Families that play together stay together, as the saying goes. Can the same be said for companies and their employees? If Spectrum Signal Processing, Inc. is any indication, the answer is a resounding "yes."
Whether it's starting a company-sponsored outdoor adventure club or planning "Spectrum Weekend," which treats staff and their families to an offsite company retreat, employees drive the company culture at the Burnaby, British Columbia-manufacturer of telecommunications hardware and software products. "Employee participation is far and away what separates us from other companies," says Paul Dyck, director of human resources at the 165-employee company. "Our culture is such that people get engaged and involved." This company culture has contributed in part to the resiliency of Spectrum through the upheavals in the telecom industry.
Employee participation involves more than fun and games. Workers take charge in shaping workplace policies, such as improving the performance review process and creating a new benefits program. With a workplace shaped directly by employees, it's little wonder that employment guide publisher Mediacorp Canada chose Spectrum from a field of 42,000 companies as one of Canada's top 100 employers. In fact, the company's reputation precedes it among potential workers, a nice advantage in the recruiting process. "I knew Spectrum looked after its employees," says Bill England, a sales engineer who joined the company after hearing about it from friends who work there. "It seemed to be a culture that really cared."
Nothing embodies Spectrum's open, employee-driven spirit as much as the company's Human Resources Committee, which has directed company policy and programs since the mid-1990s. Made up of a dozen employees from each area of the company who are elected by their colleagues, the HRC is a rotating group that designs workplace policies and programs.
The HRC does such an effective job that the company did not even have a human resources department until last year – and then only because the HRC requested it. "The HRC had built a lot of momentum and had a lot of things it wanted to implement," says Dyck, who has headed the HR department since it was formed. And while his department now implements many company-wide programs, the HRC still drives the agenda. "We're accountable to that body to deliver on these action items."
For example, after the HRC conducted last year's annual employee survey, it found that employees wanted the company to pay more attention to personal development. The committee directed the human resources department to find ways to meet that need. Today, posters throughout the workplace promote programs such as peer mentoring; a Spectrum industry awareness seminar series; competency models for managers, directors and vice presidents; and an in-house training program. "Whatever you'd like to see changed about the workplace, you have a mechanism to see that it happens," Dyck says.
The HRC also acts as a catalyst and clearinghouse for informal grassroots efforts that reinforce the company's sense of collegiality. One person recently suggested through the HRC that the company form a Toastmasters' Club to help employees with their public speaking skills. Within months, a new club was formed. Another employee used the HRC to put out a call to start an in-house basketball league. England, who joined the HRC as a new employee to get involved in the company and learn more about other business units, laughs, "I thought it seemed like a good forum to run a hockey pool from."
Such informal and formal team-building efforts cost the company nothing, yet provide real dividends in terms of solidifying the workplace culture. This proved especially important over the past year as the $32 million company battled to fend off the industry downdraft in one of its telecom's product lines. Employees rallied and pitched in. Trusting employees to shape and help manage HR policies and procedures bonds them to the company. "If employees feel they have had participation in the architecture of the program, policy, guidelines – if they have legitimately influenced them – you get much more buy-in and commitment from people," Dyck says.
Company: Spectrum Signal Processing, Inc.
Web site: www.spectrumsignal.com
Industry: High-tech manufacturing
Location: Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Number of employees: 165
Sales: $32 million
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