BY SARAH B. HOOD
Hiring great candidates is a valuable component of building a successful company, but it’s only part of the story. To make the most of a great team, it’s important to integrate employees into a dynamic corporate culture.
Deloitte’s 2019 Global Human Capital Trends report highlights the importance of a well-defined corporate culture that informs all facets of the employee experience. In fact, because cultural continuity is so important, Deloitte suggests that most organizations should “invest more in developing the potential leaders they have” rather than look outside for leaders.
Likewise, Gallup’s State of the American Workplace report finds that highly engaged business units experience 59% less turnover, 41% less absenteeism and 17% more productivity, while One4all’s 2018 Workplace Happiness Report finds 39% of workers are likely to work harder if they are happy in their job.
“It is the people who ultimately are going to ensure whether you succeed or not, and as humans, we need to know we have purpose,” said Adriana Girdler, President and Chief Efficiency Officer at CornerStoneDynamics Inc., an efficiency and project-management firm based in Toronto. When employees aren’t engaged by the corporate vision and culture, they “may not have the same sense of urgency and put the same effort into it,” she said.
Beyond simple awareness, employees must feel that their personal contribution is valued. “If people are excited and coming up with a lot of good ideas, that shows they feel safe,” Girdler said. “If people feel they can speak their mind in a respectful way and not be shot down, that’s a good indication of a good company culture.”
Following are three examples of how car washes are building a culture of success the right way.
HAPPY CREW EQUALS HAPPY GUESTS
In Nashville, Tenn., Washtopia is growing quickly, with three locations open and three more in the pipeline. The company’s goal is “to be the preferred car wash in the market that we serve, to hire and grow the best people, to give back to the communities that we serve while having fun and maximizing profitability. We want to be the car wash that everyone wants to go to,” said President and Chief Executive Jason VanDerMark.
“To do that, we need to make a place where our crew members are happy to be there, because that translates into a place where our guests are happy to be there,” he said. “We tell our folks what’s happening, and we try to provide them with the best benefits that we can.” This includes a high base rate of pay, medical and dental benefits, a 401(k) plan, paid time off for part-time employees, tuition reimbursement and academic performance bonuses. An internal educational program called Washtopia University covers not only job-related skills but computer literacy, personal finance, résumé writing and interview skills.
“We wanted to change people’s perspective of what a car wash is. We wanted people to look at Washtopia and say, ‘Hey, this place is fantastic!’ ” VanDerMark said. This attitude further translates into quarterly team-building activities like laser tag or escape rooms and employee birthday cakes, because according to VanDerMark, if you create an environment where everybody is having fun and enjoys working together, then they tend to take care of each other.
Washtopia sees very low turnover and hires about 10% of its staff based on referrals, and the referring employee receives a bonus if her referral stays for 90 days. “Our feeling was if you enjoy working here, you’re only going to refer the best,” VanDerMark said. “We have a lot of incentives for our folks around the success of our stores, and everybody’s job, and the performance of it to the best of their ability, has an impact on the success of it.
“We believe that the talented people that work for us deserve not only feedback but recognition of their successes both big and small. If someone does a great job interacting with a guest, we let them know. If the vacuum area looks spotless and our Car Care Stations are stocked and well kept, we let them know that as well.
“To me, the success of our organization is how much everyone enjoys working for it, and I see that every day. They’re constantly sharing wins. We have a little conference every quarter with our leaders to look at everything that’s happening within the business and problems that the team can try to solve,” he said. “It’s an effort to create more communication between the stores; if one store is having a proble
The company is constantly innovating; if a crew member suggests an improvement, it’s tested at his location. If it’s successful, it’s rolled out in other locations, which allows every single person in the company to have a say at the table. “The culture of any good business should be built on the ideas and innovations of its people at all levels,” VanDerMark said. “Any one of those ideas could be the difference between us and our competitors.”m, their best resource is all the other stores.”
FINDING LIFE-WORK BALANCE
Craig Hanson is the president of WashTech, a Harrell’s Car Wash Systems company serving the car wash industry with distribution centers in Charlottesville, Va., and Allentown, Pa. Currently in its 21st year, WashTech employs about 135 people in 22 states.
“We are known for having great employees who go the extra mile for our customers,” Hanson said. “It starts by creating a company where people want to work and be recognized, not only as employees but as individuals.”
WashTech supports employees in finding life-work balance; for instance, installation teams work longer shifts Monday to Thursday so they can enjoy a three-day weekend. Employment starts with mentorship and extensive online training through a key manufacturer, PDQ. “Giving that level of training to people gives them some satisfaction in what they do,” Hanson said.
There are many ways that WashTech builds team spirit on the job. “A few years back, we sponsored a racecar in a league called 24 hours of LeMons; it involved meeting a whole lot of people to support the car and just have fun together,” he said.
Perhaps most important is a literal open-door policy. “It’s really important to know the employees,” Hanson said. “I have a meeting with every new employee, and they can come to my office anytime. If they have a problem, I always ask them to use their chain of command, and after that, if they still have a problem, they can come to me. I want them to know who they’re working with and working for, and that we have their back.”
GETTING EVERYONE ON THE SAME PAGE
Based in Seattle, Brown Bear Car Wash has been in business since 1957 and operates about 50 sites, including gas stations, self-serve stations and 26 express exterior tunnels across Washington state.
“The only way you can be successful in the long term is to have a healthy company culture,” said Lance Odermat, Brown Bear’s Vice President and General Counsel. “A primary feature of good company culture is getting all the employees on the same page and working as a team.”
For Brown Bear, a crucial feature is “integral growth,” he said, “so the employees feel like they’re part of something growing. Their contributions matter, and they’re striving towards a goal. Complacency is one the worst aspects that can poison a company culture.”
In line with Deloitte’s recommendations, “we’ve been very dedicated to promoting from within and not going to outside sources to fulfill management positions. I feel that has served us very, very well,” said Odermat. Brown Bear has no formal internal training program, but “we’re unique; our company has grown and evolved over the decades, and the knowledge has been disseminated throughout the organization.”
With relatively high pay and plenty of opportunity to move ahead in the business, “we have a lot of long-term employees who have been with us back into the mid-1960s,” he said. “We have never had a round of layoffs; we’ve been a very stable employer. We do not pull money out of the company; we tend to reinvest, and I think the employees see and appreciate that, and that contributes to a healthy corporate culture.”
“We bring our management team together every two weeks for large meetings, and we talk about the direction of the company, ways we can improve and customer service. I think that’s been an important ingredient in our success.”
100 million+ The American workforce
33% are engaged at work — love their jobs and make their organization and America better every day.
16% are actively disengaged — they are miserable in the workplace and destroy what the most engaged employees build.
51% are not engaged — they’re just there.
22% of employees strongly agree the leadership of their organization has a clear direction for the organization.
15% of employees strongly agree the leadership of their organization makes them enthusiastic about the future.
13% of employees strongly agree the leadership of their organization communicates effectively with the rest of the organization