It’s All About the People

Editor’s note: The following article is from the session “Put Others First: Building a Healthy Company Culture,” presented by Aspire Software employees at IGNITE 2023 in Las Vegas. IGNITE 2023 was a three-day event hosted by Aspire and FieldRoutes that brought together professionals from the lawn and landscape, pest control and commercial cleaning sectors, to share best practices, industry knowledge and highlight the latest technological innovations and software solutions.

LAS VEGAS — “What is culture?” Derek Murray, senior director of care services, Aspire Software, asked the crowd of IGNITE attendees. To get thoughts stirring, Murray played Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.”

While many found it humorous, Murray said his point was, “It’s important to see people, as people, first.”

As a leader, one’s first responsibility is to serve other people and make sure employees have what they need in order to do their job successfully, he said.

“If we want to invest in them, we want to invest in their lives,” Murray said. “We care about the things that they go through. We care about their successes and losses. We care about things that are hard to walk through. You have to see the people that we work with on a daily basis as people, first.”

Giving open and honest feedback helps build trust and acceptance so people feel empowered, feeling as though they are a part of the organization in any position held, Murray said.

“A part of authenticity is just being big hearted,” he said. “It's just that you're open, genuine, and that openness creates passion. It creates passion for whatever the job is that they're doing.”

Janet Brennan, head of human resources, Aspire Software, said creating a company culture starts at the top and “owning” your company’s culture.

“You can't expect [culture] to be built in,” she said. “It's your responsibility as a leader, and if you don't believe in it and you're just going through the motions, people are going to see right through it.”

Brennan said the “ugly part” of creating a healthy culture is also recognizing when an employee does not fit the organizations values.

“Sometimes you just have to decide, ‘Do you really want to work?” “Making those really tough decisions of ‘is that person's technical prowess worth it?’... Sometimes you get some people who are really technically competent, but the damage they do across the organization is by far much greater.”

Meaningful work has a greater staying power than a paycheck, Murray added.

“When we humanize people, we're less likely to judge people,” he said. “We see similarities in our humanity. That's why it's important that we see people as people first.”

Chase Cutler, vice president of client services, Aspire Software, said a part of a healthy company culture is being able to “leave work at work.”

“Livelihoods are important, money is great, and jobs are important. It is really, really important, but it is not the most important,” he said. “If you've got people that like taking time off and are still working, you've got a problem. If you've got people that can't leave work at work, you've got something to work on.”