Brand Fuel’s Best Places to Work Q&A
We thought it would be interesting, and perhaps provoke some creative ideas, for our readers by sharing our responses to some of the questions we have received over the past few years for The Best Places to Work Award. We were honored to win again this year, yet, we acknowledge that we would not have received this national recognition without great employees, friends and clients. Thank you for being a part of fueling our brand!
How would you describe your company culture?
Creative, fun, team-oriented, caring, irreverent, dedicated, open, fair, brave, kind, optimistic and having integrity.
Please detail some specific motivational/corporate culture efforts your company did over the last 12 months.
1. Getting our entire team involved in the hiring process. We now hire for culture fit as well as aptitude and skill set.
2. To help provide a sense of accomplishment, we created “The 4 Hours of Silence” for inner office productivity. During this time, Fuelians are not allowed to interact (distract) each other in person. They must wait. The music goes off in our offices. They are permitted IF THEY CHOOSE to respond to emails and phone calls but many put an “out of office” on so they can concentrate. This time provides our team with uninterrupted time to focus on that thing they need to get completed that has been weighing heavy on their “to-do” list. This helps get our team on the offensive versus defensive.
3. We offer Valentine’s Day off because we love our staff.
4. Bottom up versus top down management. By providing an open budget, we allow the employees to run our team building/wellness programs. More employees are active in these programs now.
5. Remote work and flexible work schedules have become the norm versus the exception. They have earned it and we trust our people.
Can you give an example of some retention/motivational efforts that your company uses with your employees?
We take 1:1 interaction very seriously. No one is an untouchable and all employees have access to and are encouraged to having face-to-face time with managers and one another. The environment is free flowing with constant collaboration to help foster new ideas and strengthen relationships.
We offer perks such as:
• Concert/event tickets
• Flex schedules/Remote access to work from home
• Continuing Education
• Periodic free lunches and potluck family style meals
• Monthly recognition for ‘’best attitude’’ and ‘’going the extra mile’’ employees to foster and instill those attributes.
• Adult beverages and freshly squeezed, fat free water in company fridges
List some of your past fun activities:
• Live band in the showroom
• Bowling competitions
• Kickball for charity
• Coffee, chocolate and crepe tastings
• Piñata birthday parties with creative gifts inside
• Halloween Contest at The Waffle House with big prizes for most creative costume, as vote on by the WH staff
• Pumpkin carving contest
• Manicures and massages
• Water gun fights
• Easter Egg hunts for gag gifts and prizes
• Backyard basketball tournament
• Helping out at the local Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, SPCA and Band Together events.
Anything else that makes the environments at your offices special?
The corporate culture at Brand Fuel does not feel like that of a traditional rank and file company. We manage the work/life balance pretty well. Music is pumped in office-wide all day long. Elvis prints and modern art decorate the walls alongside “Employees must wear hairnets” signs and “portraits” of co-workers’ faces on the bodies of chickens and Superheroes. Wacky celebrations and practical jokes are all part of the Brand Fuel culture.
Having fun as a group builds mutual admiration, respect, and trust, qualities we draw upon as we work together every day. More importantly, we are really proud of our accomplishments and our ability to help our client’s businesses.
We embrace the philosophy that a happy employee = a productive one!
Link to ranking amongst 31,000 companies in our industry:
http://www.asicentral.com/news/web-exclusive/september-2016/best-places-to-work-2016/