Letter on the Third — August 2019
Dear Datamax Family,
It’s easy for myself and managers to say we’ve got great company culture. It’s really nice when your employees say that.
For the third straight year, Datamax Arkansas was named one of the “Best Places to Work in Arkansas” by Arkansas Business and Best Companies Group. This to me reinforces that we are doing the right things in how we train our managers, how we train our people, that we do listen to employee needs and make it part of our mission to carve a successful career path for them. Personally, what’s particularly notable about this award is that 75 percent of the decision process was based on employee surveys that measured the overall employee experience. It’s deeply rewarding to feel like, based on our own employees’ responses, we’re honoring our Little Blue Book, our principles, and the culture we strive to authentically live each day.
Great culture is piggybacked by great communication. If you haven’t already, you’ll be hearing a lot about Unified Communications - a new Datamax competency that I think blends right into other areas of our solutions. Unified Communication is essentially an integration of communication services (everything from business phones to video to mobile devices and text/chat) into one manageable platform. Just as we manage networks and print environments, we now have the ability to take on customers’ phone systems and their overall communication system. The potential with Unified Communications is everywhere – as employees continue to be more mobile in their day to day business, the need for an intuitive platform to manage them will only be greater.
Are we unified in our own communication? I don’t know if we could ever communicate too much, or too often. In fact, we have many methods of communication available – email, meetings, hallway conversations, the Rave Review, the company handbook and our Little Blue Book, to name several. How well do we utilize these resources? How often do we go to these channels to ensure we stay in the know? I take to heart Datamax Principle #8: “Keep everyone informed.” Just as we keep customers up to date on issues and business processes, it’s everyone’s job here to remain informed, to communicate issues, to address challenges, and then “make decisions based on the good of the entire organization.” (Datamax Principle #6).
In closing, communication will be especially key this month, as campuses in all of our locations head back to school. It’s a hectic month every year, as we work to get equipment delivered and installed in time for that first bell. But I encourage all of you, no matter your role in this effort, to remain vigilant. Let’s be unified in our communication. Let’s be “all together” in our approach. The Best is Yet to Be.
Your Raving Fan,
