Bartlett & West | Enticing Employees
By KIM GRONNIGER | Photos by BRIAN PETERS
A few years ago, Bartlett & West renovated its headquarters by adding a fitness center, collaborative huddle rooms and a company kitchen with snacks, sodas and sandwiches that the company subsidizes 50-50. An expansive deck with tree-lined views complements an inviting office environment.
Following the pandemic, the employee-owned engineering firm hasn’t altered its physical space in Topeka. It continues to offer a variety of ways for people to work: enclaves (areas with couches and chairs gathered around a fireplace), cubicles and offices. The company is also turning its new lactation room into a multipurpose well-being room for those who may need to disconnect for a few minutes.
What has changed at the company is an intensified effort to facilitate employee engagement and connection throughout the enterprise.
With multiple offices and remote workers in many states, Kellie Dougan, human resources leader, said the company values flexibility along with empowering their employee-owners.
“We believe in meeting people where they are, whether they’re working onsite or in a hybrid or remote capacity,” she said. “We empower them to work with their team leader to decide how many days they’ll be in the office depending on their role, their performance, their career level and client needs. People have done a great job of figuring this out and our results, project quality and client satisfaction have remained strong.”
The company’s well-being committee came up with several creative options to encourage coworkers to connect during the pandemic, from making blanket ladders and playing bingo to “cutting, sawing and staining a beer flight tasting tray,” Dougan said. “We put puzzles in break rooms and asked people to submit pictures of themselves completing a 5K, whether an organized race or on their own.”
During their coffee and after-hours cocktail chats, which encourage employees to come together to discuss a variety of topics, participants are assigned to breakout rooms where they can share their perspectives.
“People are number one for us and relationships are something we value, both our employees and our clients,” Dougan said. “These online sessions give our employee-owners an opportunity to come together and learn more about their coworkers and what they’re doing so they get a better understanding of the company as a whole.”
Dougan said that throughout the pandemic, the company hosted a couple of employee-owner summits featuring well-known speakers on various topics, including mental health and technology, as well as client panels during which participants shared experiences and provided feedback on company projects.
This year, 120 employee-owners attended a summit at Washburn University centered on resiliency, which was also made available to all employees virtually.
To inspire more interaction, the company introduced a Guru program several years ago. The onboarding program pairs a new hire with another employee to help the individual assimilate and connect within the company more quickly.
Citing Gallup research, Dougan said, “Workplace satisfaction is often tied to having a best friend at work, however you define that, so the more likely you are to connect with someone, the more likely you are to feel like you belong and are more apt to become a confident contributor. The guru invites the new employee to lunch or events, answers questions and provides guidance on procedures or insight on who to nudge if assistance is needed.”
Dougan said efforts to gather and engage employee-owners throughout the organization, whether for fun activities or professional and personal enrichment, has been a priority since the pandemic.
“People want to feel included and heard,” she said. “As a company, we believe connection with our employees and our customers leads to a sense of belonging and stronger solutions to lead our communities to a better tomorrow.”
Click Here to go back to Enticing Employees Back To The Office
