Culture Drives Success at i2 Construction
Not every company starts out creating a healthy culture or decides to change its culture as part of a strategy for company success. Creating a healthy culture is not part of the usual entrepreneurial handbook, which is mostly dedicated to starting and growing a business. So, what is it that drives entrepreneurs and company leaders to create healthy cultures as an important strategy for company growth and sustainability? Why do the leaders of a company decide to invest in creating a healthy organizational culture?
We asked this question of Allan Fries, the founder of I Construction, a successful general contractor in the metropolitan Denver area. Here is how he responded. Fries had been an executive in a family business. He realized that the culture there rewarded loyalty and was reluctant to challenge employees who were no longer engaged in their work. He left this company to start a new company that had at its core a culture that was employee centric and with a strong work ethic dedicated to quality construction and customer satisfaction. He was intent in not making the same error that he had experienced with his former company. Scott Farrell joined the company a year after it was launched. He, too, came from a family business and was totally committed to the culture that Fries had begun developing. Together, they made a decision early on to work together on the company culture, with Fries mostly on the customer and sales side, and Farrell on the internal, employee relationships. They also decided to hire their employees based on the company’s culture and to reinforce this culture through training and coaching of all employees.
We asked Scott Farrell how the company dealt with employees who were not in step with the culture. The company’s first response to those who were not embracing the culture was to invest in coaching for them. If this failed, the company was prepared to part ways with the employee. The company would not tolerate anyone who did not embrace its values or culture. This was not easy for some who were expected to openly admit a mistake at company meetings or manage customers in a way that promoted alignment even when the customer was responsible for causing a problem that negatively impacted a project. This openness was not for everyone, even when the culture clearly avoided assigning blame in favor of fixing a problem regardless of who was at fault. The company would even pick up part of the cost of a customer mistake to maintain a close, trusting relationship with that customer.
The commitment of Fries and Farrell to developing and maintaining an intentional culture that hires based on company values, empowers its employees to accomplish its mission, encourages excellence through learning from mistakes, and provides strong alignment and support for customers has resulted in exceptional growth in sales and profits. The evidence is clear: in the case of i2 Construction, its culture drives its success.
