Corporate Changes Case Study

Becoming a Great Place to Work

Research by his human resources team at Haskell, America’s Design-Build Leader®, revealed some painful truths to Coleman Walker, a 10-year HR veteran. “We discovered internal mistrust and disbelief of the messaging from Senior Management. There seemed to be an overall lack of understanding of our company mission and values throughout the organization.”

With the overarching desire of Haskell becoming “a great place to work,” Coleman engaged Chip to create and deliver a program that would bring employees together in honest dialogue, establish accountability to each other, and, most importantly, to peel back the layers of trust issues in the company. Coleman found Chip’s sharp, meaningful and practical approach highly effective.

In the beginning, employees were asked to write down how they were going to behave, and share that information with their accountability group. Now those groups of 3-4 meet monthly to discuss how they can continue to demonstrate servant leadership and impact those around them in a positive way. After a year in the program, Coleman sees employees holding each other accountable and making company values a part of their personal lives.

So what’s next at Haskell? Chip has facilitated a program to take young, up and coming employees to the next level of leadership and will continue the program going forward. Through lively discussion, participants embrace the spirit of how to step up and step out to be worth more themselves and the company. In addition, past participants are going through an advanced program for a more organizational focus. Coleman believes a company must invest in their employees. And he trusts that Chip will provide the means to make the most of that investment.