At Simantel, We Thrive When We Bring Everyone Together

Alright, let’s be real for a second. We’re at a point in the workplace where the concept of “employee engagement” has faced a reckoning. It has devolved from a popular organizational focus into a hollow buzzword. According to leadership expert Mark Crowley, in an article published in Fast Company, all the efforts, surveys and box-checking around employee engagement haven’t been truly effective.

Which is surprising, because “employee engagement” is supposed to help attract and retain the best talent, which is crucial for a company’s success, right?

Making More Out of Engagement

Mr. Crowley suggests that engagement isn’t where we should put our attention moving forward. Instead, he says, the focus should be on individual well-being—the sense of value and connection people feel toward their work. He cites two studies: research from Oxford University that found “how employees feel is the biggest driver of employee productivity,” and a survey by Oxford professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and Indeed.com, which concluded that the biggest factor influencing well-being is a sense of “belonging.”

This was a mic drop to us. Because belonging is core to what Simantel is all about. We’re committed to building a culture where our people can share ownership, feel seen and show up to the work as their whole selves. And not only do we believe in extending that commitment to our employees, but to our clients as well.

Culture From the Inside Out

The environment we cultivate for our folks here is because we care about them. We want a vibe where Simantelites can be comfortable showing up as their true, authentic selves. But it’s not accidental that it comes with a degree of empowerment. When our teams are able to bring their true selves to work, that means they show up at their best, invested in what they do and ready to release their full potential.

But here’s a harsh reality: a 2013 Gallup study on the state of the American workplace unearthed a startling stat: at that time only 30% of American workers cared about their jobs. What’s even more startling? In the decade since, nothing’s changed. It’s still 30%. More than half the workers polled still just want to do enough to collect a paycheck.

So what does Simantel do differently?

We’ve always made it our mission to create a culture of collaboration and belonging. We’re continually looking at our policies to see where we can improve. Here are a few programs we currently rely on to maintain this atmosphere:

  1. Flex Scheduling: Outside scheduled meetings, Simantelites have control over their schedule. This isn’t just because a workday isn’t one-size-fits all, it’s also because life happens. We get that and trust our teams to get the job done.
  2. Connected Management: We don’t micromanage. We use an ingenious program inspired by organizational strategist Jenne Fromm, that assigns every Simantelite to an upper management “mentor”. At a regular cadence, everyone gets real one-to-one conversation about real issues affecting them, whether personal or professional.
  3. Backing Passions: We established employee-governed Employee Engagement Committees to focus on issues important to our people, like mental health and DEI. We provide funding for causes and charities Simantelites support, and even allot Volunteer Time Off (VTO). We’re all about the things that light our teams up outside of work.

BTW, this isn’t just feel-good stuff. These are key for keeping teams coming to work all in, day in and day out.

Extending Culture to Our Clients

If you’re at all familiar with Simantel’s history, then you know that none of our clients have ever been just a “line in the books.” We’ve been a proud partner of Caterpillar’s since our agency had four walls and a roof, and the fact is, any of our long-term client relationships thrive on the same principles of belonging we provide our employees. It’s always been our thing.

We take the time to get to know our clients as people and allow them to get to know us. It helps define a partnership built on trust that impacts the work in many positive ways. We do this not only with a love for the work and a passion for solving business problems, but with applications and methodology tailored to every client.

Here’s a peek into our toolbox:

  1. Getting to Know You (but for real): We want to understand what makes you tick, so you can get what makes us tick. The famed RHETI® Enneagram model even helps inform us internally when we assemble a client/project team.
  2. Ground Rules (the cool kind): We set up clear “rules of engagement” tailored to each client. It’s not as stuffy as it sounds, just our way of making sure we’re on the same page from day one.
  3. Collaborative Workshops (or idea parties!): Anytime we sit down to discuss proposals, next steps or current states of a project or campaign, it’s done in the spirit of collaboration—we’re at our best when we’re in it together.

We think Mr. Crowley nailed it: the biggest driver of well-being is belonging. In fact, in our brand position as the agency of and,™  this principle is embedded in our values and pillars. It’s at the heart of a phase in our process that helps us find the best fit for our clients long term and an acting principle that keeps us open, creates space for diverse perspectives and maintains authenticity and transparency.

The Real Impact of Belonging

You might wonder, “Does any of this actually make a difference?”

Here’s your answer: Crowley’s article points out that, “Poor well-being is the real threat to organizational performance,” citing a Deloitte study that found “77% of U.S. professionals have experienced burnout at their current job and 91% say that having an unmanageable amount of stress and exhaustion negatively impacts the quality of their work.”

By focusing on well-being and belonging – for our team and our clients – we create a workplace culture where burnout is a rarity, not a norm. Our teams stick around, grow better every day and build strong relationships with our clients, who end up sticking around as well (and continue to send friends our way!).

Come Find Your ‘And’

Simantel is an agency that was founded on quality work—that was Jim Simantel’s whole deal. We’re not about quick fixes or empty promises. And that means as much for the work we do externally as the work we do internally. Our intention is to create a culture where everyone – both our team and our clients, together – feels like they truly belong.

Want to know more? Let’s talk about how our culture of belonging can be a positive force for your business.