Culture of encouragement challenges employees
For employees at Chesmar Homes, there’s no micro-management, no feeling like they’re just a number and no unrealistic expectations.
Staffers and executives alike have fostered a culture of help and encouragement that CEO Don Klein said has helped The Woodlands company, which builds energy efficient homes, achieve a No. 5 ranking for small businesses on the Houston Chronicle’s annual Top Workplaces survey.
“One of our values is freedom to challenge everybody,” Klein said.
And at Chesmar, which employs 144 in Greater Houston, challenges can mean pushing sales higher or correcting mistakes before they snowball into problems.
COVID-19 shut down operations in many industries, but real estate remained busy. Some people sought to relocate to Texas from other states, realizing that remote work could offer them cheaper housing options. Others thought it was time to move to a larger home.
“We’re at the point where we need to slow sales down because we don’t know how we’ll get it all built,” Klein said.
At Chesmar, Klein has increased the workforce 10 percent since the spring, a big morale boost for his employees as so many other workers across the country face layoffs and furloughs. Employees are deeply invested in the work they do, Klein said, thanks to Chesmar’s profit sharing and employee stock ownership plans that give them a stake in the company’s success.
Although they’ve grown busy trying to keep up with sales through the summer and into the fall, employees said the pace is not overwhelming. They know they’re part of a supportive team and their hard work has a payoff.
“My professional and personal needs are equally important to my co-workers and managers,” one survey respondent wrote. “I love seeing happy buyers throughout the process. Warms my heart.”