“Creating a Culture of Growth” Presentation at the IBAW

STUCK Co-Founders Jerry Jendusa and Paul Schulls spoke at the IBAW’s record breaking monthly meeting. The topic that Jendusa and Schulls spoke to was one that they are all too familiar with: creating a culture of growth. Jendusa started his previous business, EMTEQ, in his basement in 1996. After many trials, tribulations, assistance, and lessons learned, he was able to sell it. The company just had passed 100M in annual sales. Along the way, Schulls joined the business to help him form processes and tools that would aid in this growth. “He joined to help me deploy what we created and called, the Single-Page Plan. Paul would help develop our leaders and align the staff to the plan.” Jendusa described as he talked about his decision to onboard Schulls. The focus of their presentation, however, what not about EMTEQ. It was about what they did to transform their culture to one that focuses on growth and customers. As Jendusa stated, “If you are focusing on the customer, you will have a culture of growth.”

Beginning that Transformation

So, what major changes did they do to make this culture alive and sustainable? They talked about how they created a Single-Page Plan which, in its simplicity, made it possible for employees to align to and take action off of.

More great content this morning hosted by @IbawOffice. @STUCKCoaching leading a great conversation on how to execute your business plan. https://t.co/9EjWabZCdA

— Guardian Business Solutions (@Guardian_ERP) January 18, 2019

Next, the speakers talked about their expedited yearly business plan creation process. They explained how the simple process of assessment, planning, creation, and deployment immediately impacts a business. One member in the audience asked them if they should involve their customers in this process. Jendusa responded “the customer needs to be involved in the strategic planning stage. You need to hear what they need and what you should improve on”. He then related it back to the overall purpose of where a culture of growth comes from.

A Process Focused on Sustained Results

Schulls then started to talk about how you can sustain this culture, “you immediately impact the business when you create an actionable business plan. The next step is to sustain the results of it.” He proceeded to talk about their monthly execution process that prompts teams to review and update their plan and create action items, called Must Do/Can’t Miss items, that are aligned to achieving the plan. Areas of discussion included an overview on SMART goals and how they can be part of the plan’s execution and the business’ success. “The goals have the purpose of aligning staff to the plan. When staff knows what they should be working on by what is outlined in their goals, they will be aligned to the achievement of the plan as well.” Another part of this execution process is cutting waste within the business. Schulls spoke about a company communication schedule and how it can dramatically decrease the waste in business. The audience stayed engaged as they asked about different parts of the monthly execution process that STUCK offers. Questions revolved around the Must Do/Can’t Miss accountability items and how EMTEQ retained customers. The co-founders even brought IBAW member, Judi Murphy, on-stage to talk about continuous improvement in the workplace.

To conclude the presentation, everyone in attendance was introduced to STUCK’s software. The software provides a systematic approach to a culture of growth that includes the necessary tools and processes. Businesses can have their employees join the IBAW for networking sessions and seminars. More information is on their website.

Have You Transformed Your Culture?

STUCK provides the way for businesses to create a sustainable culture of growth through tools, techniques and peer-to-peer collaboration between like-minded businesses. For more information about how you can work with other businesses and act as a truly effective board of advisors, please contact us.