Building a Company Culture Fit for Every Employee

Each of these companies; Dragon Army, English Tea Shop, Evergreen Cooperatives, Experity, and Goodall Homes are part of a growing community of Great Game™ companies who have reimagined capitalism as a transformational force for good. Each year, the Great Game Community recognizes companies like these who have the courage to do business differently. They are using the power of business to transform their associate's lives and the communities which they serve, for the better. They are part of a movement that's trying to 'Change the Game'.

We can't wait to introduce you to all our All-Star Team companies. Last week we introduced you to 1st Pet Vet, 417 Magazine, AMBAC International, Argent Tape and Label, Cherry's Industrial Equipment, Cisco-Eagle, Clarke EyeCare Center, CM's Outdoor Solutions, Community Partnership of the Ozarks, Pregnancy Care Center, and Victory + Mission. Now, read the next 5 case studies and watch for the remaining 13 to come your way!

Organization Background

Dragon Army is a purpose-driven digital-engagement company that counts multiple big-name organizations like The Home Depot, The Coca-Cola Company, Delta Air Lines, Krystal, Chick-fil-A, and The American Cancer Society among its clients. The business was founded in 2013 by serial entrepreneur Jeff Hilimire as a mobile game studio, then pivoted to become a digital agency specializing in mobile and web applications.

Challenge

Build and nurture a culture of camaraderie and teamwork that could scale along with the company and a place where everyone who contributed to the success of the organization would benefit from that success. “I loved being on a team,” says Hilimire, a standout tennis player in college. “I wanted to find a way in business where we could also compete and win or lose together.”

Organization Background

The island nation of Sri Lanka has long been revered for its tea, especially in the United Kingdom. In 2010, Suranga Herath and his team capitalized on that history when they rebranded the business (which was founded in 2001), calling it English Tea Shop. Building on lessons learned from earlier in the company’s history, when it catered to low cost and mass production, English Tea Shop evolved into a premium organic brand. They did that by moving away from the traditional auction model used to buy tea for centuries. To help promote sustainable agriculture practices, the company now buys its tea directly from organic farmers.

Challenge

In 2014, Herath flew to the U.S. to attend an executive leadership program at Harvard University. He was looking for ideas of how to sustain his business by creating a shared-value model where his employees, farmers, and customers could all thrive together.

Organization Background

Evergreen Cooperatives is a family of worker-owned cooperatives that includes the Evergreen Cooperative Laundry and Green City Growers. It was launched in 2008 by a working group of Cleveland-based institutions—including the Cleveland Foundation, the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, and the municipal government. The goal of the Evergreen Cooperative Initiative, also known as the “Cleveland Model”, according to the Cleveland Foundation’s President/CEO and Evergreen Board Chairman, Ronn Richard is: “equitable wealth creation at scale.”

Challenge

Giving ownership of the business was a critical first step in changing the lives of Evergreen’s employees—many of whom were formerly incarcerated. The challenge was that many of those employees didn’t fully understand or appreciate how their organization made money and generated cash.

Organization Background

Experity was formed in 2019 out of a merger between Practice Velocity (PV), a firm founded by Dr. David Stern in 2002, and DocuTAP (DT), PV’s largest competitor. “It was an opportunity to bring two winning cultures together,” says Stern. Experity offers practice management software and billing services for about 5,700 urgent care clinics—about half of the nation’s total—across all 50 states.

Challenge

Find a system that could help the merger of two company cultures thrive together by pursuing shared goals.

Organization Background

Goodall Homes is a residential home-building company based outside Nashville, Tenn. Following in the footsteps of his father, Bob Goodall Jr. founded the current iteration of Goodall Homes. The company has since been responsible for creating many residential communities in the greater Nashville area. The company has more recently started a separate grading and utility business that employs more than 200 associates. In 2016, Goodall was acquired by Clayton Homes, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

Challenge

While the company had worked with a consultant to trim staff and operations, cost overruns remained an ongoing issue. They wanted to find a way to teach their team the discipline to look ahead and take advantage of downturns in the housing market. The company also wanted to create incentives and a bonus plan that would reward employees based on the performance of the company as a whole.

// JOIN US IN SEPTEMBER TO SEE WHO TAKES HOME THE FOLLOWING TITLES

Rookie of the Year – This award recognizes those companies that have been practicing open-book management and The Great Game of Business for less than two years and have already achieved some remarkable results.

Social Sector Award – This award honors a social sector organization -a not-for-profit, education, government entity - playing The Great Game of Business at a high level, proving that The Game can be effective and impactful in all types of organizations.

Hall of Fame Inductee – The Hall of Fame honors organizations that have operated using the principles of open-book management for more than a decade with lasting, proven results, and have demonstrated a willingness to spread the word on open-book management in order to help others succeed.

All-Star Champions Award - The cornerstone of the All-Star Awards, the winners of the All-Star Champions Award are the best of the best. They have been playing GGOB at a high level for two or more years, and as a result have seen impressive results in their financial performance and their company culture.

International All-Star Champion (new for 2020!) - To encourage the participation of our international practitioners and recognize the expansion of our global GGOB community, our judges thought it was time to add this category to the awards.

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Would you like to be on the All-Star Team next year?

Here is the criteria you will be judged against:

Great Game Methodology: How well the company has employed the core practices of The Great Game of Business®;
Financial Performance as compared to industry benchmarks;
Culture Change: How well the company has done in creating a stronger culture and a better place to work;
Compelling Story: How compelling is the company’s story considering their accomplishments, including any events that they’ve overcome and uniqueness in applying the practices of GGOB;
GGOB Scorecard survey results which represents the employees’ perspective on their practice of GGOB/OBM)