For most firms, firm culture is left to evolve naturally as a result of the values, customs, and traditions prioritized by the firm's leadership. Impact Advisors, a perennial Best Small Firm to Work For, isn't most firms. The firm's belief is that culture can emanate from the top, but must be cultivated regularly from within. As a result, the firm recently hired Michael Nutter to take on the role of Director of Firm Culture and Associate Satisfaction. Consulting One on One recently sat down with Nutter to learn more about his role, and the importance of culture inside the firm.
Consulting: What does the Director of Firm Culture do?
Nutter: From a responsibility perspective, I lead communication, both internal and external, and oversee the satisfaction of our associates. But informally, I'm considered the firm's happyologist.
Consulting: What is that? How did the firm come to create that position?
Nutter: I got a call from the President of the company and he shared what he was envisioning for the role. By the time I got off the phone, I was so inspired. It was clear that he was an incredible person and was leading an amazing place. That's when I decided to pursue the role and came on board in February. The goal of my role is to focus on how we could enhance the existing culture, which was already excellent. The mission is to increase employee engagement and enhance communications within the firm.
Consulting: And how have you worked toward that goal?
Nutter: I've focused on both firm-wide programs as well as efforts aimed at improving the days of individuals. My first step was to fulfill a long-standing desire inside the firm to create a newsletter to help keep everyone up to speed on what's on the mind of senior leadership, what trends our associates are seeing in their specific segments of the market, as well what we can jointly celebrate in the lives of our people — births, weddings, and other important life moments. And I've also worked toward enhancing our firm's mission statement, which I boiled down to: 'Create a Positive Impact'. And at our annual firm-wide meeting I began to roll out ways Impact Advisors can make a 'positive impact' with clients, in the office, and at home. But on a day-to-day basis, I spend a lot of time on a lot of little things.
Consulting: Such as?
Nutter: We recently had an employee that had an electrical challenge at her home and she was taking the day off to meet with electricians. So, I created an Impact Advisors Fire Care Package. In addition to smoke alarms, candles and flashlights, I happened to know that she loves bacon and I found multiple kinds of precooked bacon she could eat without needing her power turned back on. The message that came back from her with was so incredibly touching.
Consulting: How do you identify those moments?
Nutter: It's not just me. We've established a program we call High Impact Awards. Anyone in the firm can recognize anyone who has done anything above and beyond typical expectations. Everyone at our firm can award a $50 gift card to any co-worker at any time; there's no need for manager approval. The only condition is that the nominator has to write a firm-wide email explaining why they're giving this award.
Consulting: How do you measure the 'impact' of your role?
Nutter: We're looking at a number of hard metrics, but someone recently shared a story with me that may be more telling than anything we could measure. An executive recruiter was told by one of our employees: 'I really appreciate you calling, but would appreciate you taking me off your list. I'm really happy and have no interest in working elsewhere. The recruiter replied, 'Man, I'm going to take Impact completely off my call list. I just talked to another Impact consultant who told me the exact same thing.'
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