People, Pride, Purpose: The Glue that Binds Team Members at Award-winning Company
Employee “buy-in” to understanding how the company is run, and ultimately the profitability of Contract Sweepers and Equipment, started in 2004 when a 100{cd9db56748df391b131010c0c880113f42d56e29626b6ebf74877cbc020d5b1a} employee buyout of the company from original owners was initiated.
Originally developed to help explain what conversion to an ESOP – an Employee Stock Ownership Plan – meant to all employees, Contract Sweepers & Equipment’s management developed the “People, Pride & Purpose” campaign.
“We were trying to explain the ESOP to our folks in a way that was simple, meaningful and frankly marketable,” Kesselring says. “We needed them to understand what we were doing and why we were doing it.”
And today, with over 100 people working at the award-winning company, Contract Sweepers & Equipment makes it a point to make sure all those people are healthy and feeling part of the team.
“Internally,” says company President, Gerry Kesselring, “We’re constantly talking about People, Pride and Purpose – the three Ps. That’s our mantra and it’s what drives every decision we make.”
Kesselring walks the building every day, and as he says: “It’s not to be seen — it’s to see how our people are doing.”
Family as the Basis for People’s Lives
Among CSE’s people-focused efforts is an Employee Assistance Program which was established to help employees and their families who might encounter any of a broad variety of challenges.
Recognizing that family issues or life issues affecting employees at home are going to carry over and affect you at work, the company want to make sure we provide every opportunity for the people we work with to get financial and other support assistance they might need.
The company’s quarterly newsletter is sent to each employee’s home “because the whole family is something we’re supporting,” evidenced also by the fact that spouses are invited to all ESOP meetings. “They are part of what we’re doing here, too,” Kesselring says.
Tied into the holistic work life / home life balance, CSE conducts training sessions for operators on the importance of proper sleep and provides insights to help that happen. Sessions also are run on how to help family adjust to a third-shift worker.
Pride in Work – Pride in Work-Space
Kesselring says the “pride” aspect of the three Ps mantra comes from how people feel about where they work. Therefore, Contract Sweepers makes it a point to invest in its facility and invest in new equipment.
“We make sure that where we’re all working is a nice, clean, inviting place to go to work,” he says. “I’ve seen places where the third shift comes in and no one’s there and the lights are out and the heat is turned down. That’s not a place too many people are going to look forward to going to work at. We want this to be a good place where people want to come to work.”
Understanding Our Purpose
Kesselring says the management team and the employee-owners talk a lot about purpose, about why they are in business. And it’s not just to sweep.
“It’s to make money and that’s something everyone grasps easily,” he says. “But it’s also to make sure there’s a future for the people who work here. That’s the reason we have 401(k) contributions and it’s why we’re always encouraging people to contribute.
It’s difficult to get a 26-year-old to be thinking about retirement but we encourage them to put that first 3{cd9db56748df391b131010c0c880113f42d56e29626b6ebf74877cbc020d5b1a} aside because once it’s there they’ll never miss it and they’ve begun planning their future. So there’s a greater purpose in what we’re doing than just sweeping.”
But the sweeping is an acknowledged purpose, too.
“We’re sweeping and that’s the job we’re supposed to be doing for our customers,” he says. “But sweeping has a greater importance. There’s an environmental impact to what we do and we make sure we focus on that, too.”
It’s easy to see how Pavement Maintenance & Restoration’s editors selected Contract Sweepers & Equipment as Sweeper of the Year based on this corporate philosophy. For a detailed run-down of the company’s history, please see the entire article here.
Join 1-800-SWEEPER in celebrating this honor during NPE – the National Pavement Expo – during a presentation ceremony on Wednesday, February 27, 2019.
