Q. INSIGHTs & INTUITION

In what ways does the company help a new employee understand and contribute to the culture of the organization?

Kari Kiesow Human Resource Manager TSP, Inc. Sioux Falls, S.D.

As employee-owners, we start introducing potential team members to our culture during the interview process. We hold several meet-and-greet sessions with team members throughout the firm, including CEO Jared Nesje. The majority of the time is spent on our company values, our Vision/Traction Organizer “game plan,” and which roles the prospective team member would play within our organization. We use the Entrepreneurial Operating System to help guide hiring decisions and operations.

As a welcome gift, Jared provides all new team members a copy of “The World’s Most Powerful Leadership Principle” by James C. Hunter. Later, Jared invites team members to sit down with him to discuss their favorite parts. That concept carries into how we approach client projects and continually improve our internal processes. Under the EOS structure, our employee-owners have the opportunity to balance working in the business with working on the business. We look to our team members to identify issues and solutions within their area of responsibility. Each of those discipline groups meets every quarter so team members can pinpoint what is or isn’t working. From there, we discuss how to build on what we’re doing well and solve issues that stem from the things we need to do better.

Our culture is at the core of who we are at Nexus Innovations. Laying the foundation of our culture starts early. A new employee must have an understanding of the importance of culture – that when a team has a shared language around teamwork, dedicates time to understanding and cultivating these behaviors, amazing things happen. These behaviors –or more precisely the lack of these behaviors – is exactly what inhibits most teams from achieving their full potential.

Continual communication and living out our cultural values is a key component to helping our new employees gain the understanding of our culture. This is accomplished through reviewing our core values and purpose weekly during team meetings. New employees are able to contribute by participating in meetings internally and with our customers. Intentional time for preparation and follow-up mentoring of these meetings allows for open communication around who we are and how we interact with our team and with our customers.

Establishing our culture through values and purpose with new employees is critical to our success as an organization and vital to maintaining the high trust relationships we have within our team and with our valued customers.

Scott Borcher Director of Project Management and Service Delivery Nexus Innovations Bismarck, N.D.