As the Process Improvement Director at Mytech, I had the opportunity to present Mytech’s process methodology to the Minnesota Manufacturer’s Alliance Peer Group. I love an opportunity to share with like-minded folks who are in the same or similar roles to mine. We had a great meeting and I shared our approach to process management and change management.
During the presentation, I rather emphatically explained the importance of culture and the impact on successful process engagement. If Mytech were not an organization with a vibrant and healthy culture, process engagement would be a much bigger struggle. We have a culture that supports process from the top down, and we have a culture of values that guide us in decision-making and resolving issues that may come up.
At the first break of the meeting, the group went on a tour of our Minnesota office. They observed staff working and engaging with each other as they walked on through each area of the building. In the last section of our meeting, we had time for a round-table discussion regarding metrics and accountability, and general feedback from each member on the group’s experience at Mytech. During this round-table discussion there was a consensus among the group that our culture here at Mytech is so positive! Employees seem genuinely happy and courteous to each other. These were newcomers to visit our office and they saw our culture on display. They could sense the positivity just by observing.
One thing that was of interest to our visiting guests was what we call culture “Cell Teams”. While we have a culture committee, we empower our staff to create cell teams for anything of interest and yes, we have a process! Our staff have the opportunity to join teams for book clubs, museum outings, or other internal initiatives. Near the end of last year, one of our cell teams was took on revamping our PTO policy. As a result we have a new and improved PTO policy that both positively impacts our company and our employees.
It was validating to hear the positive feedback and I truly believe that Mytech inspired this group of people, and in the future they will be evangelizers of the what a difference a positive corporate culture can make.