In today’s challenging and competitive talent marketplace, strong company culture and employee retention go hand in hand. Since joining the Nuts.com family as Talent Acquisition Lead and Head of Culture, I’ve had the exciting privilege of building our company culture—a key aspect of retaining the top talent we attract.
At Nuts.com, we are a third-generation, family-owned business growing at a startup-like pace. We’re working hard to make Nuts.com one of the best places for talented professionals to work and build their careers. Here’s how Nuts.com works to retain top talent.
Optimize Onboarding
A new hire’s first day at Nuts.com is one of the most important of his or her career. We encourage new hires to start on Tuesday or later so their first week can be spent learning and absorbing their new environment—and there is quite a bit to learn! Our new hire orientation opens up our warehouse operations to employees from every corner of the company. We have our new hires in sneakers and jeans “picking and packing” Nuts.com goodies on their very first day.
Each new hire receives a basket of goodies delivered to their door with a signed card from our CEO Jeff Braverman, COO Andrew Benoit and team supervisor to welcome them to the family. We also hold brunches for our new hires so they can get to know one another and have face time with top leadership.
Build a Family
A sense of family is extremely important to our culture. Despite our rapid growth, we aim to keep a close-knit yet professional environment. Every member of our staff gets to know the founding family members, through general visibility in the office and warehouse as well as during our semi-annual ‘town hall meetings’ where Jeff, our CEO, speaks candidly about company news and goals. We also hold company picnics and holiday parties that serve as our own ‘family functions,’ emphasizing food and fun.
Foster an Atmosphere That Fits Your Brand
At Nuts.com, we value a fun, engaging and positive culture. We also want our employees to feel happy and healthy while they’re working. In addition to offering partially-subsidized medical, dental and vision care for all employees—including our warehouse staff—we have implemented cultural fixtures such as standing desks to minimize sedentary work for our professional staff.
A masseur comes every other week to work with our staff and improve wellness.
We stock our head office with our own complimentary Nuts.com snacks and send care baskets of new products to our remote locations in California, Indiana and Nevada. Each employee also receives a significant product discount. Monthly, we hold happy hours and potluck lunches to encourage team bonding and a social, personable company atmosphere.
Most importantly, Jeff is dedicated to building an engaging and positive culture as Nuts.com continues to grow. When I joined this company, Jeff emphasized his vision for culture building and we continue to have weekly meetings on the topic. As we move forward, culture will remain essential to the Nuts.com ethos.
Focus on Feedback
A significant part of our company culture places a value on listening to staff feedback. We want to know what’s working and what isn’t. One way that we monitor feedback is to periodically check our Glassdoor reviews to see if the cultural changes we’ve implemented have been successful.
The aforementioned town hall meetings are another way we open up dialogue on company culture. At the end of these discussions, employees are free to ask questions and expound upon victories or challenges they’re currently experiencing.
Finally, we conduct periodic culture surveys so that employees can provide anonymous feedback on each aspect of the Nuts.com culture—from work flow to perks and benefits.
Encourage a Flat Structure
Our office is an open environment, with no closed doors, to encourage everyone to work together accessibly and get to know one another organically. We define our company structure as one with levels, but one that is also matrixed, so that collaborative work and feedback is not only possible but encouraged.
Our professional staff have the freedom to make process improvements and are empowered to mold and shape their own careers. It’s important to us that our staff has the power to make a difference and have an impact, both in their work and within the company.
What does your business believe is the key to retaining top talent? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
