Starting from scratch is not easy, whether it be with a project, an aluminum mold, or even company culture. I’d argue that it’s especially difficult with company culture. And through tireless review in the form of survey, that’s what we had to combat to survive culturally at Wepco Plastics.
It doesn’t feel nice writing that out on paper. It’s hard to be that transparent, it’s frightening to be that honest, with ourselves and with others. But it’s essential to authentic company and personal growth.
We began our culture journey in the second quarter of 2018. We were asked by Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology to participate in a job quality initiative funded by Workforce Solutions Collaborative of Metro Hartford which was focused on retention, diversity and inclusion. Although we knew receiving this grant called for an honest commitment to change, that there was no room for running from the truth about our company culture (or lack thereof) any longer, this grant was something we chose to not take for granted.
At first, we were unsure about where to begin with this grant, and Monica from CCAT suggested that we create a survey to offer to our team members all about their feelings on the current culture at Wepco Plastics. We asked things such as “how do you feel about your supervisors in leadership positions?” and “what is your work environment like?”. We also asked the very hard questions, such as, “do you feel valued?” and “what would be your number one reason to leave Wepco?”. Monica warned us to buckle up and prepare for the truth, because once offering the survey, we were not allowed to hide from it. The responses we received were far from desirable… it was a hard smack in the face, in black and white, written out on paper. And we had to face it.
What was most important in this moment, regardless of how hard it was, was to listen in order to truly hear our team, and then to make the necessary changes. That’s exactly what we did.
Some core feedback we received was one, that there were no career pathways— no way to move up in the company. We also heard from our team that we lacked credibility as a leadership team in regard to level of experience. They felt separated and disconnected from the front office. From this point on, we absorbed. We took a couple of days to breathe, and then put a plan in place. We set up a one-year plan, and over this span of time, we began having team meetings, quarterly meetings with the entire group, we created a lead operator position so our team could move up, we placed emphasis on team building activities, and snack-and-learns. Most importantly, we bridged the gap between the front office and the back. Every team member is valuable to us, and we needed to make sure each team member felt this way.
No company culture is perfect; that’s why continuous improvement even has a definition, because we are always improving as long as we are willing. We took the data, and we showed action. Be open to feedback. Ask the hard questions. It’s worth it.
https://www.middlesexunitedway.org/middlesex-united-way-helping-recruit-train-community-manufacturing-jobs