Placing value in company values

Employee retention is of tremendous importance for today’s business. To address this subject, Denise Bail, Workforce Development Specialist for Tooling U-SME, gave an engaging keynote presentation at the 2021 Manufacturing Summit at the Miller Center for the Arts in October. She provided sizeable advice to companies in the Greater Reading area. Her main message was to “be the employer of choice” and “create an environment in which workers will love.” By creating a workplace that is fun, family and friends oriented, has free food and is flexible, the culture of a company can benefit exponentially. This atmosphere will help keep workers in a job market with so many opportunities.

To help attract potential employees to your workplace, a positive brand that stands out and is eye-catching is imperative. Ball recommends “building an excellent website that tells your story, in addition to displaying involvement in the community.” The use of targeted social media marketing can also help lure potential employees.

Keeping current and new employees is also paramount. Studies have shown that 78% of people leaving businesses could have been prevented. Furthermore, the cost of turnover is substantial. Ball advocates for “setting employees up for success from day one,” by providing them with “resource groups” which creates a community inside the company. Also “meaningful recognition and promotion programs” give employees a vision of their future in the company. Providing a structured pathway “up the ladder” is especially important for people in Generation Z. This generation is by nature gamers and is continuously looking how to “level-up.” Providing these resources and directly capitalizing on this mindset can be extremely advantageous in retaining employees and creating a long-term, dedicated staff.

A strong, motivated workforce directly correlates with a business’s success. Creating a superior company culture can lead to success for years to come. GRCA asked four members who attended the Summit how they are building a positive company culture.

Arkema Bettering the local community for all

As part of its commitment to society, Arkema carries out philanthropy initiatives in line with its Corporate Social Responsibility policy and its values, particularly solidarity. The company strives to maintain an open and close dialog with its various stakeholders — customers, suppliers, partners, local residents — to create a responsible, shared value chain and a lasting relationship of trust. Around the globe, Arkema takes an innovative approach to connecting with the residents and communities near its sites through its Common Ground® program.

At Arkema in Birdsboro, Penn., staff is deeply committed to fostering strong relationships with neighbors, setting engagement goals every year and meeting quarterly to ensure we are on track. Many of Arkema’s employees call Birdsboro, or Berks County, home and it tries to serve the shared community in ways that matter to them. A “Community Support Fund” is offered for employees to request Arkema’s financial support for the causes and organizations they support.

When the Arkema team discovered that veteran care was a cause to pursue, it connected with Keystone Military Families and held a large collection drive, visited their food pantry and provided handson assistance. Additionally, we have a strong partnership with the United Way of Berks County and participate in their larger initiatives like “Spring Spruce Up” and “Day of Caring.”

Arkema also supports career awareness programs in its community. Its employees enjoy sharing their career stories and engaging with young people who are evaluating their future career opportunities. Initiatives such as “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing” through the Manufacturers Resource Center and “Students Interacting with Business” through the Berks Business and Education Coalition promote career pathways for K-11 students.

Each year, Birdsboro employees participate in at least four handson volunteer events as well as a variety of other community support initiatives for countless hours, serving our community as part of the Common Ground® program. While community involvement is just one of the ways in which the company engages with its employees, it’s a core part of our culture and deeply ingrained in our values as a company.

— Alexia Pursley, Human Resource Manager

F.M. Brown’s Sons, Inc. Providing a positive family atmosphere

F.M. Brown’s Sons, Inc. has been a family-owned business since 1843, which speaks volumes. Most recently, the company has added a few layers to help evolve its culture even more. Just in the past year, an annual holiday party, monthly food trucks, financial education courses, pay adjustments, and group volunteer opportunities such as Hannah’s Hope, Opportunity House and our local food bank have been added.

These have made a huge impact to employee morale and retention. It’s a proven fact that when employees feel appreciated, they are happier and choose to stay with the company. The company also prides itself on being a second-chance employer, which means it gives meaningful employment to individuals with a prior criminal

record. F.M. Brown is not only a family business, but also provides a family environment that many desire.

F.M. Brown has been blessed to be in business for many years; its leadership and staff pride themselves on creating a great culture. — Alneasa Jordan, Human Resource Manager

Literacy Council of Reading-Berks Findings way to speak the same language

For 54 years, the Literacy Council of Reading-Berks has been building positive company culture by assisting local employers achieve their goals. Our programs help improve teamwork, raise morale, and increase productivity and efficiency while creating a safer work environment.

The Literacy Council provides critical training focused on developing English proficiency and valuable workplace skills. These programs make employees know they are part of the company community and culture. The programs give them the confidence to improve their language skills and ability to communicate to coworkers and managers alike. For the employers, the Council’s programs give companies the ability to attract, hire and retain scarce human capital here in Berks County.

Alpek, formerly CarbonLITE Recycling, has partnered with the Literacy Council to provide workplace English as a Second Language (ESL) services to their production workers. The Spanish-speaking employees attend the sessions on their own time and have provided positive feedback regarding the instruction they are receiving. The program provides a fully customized training twice a week for 12 weeks over two different shifts.

The Council is also providing ESL instruction for Durham School Services. Durham Transportation, a leader in student transportation, formed a new partnership with Reading School District. This employer is actively seeking a diverse workforce and will provide English instruction for employees that are enrolled in CDL training. This is a pilot program that could impact recruitment strategies and would lead to a stronger community workforce.

East Penn Manufacturing Company, a longtime Council partner, provides training to employees who demonstrate leadership potential. The course prepares the participants for supervisory roles.

As Denise Ball mentioned in her keynote address at the GRCA’s Manufacturing Summit in October, companies should bring someone on site to help their employees learn English. The Literacy Council has been actively engaging with Berks County employers for over 20 years to do this and is ready to partner with your company today! We will pre-assess each employee to determine his or her English comprehension level and then post-assess each employee at the end of the training program to measure educational gains. Contact our Training and Support Specialist, Bev Hirneisen, at bev@lcrb.org for more information. — Ryan A. Breisch, Executive Director

WORLD Electronics Putting employees above profits

WORLD electronics is a family-owned business and has been since 1986. Joe and Elaine Rado are WORLD’s founders and have focused much effort on creating a positive company culture. Prior to Joe’s passing in 2014, he preached that his family values should be reflected in everything WORLD does. His values were based on mutual respect between individuals and between the employer and employee. It is this kind of relationship that is the base of WORLD’s culture.

WORLD is proud that its average employee tenure is greater than 15 years. This is not a coincidence, but rather a manifestation and implementation of the mutual respect Joe preached. The Rados and key management want all employees to feel valued and know that they can make a positive contribution to the company. This happens not only through the efforts of their individual job, but also by contributing to something greater than themselves. All opinions are welcomed and discussed, and this is evident in the bi-monthly W.I.N. (World Improvement Network) meetings. Think of this as a suggestion box on how to improve processes and culture that have been an integral part of WORLD for over 15 years.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many companies to pivot and strategize on how to remain productive and profitable, while keeping their employees safe and healthy. WORLD was no different, as it was fortunate to be labeled as an essential business. To keep its employees safe, WORLD limited shifts to six hours while still paying for eight and staggered them so no one would infringe on another’s personal space. The employees were grateful for these efforts and saw firsthand that an employer can put its people before profits. Their feedback was positive and strengthened company culture.

These are two simple examples of how WORLD tries to foster a mutually respectful and beneficial relationship within its organization. It illustrates how a positive culture is essential to a successful business, and how treating people how you want to be treated is a rewarding philosophy not only in business but also in life! — Mike Duddy, VP/Project Manager