CR-People Behaviors We Hire, Reward & Let Go

CR Culture -- Forging Excellence

Peter Drucker believes in any great organization, it starts with the WHO and we couldn't agree with this more.  

At CR Rail & Fence, we aspire to make safety easy for the world- making safety affordable, accessible, and DIYable by leveraging superior logistics & distribution, highly useful & relevant instructional educational content, and purposeful product design.  To accomplish our mission, we start with people. 

This document is about CR's culture and how we begin by taking care of our staff so they can in turn, take care of business.  Just like the management golden rule: Who>How>What, we place truly want to focus on our people so that our people are empowered to do amazing things. 

What makes CR Rail & Fence special? 

  • We win together
  • No politics; embrace meritoricy
  • Decision to be made as far forward as possible (manager to provide context & alignment, not decision) 
  • Communicate openly, honestly, and directly 
  • Willing to make tough decisions, including people- Keep only people we are willing to go to bet for 
  • KISS (Keep it simple silly) It- including rules, policy, procedure (hire the best, trust the people, provide the context, and avoid rules) 

Is everyone like family in CR Rail & Fence? 

No. While we value personal connections and we are aiming to be a tightly woven community, we are not a family.  Instead, a better analogy is that we are like a professional sports team- comprising a highly specialized team of A players that has each other's back but knowing that the goal of the team is to win (even if that means trading players in and out).  

We believe in the keeper's test: Suppose a staff put in notice to leave for a competition, how hard will the manager and/or peer fight to keep that staff?  If not much, then the staff has failed the keeper's test. 

Valued Tactical Behaviors 

Money is a very tactical expression of one's value; and we live ours with whom we hire, reward and let go.  Below are the key behaviors and skills we value. If these resonate with you, you'll likely thrive at CR Rail & Fence. 

Speed

There is no better time than today.  We act in the now; not later.  

  • Speed in taking action
  • Speed in deduction (create thoughtful logical conclusion in decision making)
  • Speed in going from issue > discussion > resolution > calibration  (fail fast, fail forward). 
“We run laps around our competition.   By the time they are dilly dallying about what should be done; we have already done it, analyzed the result, and onto next iteration of what needs doing.”

Accuracy

  • While we are moving fast, it is extremally important to be accurate.   A plane moves very fast; but just because it moves fast doesn’t mean it ignores all the critical checklist and process. 
  • Because we are Ready > Fire > Aim, our aim will initially be inaccurate; however through continuous, small and quick iteration, via calibration, we will become very accurate quickly.

Efficiency

  • Resource management is a key management skill. 
  • Sequencing is in part resource management that can make the same resources, if deployed in the right order, can create tremendous compounding effect. 
  • The question I always ask is, how can we get a job done with the least amount of energy/steps? 

Efficacy 

  • Our business definition of efficacy is the return on investment (time, energy, effort, mistakes, etc).
  • We are always looking for a higher ROI. 
  • Another way to say this is leverage.  
The 4 leverages
  1. IP (mistakes learned and processes are forms of IP)
  2. Media (when I am making this video, I no longer have to speak of this content again.  Also I can bake this video into a process; thus also leveraging IP)
  3. Technology (I am using loom, youtube, and a LMS to record, store, and display the information)
  4. People (hardest to leverage yet most fundamental leverage)

Valued Personal Behaviors 

Curiosity

  • You read (or study content) voraciously 
  • You seek alternative points of view and calibrate your ideas
  • You ponder on why and how things are currently done against ideals 

Win as a Team (Leader eat last)

  • You make time to help peers succeed
    • You have peers who will testify to how you've improved their personal or professional career
  • You seek what's best for the organization, not yourself nor your team
  • You are humble and open-minded about other's ideas (use weighted credibility)
  • You give credit where credit is due
  • You are always looking for ways to elevate others 

Courage

  • You are willing to make uncomfortable decisions
  • You take educated and calculated risks and are open to possible consequences 
  • You speak up and provide inputs, especially even when it's unpopular
  • You are willing to be vulnerable, in search of truth and connection
  • You give and take feedback to and from peers at any level 

Communication

  • You take the time to be purposeful in your communication
  • You analyze, actively listen, and seek to understand before responding
  • You are willing to learn how others communicate and receive messages, especially those who don't share your native language or culture norms
  • You continuously take action to improve your communication skills

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

  • You recognize humans are inherently complex and we all have our unique view of life & work
  • You treat everyone with respect regardless of position in company
  • You are enthusiastic about creating diverse teams where all members feel welcomed and respected
  • You take action when you observe someone being marginalized

Talking about valued behaviors is simple, but practicing them is more challenging. When defining courage, we emphasize, "You challenge actions of colleagues that don't align with these behaviors." We all strive to hold each other, especially our leaders, accountable to these standards.