Page 36 - BizVoice May/June 2013

36 BizVoice/Indiana Chamber – May/June 2013
culture: the small, growing company or a larger, more diverse
organization?
Turns out both provide a unique competitive advantage.
“I think that there are pros and cons to each,” Dennen
asserts. “(At a) smaller organization, I think management has
an easier ability to influence the culture and kind of set the
tone versus a larger organization, but the impact of hiring
decisions has a greater impact.”
Martin notes that while larger organizations may have
resources, smaller companies contend with less “red tape.”
“The one benefit that I’ve definitely seen in a small
organization versus a very large organization is obviously the speed
of which you can get something done,” he reflects. “If there’s a
great idea in place that you can execute and you can do it
affordably, then you can get it to market so to speak very quickly.”
Speer praises the resources offered at large organizations
like Hendricks Regional Health, but acknowledges that its size
can pose challenges.
“It takes longer to turn the ship if there’s a cultural issue
or there’s an employee satisfaction issue simply because of the
geographic distribution of all those employees,” he concedes.
“There isn’t one place that everyone can gather and you can
have a conversation. So, it probably has to be more deliberate
sometimes, those interactions, versus being able to have a
sidebar conversation in the hallway.”
Oak Street Funding’s acquisition ultimately strengthened
the company, but some employees initially resisted the transition.
“Once those people either decided to move on because
they didn’t like that much change or accepted that change was
going to occur, to me is really the difference in why we made
the list this year versus last,” Dennen stresses. “Now you’ve got
one cohesive team that’s very collaborative in the way that they
work together. They’re looking to change each and every day,
and it’s just created a great team environment around Oak Street.”
Helping employees embrace new procedures and
management approaches also has been a priority at NIPSCO.
“We’ve had some changeover of some folks that have been
here for 30 years in the management ranks that kind of
operated under the old ‘control and command’ philosophy,”
Spitz explains. “We’ve developed leadership courses our
managers can sign up for so that they understand what’s
expected of them because what they used to do 20 years ago is
not what we need them to do today.”
Taking one for the team
Enhancing workplace culture often requires financial
investment. Spitz notes that employees often see an investment
in the business as an investment in them as well.
“In 2013, we have a $500 million budget for all the
maintenance and programs. People are ecstatic about it. People
appreciate that we’re putting more money into the maintenance
of our plants than we ever have,” she relates.
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