Don’t think your employees can sniff out spin? Think again.
Communication is a word that gets tossed around a lot in business, but at ICAT it means “clarity and transparency, what’s going on with the company — good and bad,” says Greg Butler, president of the catastrophe insurance provider.
The company, with 221 employees in Colorado, provides property insurance to businesses and residential property owners in hurricane and earthquake regions of the U.S.
“Every employee wants to know where their company is going,” Butler says. “And they know when things aren’t going well. They don’t like being lied to.”
ICAT received a Special Award in this year’s midsize Top Workplace survey for the way the company informs its employees about decisions. That communication involves everything from face-to-face meetings and e-mails to quarterly meetings.
“My boss keeps us informed as to what decisions are being made by management so that our team is constantly apprised of what is occurring with the business. Context is always provided when there is work to be done to support these decisions,” wrote one survey respondent.
ICAT also holds quarterly meetings to report to employees about “how we’re doing, what our challenges are, what initiatives we’re undertaking,” Butler said.
“We’ve had our challenges over the years, and we’ve said sometimes the results don’t match the effort. But don’t spin. Be honest with them. It all goes back the culture of making it a good place to work,” Butler said.
Employees appreciate the honesty and that the company is open to hearing feedback as well as their ideas for improvements, even if that might mean criticism.
“We empower them to say, ‘Hey, this isn’t core to what we’re doing.’ If you say you’re making a change, let’s not get into areas that are pulling the company away from the vision we laid out for ourselves,” Butler said. “We want them to make suggestions for how to get there more efficiently.”
“I feel comfortable that if I ever have concerns or questions, I could discuss things with my managers and supervisors, and I feel like it is acceptable to go up the chain and ask people higher up in the company as well,” an employee wrote.
That’s central to the company’s culture. “My door is always open. They can talk to anyone on the executive team. It makes our employees invested in the company, knowing that we proactively reach out to them,” Butler said.
