Defining company culture benefits Infomax employees, clients
Infomax Office Systems employees go to work each day with a few things in mind: exceed expectations, embrace change and always treat others with respect. These directives aren’t just guidelines for our employees, they’re the core basis for Infomax’s business.
In 2016, we developed a culture committee to identify our company’s core values. Employees throughout Infomax’s many departments were recruited for the committee to include viewpoints beyond the company’s leadership, said Greg Jacobs, president of Infomax Office Systems. Our culture committee met with third-party business representatives to identify Infomax’s values, what those values mean to employees and clients and how the company can better share our principles.
“Every company has a culture whether they know it or not. We wanted to define that,” Greg said. “It was not just the leadership team that was able to say, ‘These are going to be our core values.’”
Our values are
• Excellence
• Embrace Change
• Development
• Integrity
• One team
• Fun
• Open minded communication
Our company has been intentional about sharing these core values. They’re posted on our website, in employees’ email signatures, framed in our office and included in a culture playbook distributed to employees. Outings to baseball games, restaurants and other local attractions give employees a chance to build a team atmosphere and foster open communication. A consistent focus on our core values was vital to further the momentum in building company culture.
“You don’t want us rolling these core values out and having employees think these are just another exercise that will be gone in six months,” Greg noted. “In our business, it is very easy to get siloed. Communication is the key to breaking those silos and creating one team.”
In fact, the company’s core values have become part of our employee recruitment and retention efforts. We begin the values conversation with potential employees during the interview process, discussing how we embrace change, commit to excellence, support staff development goals and value open communication. Interviewees take note, Greg observed.
“People have so many different choices when it comes to a place to go to work these days. How can we set ourselves apart?” asked Greg. “I’ve always been very proud of our culture, so we talk about that in the interview process. We wanted that culture to be the reason people would come to work at Infomax. We’ve had people say that it was a deciding factor in working here.”
While it’s important to define culture internally, a well-defined company culture also benefits our clients. We focus on delivering excellent service, embracing industry changes and operating with integrity.
“At the end of the day, I have two customers: my employees and my customers,” Greg reflected. “A good office climate automatically translates to clients. When people enjoy coming to work…there’s just no other way than to provide an A-plus experience for our customers.”
