Best Places to Work: Reed Rubber strengthens pillars of communication, collaboration

ST. LOUIS—COVID-19 isn't in the rearview mirror yet, but most companies by now have adapted to its challenges.

Employers now are facing a new challenge following the onset of the pandemic, the economist-dubbed "Great Resignation."

As workers re-evaluate their careers with the consideration of work/life balance, long-term goals and working conditions, many employers are scrambling to find ways to recruit and retain.

So how does a company combat the Big Quit?

Reed Rubber Products Inc., a 2021 Rubber News Best Places to Work honoree, says the pillars of communication and collaboration make a strong foundation for a successful work environment.

But it goes deeper than that, as the company recognizes that communication can't just trickle down from the top. And there's always room for improvement. Having been in business for nearly 100 years, Reed Rubber would know.

"There is so much more to be done," said Clark Reed, CEO of the St. Louis-based rubber manufacturing company, adding that with the new year, what he'd like to do as a business leader is "elevate" these pillars "from a status of a tactic … and into a level of strategy."

In fact, Reed Rubber recently established a team to develop this strategy and explore the adoption of "Rockefeller Habits," he said, noting the company has set 90-day goals and regularly holds one-on-one report meetings among management, as well as daily huddles and wrap-up sessions for employees.

"We're not only communicating and collaborating, but around the same set of goals," he said.

Reed said the company also emphasizes creating "a fabulous customer experience" by establishing a "line of sight" from its employees to its customers. Not only does this break the barriers between seller and buyer, it also helps employees understand the value of the work they do.

By doing this, the walls between the company—including the workers on the factory floor who help make the products—and its customers become more "permeable," he told Rubber News.

In the face of the Great Resignation, employee retention is dwindling nationwide as long-time employees retire and other workers change their careers, either in search of higher pay or work that is more meaningful to them.

Employees of Reed Rubber receive benefits in the traditional sense, of course, with paid holidays and paid time off; medical, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurances; and retirement plans with company matches. And the average starting wage is $17.50 per hour.

But Reed Rubber does more than meet the basics.

"How do you retain employees when you may not be able to pay them as well as the factory down the street?" he asked.

"I think it's those human connections, but it's also what extent can we help people realize purpose in their work," he said, adding it needs to be about more than just making the company money.

"That purpose is helping our customers to succeed."

Reed said the company places TV monitors throughout the plant that show its customers' websites and reviews, so employees have the visual context of how the parts they make function for the customers.

Making human connections within the company are just as important, he added, noting this is much easier for Reed Rubber compared to its competitors as a small business of about 35 full- and part-time employees.

Examples of this, he said, are hand-written notes to employees and their spouses to thank them as way of saying, "our relationship between employer and employee is there, but it goes beyond that."

And what started organically by people bringing in food to share, Reed said, is now a weekly barbecue the company sponsors.

"I think we're going to have to apply for a restaurant license pretty soon," he quipped.

Reed Rubber also holds manager-employee dialogues where the company attempts to break down the "silos" between salaried and hourly workers, Reed said. Once every six weeks, managers within the company, including himself, choose an employee on the factory floor to "chat with them."

This is both to share with the workers the ways they help the company and explore ways the company can help them and get to know them better.

A benefit to this, he said, could be something as simple as providing a space heater to make a workstation more comfortable or more crates to make certain tasks easier.

"But I think the much more fundamental benefit is helping us (managers) to understand," Reed said. Understand both the challenges each worker faces at his or her job and understand each worker as an individual.

As leaders of companies work from home and employees work plant floors, it may be easy for workers to feel underappreciated. This is another way for Reed Rubber to show its employees it cares and is interested in making a positive work environment for them, he said.

"Factories in 21st century United States are, you know, not exactly always a sexy place to work," Reed joked.

"That's why being a 'Best Place to Work' is so important to us," he said, "so that we can recruit and attract the best people we possibly can."