Caring for our people comes as easy as 1-2-3. C-T-E!
When CTE was founded, it was incredibly important to the co-founders President Todd Lytle and VP Kimm Lytle, to do two things: build a business based on excellent service and take care of the people who were helping them to grow.
While taking care of team members isn’t a new concept in business, we believe we go about it in ways that are out of the ordinary, especially in our line of work. We know firsthand when our people feel cared for, they are more motivated, more invested and happier. It’s a win-win for everyone (one of the many reasons why CTE believes in reciprocity).
Last year, 2020, challenged us in so many ways. However, had our organization not been investing in our people long before, we could have experienced high turnover, increased stress and a slew of other issues. Thankfully, we were able to not only survive but grow last year, thanks to the resilience of our phenomenal team.
Here are some of the unexpected ways we have cared for our people over the years that have directly impacted CTE’s ability to grow.
- Keep the Big Picture in Mind. We don’t keep an attendance record. If someone has a personal issue, we give them the space to take the time they need to care for themselves and their family. Also, each team member is given a $300 health benefit to use however they see fit. Team members have used it for gym memberships, counseling, and health care bills. This gives our people the message that we care about their health and wellbeing. In addition, the COVID-19 pay supplemented by the government ended on Sept 30. We decided to add two weeks Covid pay on top of our regular PTO to support any team members who may test positive, or have children who are quarantined due to school cases. This is a benefit available upon hire.
- Prioritize Leadership Discussions. Our business has been particularly busy during the last month. Team CTE is doing twice as much work as we were last year and we don’t anticipate it slowing any time soon. We recently made the bold decision to still do an annual offsite manager meeting ? despite the large work volume. In our meeting, we discussed how we each wanted to grow as leaders, what we wanted to delegate and worked on our mindset with Collin Henderson. At the end of the day, everyone felt refreshed, clear and ready to tackle the workload ahead.
- Honor Everyone’s Growth Journey. We have always encouraged everyone to grow personally and professionally, but this year, we started incorporating more DISC intelligence with our DISC Facilitator Cat Weise. Everyone, from senior leaders to our warehouse associates, is given a DISC assessment and debrief so they can understand their strengths, communication styles and potential challenges. Our people see this investment and say it’s information that will serve them for the rest of their careers.
- Making Time for Team Connection. During stressful times, it’s more important than ever to foster team connection time. We make sure to do that with our annual holiday party, team outings, lunches catered in by local restaurants and culture-building activities like trivia and chili cook offs. One of the common themes we hear from those who work here is that CTE is like one giant family.
One of our core beliefs at CTE is TEAM. We are building this together, and caring for our people along the way is one major investment in the aspect of CTE that matters the most.