Blogs

Chris Boue
SoapBlog 1

Time Spent with Co-Workers During Outage Was Best Team-Building Exercise
We All Want and Need a Caring Corporate Culture

In September, when the city of Cincinnati lost electrical power after a wide-ranging  storm, we at CH Mack knew it wouldn't be business as usual for a while. About 700,000 people were without power beginning Sunday, Sept.14 for almost a week, and we worried that some employees wouldn't be able to reach us or come into work.

That's why on Monday, Sept. 15, we contacted each of our 45 employees in Cincinnati by cell phone and got an assessment of what their needs were. One question was asked: How could CH Mack help?

A big issue was child care, because many of our employees' children were out of school. Given this, we set up two conference rooms as an employee "daycare" for the week, complete with DVDs, books, games, and a designated sitter.

We also furnished hot lunches at the office, since many employees were without refrigeration and couldn't cook on electric stoves at home. We acquired hotel rooms close to the office for employees with long commutes, some of whom have very small children.

At this point, you may be asking yourself, is CH Mack flush with funds? How could it afford to offer these things to employees?

The answer is quite simple. We could not afford NOT to help.

Practically speaking, we like our employees and want them to report to work and be productive. Ours is a deadline-driven company, and we are aggressive about meeting our goals. People cannot be productive when they are hungry, or worried, or concerned about the safety of their families. Caring for those who work for you helps the company in the long run.

On the human side, caring about others is simply the right thing to do. We care about our employees as individuals. They are talented, good and kind people, with families and concerns just like ours. We were all inconvenienced by the outage, but many people were severely affected. We tried to look at the situation as an opportunity to bond closer with each other.

On the Monday night of that stressful, confusing week, my family invited our employees and their families for dinner at our home. We were blessed to have had our power restored in only six hours, and that night we were able to provide hot showers and Monday Night Football for about 30 associates and their families.

Taking stock, this year we've accomplished some exciting things at CH Mack: a re-branding of our organization; a brand-new Web site; a product release; and a demonstration overview of a new platform.

But if I had to choose my favorite milestone reached in 2008, it would be the camaraderie our company built during the electrical outage. We all know by the numbers what we are supposed to do to succeed in business, but sometimes we're uncertain just how much of our hearts we should reveal to others.

What gets measured is what gets done, and what is celebrated and rewarded also gets done. We learn, and continue to learn daily, what to measure and what to celebrate.