Consumer Products
Out in the open
How to be part of the team
By Meredyth McKenzie
Smart Business San Diego | July 2008
Page 1 of 2
John Kontopuls
Co-founder, president and CEO, Elite Show Services Inc.
John Kontopuls isn’t afraid
of working out in the open.
Instead of being hidden away in an office in the back
corner, his office is in the lobby
of Elite Show Services Inc., with
only a glass window separating
him, his clients and more than
3,000 employees.
“I have the opportunity to
acknowledge employees as they
come into the office on a daily
basis,” says the co-founder,
president and CEO of the security and staffing service for
sporting events, conventions,
concerts and other events.
Being out with employees
shows them that you care about
them and creates a strong team,
Kontopuls says, and has also
helped Elite Show Service reach
fiscal 2007 revenue of $16 million.
Smart Business spoke with
Kontopuls about how to make
employees happy by creating a
good working environment.
Q. How do you create a good
working environment?
We’ll do assessments and find
out their preferences. The assessments reveal what individuals’
specific preferences are as they
relate to communications and
environment. The surveys provide a plethora of suggestions
that, when implemented, benefit
the entire work force.
The information affords the
opportunity to customize an
employee’s work environment.
You will find out if someone
would rather communicate via
e-mail, over the phone or in person. An employee’s work schedule can be modified to match
the hours where they are most
likely to perform at the highest
level. The employee’s workspace can be customized to their preferred environment.
They’re going to deliver better
service, they’re going to be happier, and they’re going to want
to continue to work for you.
Q. How do you become more
visible as a leader and create
relationships with employees?
Spend a lot of time with your
employees and express sincere
gratitude as often as possible.
Clients and people like doing
business with people like that,
and employees like working for people like that. A
lot of times, people will
grow their companies and
think, ‘I don’t have time for
that anymore.’ It’s important to remember the little
things and try to scale that
as the company grows.
One of the things is personalized recognition.
Recognize employees at
every level in the organization doing things right.
Express sincere gratitude
and personalize the recognition. Assess your employees and continually
ask them, whether it’s in
person or through surveys.
We reward teams and
individuals for their contribution, not just for bottom-line financial results but also for
contributing to morale and the
general culture. Find out what is
important to your outstanding
employees. Make a contribution
to the cause they are passionate
about. Name a day in their honor.
We recently celebrated
‘Lauren Day’ to recognize an
outstanding employee. When
Lauren entered our office, she
was greeted by the staff in front
of a large banner reading ‘LAUREN DAY 2008’; she was given a
gift basket with her favorite foods
and music CDs, a commemorative plaque and on the wall were
dozens of stars with comments
written inside from remarks
received from other employees
and clients. ...
It’s one thing to have an
Employee of the Month, and,
‘Here’s your certificate and gift
card.’ When you personalize
things for people, it makes a
huge difference and adds to
the ambiance, culture and
retention.
When employees are happy,
they’re going to continue to work for you. When your
retention is high, you’re saving
money in the cost of recruiting
and training.
