Restek Corporation was founded on the concept that a high-caliber team that truly loves working together simply couldn't be stopped. Twenty-three years later, this leader in the design and service of chromatography tools continues to prove that their success rests in the comfort, education and passion of their people.
Restek's Founder and former Head Coach Paul Silvis, and current Head Coach Don McCandless, shared with us the origins and evolution of their one-of-a-kind culture – a culture built on the value of employee buy-in and the need to leverage each individual's development.
Transitioning out of university and into industrial analytical sciences, a young Paul Silvis thrived on research and design, but found he simply "couldn't survive on bureaucracy." Detesting the all-too-common practice of "management by intimidation," he realized early on that, "If you create a company where employees enjoy coming to work as much as going home, and where there's a high level of mutual trust and respect, no one can beat you." Silvis founded Restek on this simple but powerful idea in 1985.
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The notion still defines Restek today. "Management cares at a very human level," observes former employee Brad Rightnour, who was with the company it its earliest years.
Becoming more familiar with their industry, Silvis and his team saw that any company that survived and did well maintained a distinct culture. This meant defining unique core values. So, four years into operation, they put pen to paper. "This was a desire to coin the basic human interactions that we wanted to see here," he says. "I also wanted to create an organization that lives long after I'm gone."
As McCandless recalls, there was lots of discussion and buy-in from everyone in establishing this sense of mission and values. "If you don't get buy-in, especially early on in the company's development, you can talk core values all you want, but it won't be part of your culture. It has to be part of your DNA. It has to come from everyone," Silvis adds.
In defining one of these values, "Plus One," leadership knew they wanted to go above and beyond any expectation in customer service. It soon became clear that this value had internal applications. After all, as Silvis says, going above and beyond the call of duty makes work more enjoyable for all and helps keep motivation perennially high.
The cultural traits of across-the-board buy-in and "Plus One" had perhaps their most far-reaching implications for Restek when Silvis began searching for his replacement in 2003, two years ahead of the firm's 20th anniversary. Instead of a typical transition led by a board of directors, Restek approached this change by involving their employees. Silvis explains that he had always believed that all leaders should replace themselves. Added to this was his sense that he himself was no longer growing and learning.
Admittedly, with such advanced notice of his intentions, "Some people gave me hell," he says. "They were nervous."
McCandless soon voiced interest in the position, and he and Silvis held an open forum with all employees and solicited their input. "We had this open conversation, seeing if it might work and testing the waters with the team and executive staff," McCandless says. The proceedings were helped by Silvis' understanding of his role during the anticipated transition: "It was a relay," he says. "As I passed the baton, I was still here."
McCandless served a probationary period in 2005, with Silvis still being involved in the day-to-day operations as workers adjusted to the change. The whole process has served as a template for weathering subsequent leadership shakeups at Restek.
When it came time for McCandless to sit down for his performance review last year, the board of directors put him on the spot and asked him what he had learned recently. He made a list. Along with learning how to play the mandolin (personal skills count as much as professional skills when it comes to staff development), one of his many lessons included the hiring of Restek's first international employee, Jaap de Zeeuw, from the Netherlands. The new leader pointed to what he had heard were de Zeeuw 's first impressions of working for Restek after 28 years at other companies.
What were some of these? "I was amazed to find such a social structure in an American company," de Zeeuw says. Pressed further, he points to their people-first management, their openness with no secrets and no politics, and their focus on employee ownership.
In fact, with the company slated to achieve 100 percent employee ownership by 2009, employees know their development is tantamount to the success of Restek as a whole.
As de Zeeuw puts it, "People feel strongly linked with the company. They are the company."
Company: Restek Corporation
Web site: www.restek.com
Industry: Manufacturing for analytical sciences
Location: Bellefonte, PA
Number of Employees: 271
Sales: $47.8 million
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