
A positive team dynamic – another building block of an excellent culture – is maintained via so many of the things that have been discussed: the “twenties”, fun events, and apprentice meetings. It is also maintained when electrical apprentices on the Cassidy-Davies team work at a variety of sites. This gives them a chance to get to know everyone on the team and grow a range of skills. DISC profiling (a personality profiling test) is used to develop an understanding of how everyone works best together – thus optimizing the company’s productivity.
As well as putting people before profit and building a strong team dynamic, trust is essential for Tim and Dylan when it comes to creating a great culture. The two consistently make it their priority to be as transparent and accountable as they can, communicating what they are doing as leaders with the team. They also dedicate a lot of time to business development, improving business systems and processes to keep the business strong as it grows.
So, if you’re seeking to improve the culture of your company, there are several lessons that can be learned from Tim and Dylan:
- Employee well-being is key: when employees are happy, they perform better at work. Having fun is part of this.
- Find ways to keep the team dynamic strong.
- Accountability and transparency are important for building trust, which is good for culture.
What are you doing to create an excellent company culture?
Author: Aimee O’Hagan
