Culture critical to employee retention

If the rubber industry's million-dollar question is attracting promising young workers to keep the talent pipeline flowing, the billion dollar one would be how to keep them from jumping ship.

The answer, though, isn't as expensive: It all comes down to culture.

Millennials, those born between the mid-80s and late 90s, are attracted to company cultures that are driven by two things: career development and giving back to the community. Young workers want to feel they belong, according to human resources officials, but more importantly they want to feel like their company stands for something more than just its bottom line.

"In my experience, it's culture No. 1," said Larry Ott, Cooper Standard Automotive Inc.'s chief human resources officer. "That's not to say that salary and benefits and maybe flexibility around the schedule aren't important, but it's culture. Salary and benefits aren't really the drivers in getting them and keeping them interested. Those have to be the price of entry, a certain expectation. But it's not the differentiator."

Ed Frauenheim—director of research and content at Great Place to Work, a company that works with companies in developing great cultures—said a great workplace has three components: trust in leaders, camaraderie and pride in what they do.

Millennials are looking for leaders who are honest and forthright, fostering communication and giving their employees a lot of information. He added that millennials want to have their say. They also want to feel like their work has a mission or a sense of meaning, seeking out companies that can connect their brand to a bigger purpose.

They also want to collaborate, both in and outside of work functions. And they want the leaders of the company to be the driving forces.

"What we have noticed about millennials is that they have set the bar higher than earlier generations for what they want in a great workplace," Frauenheim said. "If they don't experience those three things, then they're less likely to stick around."

A clear path

There's only one chance to make a good first impression. Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies takes that statement to heart.

Ari Gelberman, Freudenberg-NOK talent acquisition manager, says the firm sends out a welcome package to new hires two or three weeks in advance of their first day.

"The onboarding has to happen in a good way," said Stefan Politis, vice president of human resources, Americas, at Freudenberg-NOK. "The first day of work is always the most important. If it doesn't go well, this is what people will remember. There are a lot of support groups in place that are designed to bring the candidates up to speed as soon as possible."

But he added that even if the onboarding is great and new hires get all the support they need, at a certain point they ask for the next step. Politis said the company must provide career development as well as a strong impression that someone from within the company will be there to help the new employee grow.

Freudenberg-NOK pairs younger employees with a more senior one within the company, someone willing to offer support and guidance by sharing advice and experiences.

Ott said Cooper Standard has a similar program, and it starts with its most senior executives. The firm's global leadership team combined to have 38 mentorees last year.

"We're firm believers in the fact that most development occurs through assignment," Ott said. "Not necessarily classroom type of learning. We provide educational support for our employees who are looking for additional degrees. We have a very active mentoring approach that grows every day, which starts at the top."

Collaboration is key

When looking at small and medium sized businesses, Frauenheim said a caring community is the top driver of revenue performance, outranking a clear vision or compensation. People need to feel they're in a collegial, cooperative and caring place, and when they feel that they are they work harder.

"Millennials are used to working in teams in school," he said. "It's also proven to be the way to get the best work done in organizations, if you can get collaboration working effectively. That style of work is another one of those win-wins, if you set up a good team culture you're going to keep your millennials happy and generate greater performance."

Travis Fiebernitz, a chemical process engineer who joined Freudenberg-NOK's Cleveland, Ga., facility in the fall of 2016, had spent the last two summers with the firm as an intern. And one attribute he admired about the program was that at the end, each intern had one-on-one meetings with President Matthew Portu.

They were free to discuss their experiences and what needed to be improved. Fiebernitz suggested expanding plant tour opportunities to ensure that all interns have the chance to see one of Freudenberg-NOK's facilities first hand. The company said it's already making plans to do just that.

"It shows they value what people think," Fiebernitz said. "It speaks highly that they're willing to look at everyone and not just focus on certain people."

He also cited a collaborative environment as a main reason why he ultimately accepted an offer with the firm out of college.

"In the internship, I remember there was an issue with production with one of the plants," Fiebernitz said. "Seeing the teamwork and coordination that was required to work together. Gather all of these technical details figured out, how to actually fix the issues, and seeing how everyone communicated. The travel that was required to get it fixed and all of the help they provided production really opened my mind to the company a lot more."

Give back

Ott said that millennials have a strong desire to give back. Frauenheim said Great Place to Work's research shows that they want to have pride in their accomplishments, though that also included business-related projects.

"They want to know what we're doing for the communities that we're around," Gelberman said. "They want to know what we're doing for our people."

Cooper Standard identifies opportunities in the community and allows its employees to take advantage of this during working hours. Like the other programs, it starts at the top. Each member of the global leadership team is aligned with a certain charity and throughout the year that executive will produce content—namely videos—discussing outreach programs within that charity.

The global team also is in the trenches with its employees. CEO Jeff Edwards and Chief Operating Officer Keith Stephenson were recently front and center during a project Cooper Standard embarked on to help rebuild homes in Detroit, Ott said.

"Culture and community involvement are two of the keys in getting millennials in and then keeping them," Ott said. "We have young folks who are young ambassadors for the American Cancer Society. We're really getting a lot of the younger folks involved with support for charities at an early stage in their career. It's consistent with our culture, but we know they're looking for those opportunities, so we want to help them find them."