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Why this Gritty, World-Changing Company is Happy to “Screw Up Their Coffee”

May 5, 2016 Jeff Lesher

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The following blog was co-authored by eQ's Jeff Lesher and, the COO of Glassman Wealth, Gabe Muller 

We are terrifically lucky to be able to work with Barry Glassman, Gabe Muller, and the entire team at Glassman Wealth Services. They are a company deeply committed to providing remarkable experiences for their people to ensure their clients enjoy and benefit from remarkable experiences as well. As a measure of their success in the effort to accomplish these related goals, they continue to grow as a business and were recognized in 2015 as a best place to work by the Washington Business Journal and Washingtonian Magazine.

Survey data revealed their employees weren’t uniformly crazy about the coffee at the office. In other words, Glassman Wealth is a great place to work, but it could be better if they hadn’t screwed up the coffee. But hey, nobody’s perfect.

Under Barry’s leadership, the firm has a spirited approach to its continuous pursuit of excellence and then some. He once put the kibosh on efforts to refine their client experience program. Barry insisted clients didn’t want to receive any fuss from the firm until the actual work done for them was at the highest possible level. He has a similar mindset when it comes to work place awards: if the employee experience is remarkable, awards are fine. If not, do the real work first.

I’d venture to say that – judging by the fact the coffee was the only thing people could come up with to poke a hole in the firm’s balloon – he’s succeeded. And, if you ask me – their coffee’s pretty good.

I’ve observed the Glassman Wealth team in action as they created a great place to work, and now they’re even working beyond the standard they’ve set for themselves. This made me think the lessons they’ve learned along the way would be helpful for others who aspire to a similar level of experience for employees in order to ensure the best experiences for their clients.

I asked Glassman Wealth COO, Gabe Muller, to weigh in about the good and the bads (if any) of aspiring to be a best place to work, how to get there, and – perhaps most importantly – what’s new once you get there. Here are some highlights of what he shared:

“Being named in the Washingtonian as a ‘Great Place to Work’ is very exciting, but also humbling. Receiving this type of recognition feels great; but, as Barry likes to note, it’s only the beginning. We know that we have more to do.

Our team at Glassman Wealth shares a passion for enriching the lives of our clients, and we strive every day to fulfill this passion and deliver an unforgettable client experience. Barry and I have learned in order to deliver an unbelievable client experience, we first have to create a positively unforgettable experience for our employees. Creating these experiences is an ongoing process as each person is different and circumstances certainly change. With that being said, we have employed the following elements to help us get off to a strong start.

Step One was to identify the core elements of what makes this place special for the right people. You can call these values, but they’re elements that serve to define our culture in terms of our what, the how, and – most importantly – the why we do it for our clients, our team, and our community.

Step Two we are very purposeful in allocating resources – time, money, and opportunity – to ensure that we support the growth and development of our people, individually and collectively. All of us hold ourselves accountable to be present in every interaction; we show interest in, and respect for our colleagues. It may sound obvious, but we want people to know we care about them. We actively encourage our team to look for ways to do things better and implement those innovative ideas. Perhaps most importantly, we model the behavior of intent, especially when it comes to having an impact in everything that we do. We’ve worked hard to create a community as a company; and we also come together as a team when we work outside of the company to help make our communities better.

Step Three – and my favorite part – is that we have fun. We’ve done some wild stuff like racing cars; but it’s the smaller things like a pre-Thanksgiving pie party or just grabbing lunch and sharing a laugh. Most of us would say these are the things that top the list. Barry is incredibly generous and has great taste in wine, which can be a winning combination.

Delivering a remarkable experience for our team members is of utmost importance to position us to deliver remarkable experiences for our clients. The connection is proven and powerful. Being named a ‘Best Place to Work’ simply means one thing to us – we are just getting started. Every day, we get to come to work and see our team evolve and thrive in their roles. They are purposeful, engaging, and collaborative with each other and with our clients. They’re remarkable!”

Glassman Wealth is as special a place as its leaders and its people have made it. You’ve only to put in the effort to make this possible for your company, your team, and your clients. It doesn’t have to result in awards – they’re not really the point here. The point is that focus, intent, candor, and flexibility – when shared and enabled with the right people – can create a capacity for you to be even better. Perhaps, if you’re fortunate, your “even better” will be defined as having screwed up the coffee. When you get there - borrowing from Barry one last time - just drop the mic and saunter away.

TOPICS: High Performance, Employee Engagement