Q. How did you
manage the number of
people that was on the
committee?
There is a bit of a self-selection process
because there is not a
limit as to how many people can be on it. But …
they meet over lunch and
things like that. So, it
does require them to give
up some of their free
time, if you will, and,
there are people who
they’ll feed in information
or ideas. But, we don’t
have everyone in the
plant saying, ‘Yep, that’s for me.’
Q. Is there a risk in letting
employees pick the charities?
I’m sure there is a risk, but,
by the same token, the parameter is it has to be a 401c3, so
it has to be a legitimate nonprofit.
(Plus), they see so much
more of the community than I
can see myself. They see where
the needs are and, as representatives of Byers’ Choice, I can
have so much more impact in the right places if I have 140
sets of eyes and ears out on
the street working for me.
By the same token, this gives
them a lot of ownership in
terms of making really good
things happen where they see
a need. So, there is a risk, but I
think it’s far outweighed by the
positives that go along with.
In the past, at times, they
may have come across a need
for a playground in a community — I may live 20 miles to
the east and they live 10 miles
to the west — that I would just not even be aware of.
They know that this is a good
project that the community is
putting together that just needs
a little bit of help to get up and going. By bringing that project in, they can take ownership of it, and they can take
credit of it within their own
community.
Q. Is there a business benefit to helping the community?
I do think it comes out not
directly but in a couple of
ways. One, it helps the reputation of the company, both with
our consumers and in the
community. We do see benefits from that.
Two, and probably more
importantly in this case, is
most of our employees feel
very, very good about working
here, and this is one of the key
reasons that they do. They feel
that they are doing good work,
not only in the work that they
create but in the mission of
the company, and they’re helping people.
They’re helping build a
stronger community. From a
morale standpoint, there are
definitely positive consequences.
Q. How does community
involvement help with
recruitment and retention
of employees?
It has been a very good
recruiting tool for us in the
past. We’ve been ranked as
one of the top medium-sized
companies to work for in
Pennsylvania, and that has
helped attract people.
A couple of the things that
drive that are morale and mission, which this plays into
both of them, and our retention rate is very high. We typically don’t lose people very
often.
HOW TO REACH: Byers’ Choice Ltd., (215) 822-6700 or www.byerschoice.com
