Communicate with employees
It might be a simple gesture, but Hanna sends birthday cards to each employee on his or her birthday, not just with a signature but also with an individual note. If he remembers something he and the employee talked about, he will reference that in the card.
While he isn’t mentioning anything about the company’s vision or using the card to write something about the culture, the action itself speaks louder than words.
“We do build the belief that we are a family business,” he says. “It differentiates our style of management, our style of ownership, our style of leadership from others in the industry.
“It’s a niche that we pride ourselves in. You can say you are a family business, but I think you have to walk the talk a little bit and do some things that take more time and more energy to show that you are concerned about (the employees), [that] they are very important and they are part of the family.”
While birthday cards are effective in communicating a message, nothing beats one-on-one face time. That means you have to get out of your office and meet directly with employees.
With almost 5,000 employees, that is virtually impossible for Hanna to do, so you have to take advantage of every opportunity.
Every Monday, he travels to one of the Pennsylvania offices for a sales meeting, and every Tuesday he travels to Ohio for a sales meeting.
“You have to come up with ways that you communicate your message, communicate your goals, communicate your business philosophy, your business plan, and clearly you can do that by being very, very visible throughout your organization,” he says.
“I know different business leaders that have multiple locations around the country and around the world. One of the things they do is every time they go to a business operation, whether it’s 100 miles away or 1,000 miles away, they spend time either at a lunch or at a dinner with a different handpicked, cross section of their employees. They may not be people they work with every day or even work with once a year, but they try to spread that knowledge (on) a one-on-one basis.”
Getting out of the office and visiting employees can go a long way, especially when it comes to them being open with you.
“There are some people who run businesses and they never go on the shop floor,” he says “They never go to where the product is being made or where the sale’s happening. They sit in an ivory tower. They’re great at reading statements and great at organization structure and governance, and that doesn’t mean that they are bad, but I think those leaders that are very visible and open, people are more inclined to send an e-mail to or call on the phone.”
When Hanna is walking around, he keeps conversations on a business level, unless he knows someone personally.
“I’m not sure there is an icebreaker,” he says. “I like to talk about what they are working on, what they are doing and trying to get a little conversation in a business manner.
“I don’t come in and talk about, unless I know the person really well, I’m not going to talk about their kids or something.”
Hanna also treats employees with the same respect, no matter their position.
“You have to believe in your people,” he says. “Whether the person is the newest receptionist or the star salesperson, you’ve got to believe that they do matter to the success of your company.”
You also have to take that approach to your position. While you may be at the top of the company, you still need to stay grounded. You will get better ideas from employees and get more feedback that is honest if you stay humble.
“There are some people that have a better way of embracing people to open up and to have conversations, and the people feel that they can say something without retribution,” he says. “If the person is the leader and the perception of the people who work there is that, ‘He’s the boss or she’s the boss,’ I don’t think they are a leader.”
Taking the time to interact with employees can go a long way in helping your company succeed.
“Never forget the people that make your operation work and make the success of your business are the people that are there, whether it’s two people or 1,000,” he says. “So, find as many ways to keep communications with them on a regular basis.”
