012: Trusting and Agile: Chocolate Soup and Assembly – Making Sure that Employee Recognition Comes First

In our latest podcast episode, we had the pleasure of hosting Lindsay, a seasoned leader with almost 17 years of dedicated service at Desert Financial Credit Union, and Nikki, a passionate advocate for employee engagement and the driving force behind PeopleForward Network.

This conversation, as the others that we have, was open, authentic and natural. The conversation led to examples of both companies leading in a human centered and people focused direction.

Lindsay highlighted the importance Desert Financial places on employee satisfaction and creating a workplace culture that empowers and values its staff. This commitment translates into exceptional service for members, where every interaction is more than a transaction. The organization focuses on connection, community, and service to others.

Nikki, from PeopleForward Network, provided insights into their mission of sharing resources and insights with a global community of people-first minded leaders. From podcast production to growth consulting, PeopleForward Network collaborates with partners to make a meaningful impact on business development and marketing.

These women are making waves in their industries in order to build companies with great cultures. If you are looking for examples, stories, and support for growing your company culture, then this is an episode for you to listen to.

In the modern business landscape, a company’s culture is not just an internal matter. It has evolved into a valuable asset that can significantly impact a company’s success and reputation. We know this!

However, having a fantastic company culture is not enough. It’s equally crucial to communicate this culture to the broader community and potential partners. One effective way to achieve this is by partnering with experts that specialize in marketing and telling the story of your company’s exceptional culture, such as achieving recognition as one of the best places to work.

Having an outstanding company culture is a remarkable achievement in itself, but it’s not enough if it remains hidden within the walls of your organization. To truly reap the benefits of a great culture, you must share it with your community, industry peers, and potential partners. Many companies face the challenge of being the best-kept secret in terms of culture because they don’t proactively communicate their strengths.

We had the chance to highlight two amazing ladies from BestCompaniesAZ to talk about the importance of company culture, the benefits of telling the story of company culture, and discussing the work that led them to this space to help shine the light on other companies.

BestCompaniesAZ has the expertise to craft compelling narratives around your culture, highlighting what makes your company unique and showcasing the human side of your organization. They are the cheerleaders that you didn’t know you needed!

When potential partners and clients hear stories about your great company culture, they are more likely to view your organization as a desirable partner and provider of goods or services. So let’s start telling more stories about great culture!

Are you a company interested in sharing the remarkable story of your outstanding corporate culture? 

Are you a business seeking to demonstrate to the community just how exceptional your company culture is?

Do you specialize in conducting employee engagement surveys that reveal the excellence of your company’s culture?

Are you in search of the perfect awards to highlight and elevate the narrative of your company’s culture?

Well, then you should listen to this episode!!!

BestCompaniesAZ is a boutique agency that specializes in employer branding. With more than 30 combined years of industry experience in marketing and human resources, BestCompaniesAZ elevates award-winning organizations through digital marketing, events, social media and award consultation services.

Thank you for our Sponsor!

This was a unique episode for the Culture Crush Business Podcast. We are always talking about ways to improve company culture so companies can thrive, and this episode was no different in that aspect. The topic was one that is often left out from the conversation of thriving company cultures, the focus on process improvement and the technology for improving the operations and culture of the company.

We discuss the need to focus on technology and resources that will help with the strategic side of the company in order to treat employees as humans rather than machines, which is essential for preventing burnout and maintaining a motivated team.

Effective leadership involves identifying and leveraging employees’ strengths and interests. This allows them to excel in their roles and contribute to the company’s growth. Offloading repetitive tasks to AI or outsourcing can free up employees to concentrate on their core competencies.

AI can be a game-changer for businesses, especially when handling data-intensive tasks. It can optimize scheduling, automate processes, and even enhance customer experiences, as demonstrated by the example of creating a Taylor Swift-inspired AI bot.

The conversation highlights the need to adapt to rapidly evolving technology. The emergence of new career paths, such as prompt engineering, underscores the importance of staying current and embracing technological advancements.

Many companies use numerous software tools, often without realizing the extent of their tech stack. Lauri Erickson emphasizes the importance of integrating these tools to streamline operations and data management, ultimately saving time and resources.

This episode focuses on a few key takeaways for our listeners:

• Empower the employees to focus on the true strengths
• The power of AI in enhancing efficiencies
• Continuous adaptation to evolving technology
• Integration of software and tools

Overall, the episode emphasizes the value of fostering a positive company culture, empowering employees, and leveraging outsourcing, technology, and AI to enhance efficiency and employee satisfaction. It also underscores the importance of staying open to new possibilities in the ever-changing business landscape.

Thank you to James Christensen, the President of Gateway Bank, for joining in this conversation and adding his additional insight and stories as the co- host for this episode with Lauri and Ben.

Located in Tempe, Arizona, Project Pros is a family-owned business that’s dedicated to alleviating the administrative burdens faced by small business owners. Their comprehensive support services are designed to give business owners more time, spanning areas like bookkeeping, HR, social media management, phone answering, and virtual administrative assistance.

Project Pros emerged from CEO Lauri Erickson’s understanding of the need to shift small business owners from working ‘in’ their business to working ‘on’ it. The team at Project Pros fosters a synergetic environment, collaborating to find solutions for each client’s unique needs.

Their approach emphasizes collaborative problem-solving, ensuring that every team member’s skills contribute to the clients’ success. Project Pros goes beyond traditional outsourcing, streamlining processes to save their clients both time and money. They serve as an extension of their clients’ businesses, partnering at every stage to facilitate the growth and success of those businesses.

As a growing company:

Culture Crush Business is your hub for company culture resources. With deep cultural insights and years of expertise, we evaluate your company’s needs and connect you with the precise resources to cultivate a thriving culture.

We work with CEOs, founders, HR Directors, or Culture Leaders of companies or teams, who value company culture and understand its impact on their business success. With Culture Crush you’ll learn how to transform your workplace into a place of unity, efficiency, and growth. Don’t just fix your company culture – transform it with Culture Crush Business.

On this podcast:

We focus on everything surrounding businesses with good company culture. We will talk with company leaders to learn about real-life experiences, tips, and best practices for creating a healthy work environment where employees are finding joy and satisfaction in their work while also striving and growing within the company. We share the resources to help improve company culture and showcase them on the podcast with their tips and tricks for growing culture.

Thank you for our Sponsor!

When it comes to improving company culture, there are a tremendous amount of resources out there to help companies. Finding which resources are the right fit for your company is the tricky part.

Lucky for you, we brought together two amazing ladies that offer support that can improve all companies! These resources help to bring creativity and clarity to your teams!

This conversation talked about the support and structure that both Sarah’s company and Anca’s company can help provide to others.

There is a fear of failure and these ladies are here to help build the teams so that the fear can be concurred and supported.

Investing in outside support and facilitation is one of the best things a company can do to help improve their teams and company culture. Facilitators use techniques that stimulate creative thinking and innovation- and these ladies are the pinnacle of creativity!

You should listen to this podcast if you….

• are having trouble communicating with your team and trying to find the right resources to help.
• would like to find a unique way to improve your meetings and sharing top highlights with the company.
• need a little support defining the goals of the meetings and the communication taking place.
• are ready to invest in your company to improve the culture of the people and the company as a whole.
• if you need a little help capturing and synthesizing the details from your meetings.

Culture Crush is here to support and it starts with these two amazing women led companies!

As a growing company:

Culture Crush Business is your hub for company culture resources. With deep cultural insights and years of expertise, we evaluate your company’s needs and connect you with the precise resources to cultivate a thriving culture.

We work with CEOs, founders, HR Directors, or Culture Leaders of companies or teams, who value company culture and understand its impact on their business success. With Culture Crush you’ll learn how to transform your workplace into a place of unity, efficiency, and growth. Don’t just fix your company culture – transform it with Culture Crush Business.

On this podcast:

We focus on everything surrounding businesses with good company culture. We will talk with company leaders to learn about real-life experiences, tips, and best practices for creating a healthy work environment where employees are finding joy and satisfaction in their work while also striving and growing within the company. We share the resources to help improve company culture and showcase them on the podcast with their tips and tricks for growing culture.

Thank you for our Sponsor!

When it comes to inclusion, it is all about education.

Surrounding yourself around others that are not like yourself is going to push you to learn more about others. This education then leads to the ability to be more inclusive and helping to be more accessible to other groups.

On this show, we had the chance to talk with two amazing gentlemen, both who started their lives out with vision and are now legally blind. The things that these gentlemen are doing to “change the perception of blindness” for others is instrumental!

In this discussion, they talk about the fears that set in when it comes to inclusion and accessibility. There is fear from one side when it comes to asking. Asking if a blind individual needs help. Asking how you can support them. There is fear from the blind community when it comes to applying for jobs, getting support, etc.

We all have fears when it comes to taking steps to change AND change is necessary. Asking the questions is something the simplest place to start.

This episode is a vital episode to listen to if you are wanting to support different communities in being more inclusive and accessible and you don’t know where to start. This podcast gives encouragement to just start. It can start with simply asking questions. Ask how to help, how to change, how to improve… and then let’s do it!

Did you know?

• 7 out of 10 working age people in Arizona who are blind or visually impaired are not working
• Estimated to be about 20K
• 45% of hiring managers believe there are no jobs within their organization that a person who is blind could do
• Changing the perception of blindness is the biggest barrier to employment and inclusion
• So, ask the questions to start to make the change.

We are in this together and can make the changes to help others in the blind community. We can help this community and others to feel included and have the tools to allow them the access to resources and jobs.

Arizona Industries for the Blind (AIB) is a solution provider… Solving today’s complex business problems by providing quality products and value-added Business Process Outsourcing services that matter to their customers.

As a growing company: 

There are many resources out there for company culture but they are scattered and difficult to find. Culture is not a one size fits all, so it is important for companies to find the resources that are the right fit for growing their own company culture. 

We have worked to build a hub that brings all of the resources together in one place and one community. The Culture Crush Business is the one stop shop for everything related to growing company culture. 

On this podcast:

We focus on everything surrounding businesses with good company culture. We will talk with company leaders to learn about real-life experiences, tips, and best practices for creating a healthy work environment where employees are finding joy and satisfaction in their work while also striving and growing within the company. We also find the companies that offer resources to help improve company culture and showcase them on the show to share their tips and tricks for growing culture.

Gateway Bank is the only community bank in Mesa, Arizona. Gateway represents a return to how banking used to be, where the staff knew everyone by name and treated customers like people instead of numbers in a database.

They bring this nostalgic approach into modern times and offer the best of both worlds: the fast, personal service of a local bank, plus the diverse products and services of a large bank. While Gateway’s branch is located in Mesa, they serve customers across the Valley.

With a nationwide network of fee-free ATMs, plus added conveniences like Remote Deposit for businesses, you can experience the Gateway difference no matter where you are.

As a growing company- Culture Crush Business Podcast is THE culture improvement resource that supports companies and leaders. Our Mission is to improve company cultures so people WANT to go to work. Employees and leaders should like where they work and we think this is possible.

Within the company: Culture Crush has Vetted Resources and Partnerships with the right people and resources that can help improve your company culture.

On this podcast: We focus on everything surrounding businesses with good company culture. We will talk with company leaders to learn about real-life experiences, tips, and best practices for creating a healthy work environment where employees are finding joy and satisfaction in their work while also striving and growing within the company. We also find the companies that offer resources to help improve company culture and showcase them on the show to share their tips and tricks for growing culture.