National Post (National Edition)
People-first culture goes the extra mile
WE HAD TWO PRIORITIES DURING THE PANDEMIC. THE FIRST ONE WAS TO PROTECT THE FINANCIAL HEALTH OF THE BUSINESS AND THE SECOND WAS TO PROTECT EVERYONE’’S JOB. WE ACHIEVED BOTH. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WE ACHIEVED WAS CONTINUING TO BUILD ON OUR GREAT CULTURE. — DAN TURNER, PRESIDENT AND
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, XPERIGO
Every morning the executive team at Xperigo has a huddle session to go over the day’s agenda. The No. 1 item on their list every day: what they can do to make their team members’ — and their customers’ — lives better.
This people-first approach to business is something that has been an integral part of the Xperigo culture for years. In 2013, a new executive team was appointed to transform Xperigo’s business model and culture. It was clear to Dan Turner, then vice-president, business development and now president and CEO, that the market was evolving and Xperigo needed to re-energize and focus on a people-first culture.
“I could tell this was going to be something special. We were essentially starting a new company based on transparency and trust while cultivating potential at all levels.” Their efforts have reaped rewards for the business, and many accolades, including back-to-back wins for Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Culture in the Growth category.
Xperigo provides premium, end-to-end customer experience management services offering white-labeled automotive call centre and roadside assistance to consumers for 43 automotive brands in North America. Over the past three years alone the company has gone through significant changes that the culture has passed with flying colours. The first was establishing a Moncton, N.B. office in 2017 that more than tripled the size of the staff.
“We knew we had done fairly well in the Toronto market finding people to fit our culture,” Turner says. “Our challenge was how to pass that on to the new site, which had a lot more team members. How could we lift and shift everything we did in Ontario and achieve the same results in New Brunswick?”
What they didn’t want was a situation where offices were competing, he explains. “I didn’t like the notion there was a Moncton team and a Markham team. We are all one team.”
One outcome was the establishment of an inter-departmental, cross-functional X1 task force whose mission was to remove any location and departmental silos and create a one-team environment that promoted diversity, equality and inclusion.
“For the first time we embedded culture in the board-approved strategy,” says task force member Brad Kellock, vice-president, sales and marketing. “All of us understood that a high-performing culture is one where everyone, from the CEO to front-line agents, are in alignment with our goals.”
When they opened the Moncton space, they also started the “Life is Better Here” branding to differentiate the organization within the call centre space.
One of the first moves was an overhaul of the bonus system to ensure that everyone was rewarded fairly. “We did that right out of the gate, so we all pursue one goal,” Turner says. “Now we’re all rowing in the same direction and supporting each other.”
The pandemic was the second test they had to face.
As it turned out, it actually helped their efforts, Kellock says. “COVID was a catalyst to explore new options, testing new systems and allowing us to communicate virtually with the entire organization, so everyone is hearing the same information at the exact same time. COVID also focused us on finding new channels we could use to engage in culture. We now have more touch-points than we ever had with our physical offices.”
“With COVID we are making sure our teams are connecting more often in a virtual environment,” says Shelly Cohen-Bhamani, vice-president, talent and culture. “We put an extra effort into making daily touch-points at the start of the day to find out where people need help, their priorities, their state of mind and health.”
They also added resources to help team members work from home, introduced new benefits, and expanded the wellness program to include gym equipment purchases, virtual apps and cognitive therapy. “We’re really promoting our employee assistance program to take care of their whole well-being,” she says.
New recognition programs are providing an added moral boost, Cohen-Bhamani
notes. “Online meeting platforms are allowing us to celebrate and showcase team member accomplishments. In addition, we launched a transparent and interactive recognition portal for people to nominate their peers.”
While COVID delivered unprecedented challenges the culture held strong, Turner says. “We had two priorities during the pandemic. The first one was to protect the financial health of the business and the second was to protect everyone’s job. We achieved both. The most important thing we achieved was continuing to build on our great culture.”
A recent pulse survey shows that, rather than losing ground, they improved in several key areas from the survey taken prior to the pandemic. “It was almost short of miraculous, given that in working in a virtual environment we had to throw what drove a lot of our culture out the window,” Turner says. “We challenged everyone to create a new toolbox for making personal connections.”
Turner’s passion for Xperigo’s people comes though loud and clear in his monthly president’s messages from his home office, where he takes the time to discuss everything from financials and performance to sharing personal anecdotes and staff accomplishments. “I pretty much say that in every video, more than anything else, this is a people-first organization. Every decision we make factors in the impact it would have on our people first.”
The communications work both ways. An ideations portal was set up so that people from every area can give their ideas on how Xperigo can improve culture and engagement, Turner says. “All ideas are welcome. Every single team member has a voice and is encouraged to share information.”
People often ask him the key to their successful culture. “It’s not a magic formula. It’s about caring about people and meaning it,” he says. “No matter the decisions, their wants and needs come first. We approach everything from that perspective.”
IT’S NOT A MAGIC FORMULA. IT’S ABOUT CARING FOR PEOPLE
AND MEANING IT.