Taking A Company From “Me” To “We”

Why your employees are your greatest assets

We all know having a customer-focused strategy is key to almost any business plan. It seems everywhere we turn, brands big and small are working to improve the user experience and ensure customer success. 

But one often-overlooked contributor to a company’s success is arguably its most valuable assets: Its people.

Throughout my journey as an entrepreneur and as CEO of EverLine, I’ve discovered that the people are what truly make a company, and by investing in them, you’ll see the greatest returns. While we all know customer acquisition and increasing profits are important for growing any business, companies must take measures to ensure their employees grow as well. 
 

Here are a few key ways a company can work to invest in its people as well as its customers:

Company Culture is King 

To attract and maintain the best talent, a strong emphasis on promoting a healthy and productive culture for your team is crucial. Through my own experience managing a team, I have found, not only does this boost employee morale, but it also helps to create a better experience for our customers when our team members feel supported and motivated to go above and beyond for them.

We uphold our company culture by embracing core values that are very “we” not “me” focused and I encourage all companies to consider this. From our own initial hiring and training stages, our franchisees learn how to incorporate our DRIVEN (Dedicated, Resourceful, Integrity-focused, Value-based, Excelling, Nourishing) principles in a way that is reflected in our daily operations. We select our franchisees based on how they connect to all of the values that the DRIVEN principles represent and how well they can help their own team embody these principles. 

Similarly, it’s important to encourage employees to use your company as a vehicle for personal and professional growth. With our own team members, as the company moves forward and matures, we want our people to grow and adapt along with it. Personal growth is facilitated by giving employees a chance to connect and get to know their managers and co-workers outside of the office. One way you can accomplish this is through fun team-building events and company dinners. You can also work to foster professional development through technical workshops, mentorship programs as well as providing consistent feedback to employees through performance reviews.

It’s also important to keep spirits high. As an example, we’ve set up arcade machines in our crew rooms in addition to organizing training programs. We try to strike a healthy balance between both personal and professional to promote a productive work environment and provide holistic growth for our team.

Connected Communication 

In every aspect of our lives, both inside and outside of the office, effective communication is critical to avoid misunderstandings and to build stronger relationships. In the workplace, information is often passed down an organization through multiple levels of management until it finally reaches the person carrying out the task. This waterfall workflow system is often more inefficient and time-consuming, and risks having critical elements lost through multiple interactions. 

Think of it as a game of broken telephone gone wrong.

To mitigate this, consider using digital communication tools such as Slack on a daily basis, to allow your teams to connect directly with their colleagues at all levels. This also allows team members to share their experiences and ask questions in real-time, providing a platform that stimulates knowledge-sharing and collaboration. Not to mention, you can also Slack to share funny, positive stories throughout the day as well. Let the team have some fun!

To cover all of our bases, our team also holds weekly meetings where our corporate office shares market intelligence with franchisees. As well, one-on-ones are scheduled monthly to ensure franchise-owners are prepared and taking the right steps for success.

The bottom line is companies need to make every effort to maintain frequent and efficient communication among all team members. Investing in this leads to happier, more engaged employees and a stronger team mentality.

Adaptability and Innovation 

While franchise systems are often known for their structured approach, flexible franchising has become an emerging trend that has had widespread appeal to young entrepreneurs looking to be in business for themselves, but not by themselves.

We are just one Canadian Franchise Association (CFA) franchise that provides our franchisees with a proven strategy for success but also the flexibility to make the brand their own. Since economies and demographics vary drastically across the regions we service, we strategically chose a business model that can morph to meet the unique needs of each market. Instead of offering the same selection of services, each franchise owner has the freedom to decide which services they would like to offer in order to capitalize on the demands of their particular market. Whether you are a franchise or not, there are big rewards when businesses adapt to meet their community’s needs and think outside of the box to do so.

For instance, our Winnipeg franchise owner wanted there to be a more creative component to his projects, so he became a key part of the Winnipeg Pride Parade celebrations, where he painted all the barricades in rainbow to celebrate the event. Not only did he transform downtown Winnipeg to showcase inclusivity, but he also became a local hero which in turn generated awareness for our brand, leading to more business coming in and of course, increased profits.

Companies can also innovate internally by adopting digital tools such as artificial intelligence. We encourage our franchisees to lean into cutting-edge digital tools to run leaner and smarter, and produce faster than our competitors. This has made a name for us as an industry disruptor, breathing new life into an otherwise traditional industry. 

All in all, we find the dynamics of having your business model run through the lens of a very talented entrepreneur requires a great deal of communication and more importantly, trust. However, I challenge all business leaders to encourage innovation through leading by example and being open and receptive to new ideas from team members, as these are a critical part of propelling us all further. 

John Evans is the President and CEO at EverLine Coatings & Services. Connect John Evans