Company maintains a ‘well-rounded’ staff view
When an important member of Lincoln Property Co.’s Houston team fell ill with the coronavirus, his colleagues received daily updates about his progress.
They stepped up to make sure his work got done. And when he recovered, after more than 100 days in the hospital, his colleagues threw him a wave parade to celebrate.
That's just one example of how people at Lincoln Property Co. care for one another, said Michael Kasmiersky, the company’s vice president of property management.
Lincoln landed the second spot among small companies on the Houston Chronicle’s list of Top Workplaces — its first year to be recognized in the competition. The property development and management company, which is headquartered in Dallas, employs 55 people in the Houston area and more than 7,000 nationally.
While the national team is vast, the Houston one is small, Kasmiersky said.
“It's tight, but there's no fluff. And everybody's important,” he said. “I try to make sure everybody knows they're important.”
Part of achieving that is to care about the lives of employees beyond work, Kasmiersky and other company leaders said. Before the pandemic, the company kept employees and their families connected with events like crawfish boils and holiday parties.
They do this via a company newsletter, which connects small staffs at separate offices.
The newsletter recognizes people for their work, but it also includes life updates and family photos submitted by employees. To keep people reminded that, “Hey, there’s life after Lincoln.”
“What our employees do outside of work — I think that's important to be well-rounded,” Kasmiersky said. “We all work hard, and I appreciate that, but I don’t want everybody to be workaholics.”
Plus, he said, “It's fun to see what people do on their Sunday or, how many grandkids they have or, you know, what kind of cats they like.”