Employer branding
How Nuts.com Builds Long-Lasting Employee Engagement
Lindsay Terzian
Lindsay Terzian, Author at Glassdoor US | Jan 3, 2017
At Nuts.com we define employee engagement as a motivation and drive to have a meaningful impact on one’s own work and the company as a whole. Employee engagement means feeling a strong connection to the work you do and the people who help you make it happen. At Nuts.com we aim to build people’s passion and connectedness to our brand and our mission.
Engage Early
For us, building and maintaining engagement starts from day one.
We hire based on traits and attitude so that each talent selected will fit in and feel engaged at Nuts.com. An ideal Nuts.com team member demonstrates kindness and respect for others, is hard-working yet sociable and has a positive attitude and drive to learn. We also value flexibility as we are continuing to grow and change as a company—the unexpected can and does happen!
In Fall 2016 we began working with Paylocity, a provider of cloud-based payroll and human capital management software solutions. We were able to customize the software to our needs so that new hires are greeted with a welcome message from our CEO Jeff Braverman as soon as they begin the onboarding process. In his message, Jeff stresses the importance of open communication and idea sharing, traits he feels are key to success at Nuts.com. We ask that all employees add photos to their Paylocity profiles to make it easier to get to know their co-workers after orientation. This is especially important for the engagement of our warehouse staff.
Connect to the Core
Within teams and the entire company structure, we value and promote trust in management to keep people engaged. To ensure that professional staff stay connected to the core of the business, we have new hires in our corporate headquarters train to pack orders for shipment as a part of orientation. Orientees also sit with customer service to learn more about the customer base and customer needs. Annually, headquarters professional staff convene in the warehouse to help take inventory. We believe that encouraging a connection to the core of the business helps our talent stay grounded in the Nuts.com mission.
Office snacking is another way we provide an open, healthy and sociable work environment while supporting our company mission. We source only the best products for our customers, so we share the same premium goodies with our employees to feed passion for our product and our brand. Each Nuts.com employee receives a discount on all purchases encouraging them to take home our goodies and share them with friends and family. Our snacking area at headquarters features 27 gravity bins of constantly rotating snacks so there’s always something new to try. Our satellite offices receive care packages of product at the beginning of each month so they can join in on product testing and discovery. At work, it’s not uncommon to see coworkers discussing their favorites or making suggestions to their fellow at-work snackers.
Seize the Opportunity to Celebrate
Finally, we delight in taking opportunities to celebrate as a team. We celebrate employee birthdays with monthly celebrations and Nuts.com gift certificates for each birthday boy or girl.
We welcome our new hires with breakfast and we celebrate each Friday with a plate of fresh fruit at headquarters. We welcomed fall this year with a company picnic for employees, their significant others, pets and children. This year we are having our first Thanksgiving potluck and ugly holiday sweater party to revel in the spirit of the holidays.
Working on employee engagement is like gardening: there is always work to be done, there is always room for new growth! As we continue to grow as a company and brand, we plan to tend to our employee engagement initiatives and progress every step of the way.
Lindsay Terzian
