The Jetco Way: Delivering a Vibrant Company Culture [Podcast]

Creating a dynamic and functional workplace tends to be high on many companies’ priority list. While management teams work to find the je ne sais quoi to keep their employees happy, according to longtime Vistage member Brian Fielkow, the owner of Houston-based Jetco Delivery and author of Driving to Perfection: Achieving Business Excellence By Creating a Vibrant Culture, it really boils down to three key ingredients. Discover Brian’s three rules to fostering a vibrant company culture below and in his new podcast interview as part of the Leadership Insights from the C-Suite series.

1. The 20/60/20 Rule

When it comes to a company’s employees, whether we are talking hundreds of people or a handful, Brian says their attitude towards the company can be summed into one of three categories. While the numbers aren’t exact, and may be different per company, ideally:

1. About 20% of your team will be completely on board with the CEO’s vision and committed to the business.
2. A broader sector, about 60%, will be skeptical but open-minded—meaning they’ll question policies and actions in the right ways and in turn, help build the company into a stronger entity. Management’s job is to eventually turn these 60% of people into true advocates for the business.
3. The third group—the “lower” 20%—are the employees who are not with the company. Don’t feel too sorry saying goodbye to these people, it shouldn’t be a surprise that a few employees undermining the company can really bring a workplace down and hamper a vibrant culture.

2. The Three Ts: Treatment, Transparency, Trust

According to Brian, when a good employee leaves the company for a reason other than a promotion or higher salary, it tends to be because one of these three Ts has been violated. Brian also asserts that staff members don’t quit the company, they quit their managers, which puts the load on supervisors to keep their employees happy. However, bad management doesn’t always come in the form of irrationality or irritability; keeping employees happy means making sure they are comfortable in the workplace. Eliminate cliques, keep employees informed on high-level decisions, make sure they know they’re not simply replaceable, and you’ll start to see higher retention and a better environment.

3. Take Your Frontlines With You

Now, Jetco Delivery is a logistics company specializing in regional trucking, heavy haul and national freight. This means their employees are on their own 10 to 12 hours a day, turnover rate for their drivers is a lot higher than that of office employees. The reason? The drivers don’t feel a connection to the company. Those people, whether they be truck drivers, salespeople, retailers or janitors, are your frontline. It’s important to make sure all levels of employees feel connected to the company’s values, effort, culture and even management.

Click here to listen to The Jetco Way: Delivering a Vibrant Company Culture podcast.

Bio: Corporate culture and management advisor Brian Fielkow is the author of Driving to Perfection: Achieving Business Excellence by Creating a Vibrant Culture, a how-to book based on his 25 years of executive leadership experience at public and privately held companies. Brian serves as owner and president of Jetco Delivery, a logistics company in Houston that specializes in regional trucking, heavy haul and national freight.