I was sitting in an employee huddle at our Saco store when I heard the statement The work culture here is ours to create. A relatively new member of the store team had said this, and everyone was now following up in agreement.
Weeks later I was in a similar huddle at our Yarmouth store with another employee team. One by one each person took turns speaking about why working at Hancock Lumber was meaningful to them.
I never feel alone here.
Everyone is willing to help you.
There’s just a strong sense of community here—we take care of each other.
Everybody wants you to succeed.
In both instances I heard the same statements. The employees at each location were taking shared ownership and collective control of their own work experience, just as they had been encouraged to do. The employees themselves were leading and taking care of each other. Senior management had made a sustained commitment to deep human engagement at work, but it was the employees themselves who were giving it life. Work, like everything else, becomes what we make it.
In Hancock Lumber’s now-multi-decade quest to make work meaningful and energy-giving for the people who do it, we have learned that the recipe for success can be boiled down to four key words:
Trusted
Respected
Valued
Heard
If employees feel trusted, respected, valued, and heard, it is highly likely they will be deeply engaged in their work. When these four words are consistently present at work, work becomes energy-giving. When these four words are present, self-esteem grows, confidence builds, trust spreads, and love is present. And when this happens, companies soar on the wings of thriving humans at work.
Earlier this year I spoke on the same day to over one hundred of our employee team members at our sawmill in Pittsfield and then at Mainely Trusses in Fairfield. In both instances, conveying respect was my number-one goal. Companies and their leaders get whatever they consistently prioritize. If employees are not having a meaningful experience at work, it’s because leadership is not making that a priority. The workplace polling and research company Gallup knows that corporate success is tied to customer engagement, and that customer engagement is tied to employee engagement, and that employee engagement is tied to a focus on each employee’s well-being as a human, not merely as a worker. When companies make the employee experience a priority, the employees then take the lead, creating the culture they desire.
When leaders honor humans at work, great work follows.
