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Intrust IT, which was founded in 1992, provides information technology support for small and medium-sized businesses that can’t afford an IT department of their own. The firm boasts more than 100 customers, most of who reside in the greater Cincinnati area.
Better educate employees about finances and making money—especially as the company evolves into an ESOP.
Implement and embrace The Great Game of Business® (GGOB) practices like huddling, financial literacy training, and forecasting to focus the entire team on cutting costs and finding ways to increase their margins.
“The GGOB without a doubt has had the biggest impact on our financials as any other program we’ve done in the 27-year history of the company,” says CEO Tim Rettig. “Each quarter we continue to set new records in both percent and dollar amount of net profit.” That’s something the whole team has benefitted from last year as they earned a 12% company-wide bonus. Even better, they are on track to earn a 20% bonus in 2019. “As the business owner I feel like everyone is pulling in the same direction,” says Rettig. “I get a really good estimate of what our financials look like each week, instead of waiting until two weeks after the month ends.”
The company's culture is now stronger because of GGOB. There is a new sense of camaraderie. The team now discusses each other’s line items during their Tuesday huddles and they want to know why items change. More importantly, if a number fluctuates, the person responsible is excited to tell the group why. Each person now owns his or her number and feels personally responsible for it—which has created a feeling for everyone that “we're all in this together.” “We have much less turnover, and everyone in the company is very engaged with the profitability of the company because they understand what’s going on with the finances, how they can make changes, and directly benefit when the company does well,” says Rettig.
“I personally am infinitely more knowledgeable on the financial workings of a business than I ever thought I would be. This has led me to be ever aware of costs and constantly looking for ways to increase revenue. It has led me to become much more invested in the overall financial success of the company more so than I ever have been previously at other jobs or thought I would be.” ~ Josh Rees, Client Success Manager
Rettig says that MiniGames played a key role in implementing Great Game™ as they helped get everyone excited about The Game while also providing some early wins and rewards before they implemented their full bonus program. “We still do MiniGames,” says Rettig, “but not as frequently because the engagement has been so good in the financial side and the bonus program that we haven’t had to lean too heavily on them.”
“I have implemented some of the concepts in my own home to try to help my children understand how they can help impact financial things at home. Turning off lights, not wasting food, etc. I could see some of the older kids starting to ‘get it’ when they got a chance to see where the $$ go each month.” ~ Chad Adams, VP of Operations
Rettig says that the biggest struggle for the team is putting ongoing financial literacy training of new employees in place. “We are still figuring that one out,” says Rettig, “but we recently formally documented a training program in an online learning management system. We mix some online resources with a workbook and in-person training to hopefully get new employees up to speed quickly.” A similar theme applies to educating all the employees about the coming transition to an ESOP and what it will mean for everyone as owners in the business.
