While most employees at National Business Capital (NBC) were open to the idea of committing two days to working with culture-building organization Delivering Happiness (DH), some remained skeptical.
Every hour of every day is extremely valuable to any business, and so the idea of committing those hours to something as outside of their job descriptions as “culture building” raised some eyebrows among employees.
Afterwards, both the management team and the employees at NBC overwhelmingly agreed that they were the two most important and mind-opening days to the entire organization.
Delivering Happiness Brings
NBC’s Growing Staff Together
Co-founders Joseph Camberato and James Webster have always emphasized the value of culture in the way NBC operates in regards to both their staff and their customers.
However, as the company started to grow at such a fast pace – doubling their staff size from 40 to over 75, and expects to reach 100 within the next few months – it got increasingly difficult to unite employees sectioned off in more and more departments under NBC’s shared values and purpose.
As a customer-centric business dedicated to helping small business owners grow and improve their companies in every way, NBC also wanted to open their employees minds to how important quality customer service is, and the importance of appreciating small business owners and the time they spend working with them.
The Two-Day DH Masterclass Experience
Recognizing how much DH has helped other growing businesses accomplish this goal and their history with Zappos, the managers at NBC decided to give DH a shot, and enrolled in their two-day masterclass.
The two DH coaches were immediately very well-received by the staff and managers alike at NBC. They understood the value of committing two days to something outside of NBC’s normal working routine, and delivered a well-organized and efficient presentation upon starting.
Employees felt comfortable and excited to start the class right from the start. The DH coaches were fun and engaging, and made it clear the importance of their services, and how it would help the entire staff reconnect, and how their masterclass would help improve relationships with their customers.
They helped NBC’s staff truly understand the purpose of what they do every day, and how they help their clients, as well as provided insight as to how they can put the company’s values and purpose into action in their interactions with each other and their customers.
Unprecedented Happiness and Results
NBC started noticing exciting results both internally and in customer feedback almost immediately after the class ended. The employees at NBC started going out of their way to help each other and their customers – all on their own, without any encouragement from their managers.
The staff started connecting with customers on a deeper level, sending them gifts on special occasions, checking in on them to comfort them in their times of need, and providing an empathetic and compassionate customer experience that is generally lacking in most other business financing companies.
As a result, customer reviews and feedback have remained consistently stellar since getting together with Delivering Happiness. Relationships have improved, customer service and retention has skyrocketed, and 5-star customer reviews have become the norm!
Internally, the staff over time has developed more of a ‘family’ style work atmosphere than the standard workplace environment. Employee retention has also dramatically increased, due to a shared fun and uplifting spirit that the staff is inspired every day to take part of.
Employees from all departments at NBC have even started getting together for group activities outside of work, including their own volleyball league, and organizing mixers. In fact, Delivering Happiness’ services were so effective in broadening the minds of NBC’s staff that National Business Capital holds the record for the highest happiness score in DH’s history.
The Importance of ROI in Culture Building
ROI will always be a prevailing thought in the minds of business owners when presented with an idea like working with Delivering Happiness.
However, President and Co-founder Joseph Camberato says from experience that while a return on your investment will come, there are many far more important things that come with building a company’s culture.
“There are so many things that having an awesome culture has brought into our organization that if you’re going to go into this trying to quantify an ROI, you shouldn’t even be doing it,” says Camberato. “That’s not what it’s about. That all will come, but if you’re focused on your culture, and your employees, and you’re focused on your customers, and that flows into the overall experience your company offers, the ROI is there. But if you put the focus on ROI, you’re already setting yourself up for failure. If you put your focus on your culture, then the ROI will come.”
What’s more, Camberato and the management team at NBC have noticed that DH’s methods of helping build culture internally aligns perfectly with the newer generation hires, which much less motivated by money, and more focused on the purpose and value of what a business has to offer.
With a re-established focus on NBC’s purpose of We Finance Your Growth their businesses, and the values that help them accomplish this through integrity, human connection and empathy, management has a much easier time employing younger hires, as they actively seek people that are motivated by these same values.
This results in a staff that is more effective at their jobs, and an increase in employee retention, as they are more motivated to help NBC accomplish their shared goal of helping small business owners get what they need to grow.