Heroes in Business - Eric Mulvin, The Things We Do at Company Culture, Contact Center Cactus Chat

Episode Date: May 30, 2023

Eric Mulvin, The Things We Do at Company Culture, Contact Center Cactus Chat. Part 2 of Eric’s talk with Pac Biz Company Culture Director, Kiezia! Bring your operations to where it should be and your employees at their best! Pac-Biz.com/podcast

Welcome back to the Contact Center Cactus Chat podcast. And we are back with Keisha, our director of company culture for part two of our interview here. And really excited to have you on the podcast again. And I've got a couple more burning questions I have to ask you about. more questions of burning questions i have to ask you about and uh this is the very last of our eight-year anniversary series while i'm here in uh jimigeti and i think this is like the eighth or ninth or tenth podcast i've recorded since i've been here so uh i can start doing these in my sleep soon but uh thank you for for stepping up and being on the show appreciate it thanks for having me again eric so i'm excited to talk more about company culture.

Yeah. Get started. So in the first episode, we talked about how we started working together even before PacBiz with the taxi business, TrueCap. And we talked a bit about some of the growth that you've experienced and the growth that you've experienced and the growth that you've helped bring pact is and some of the the talent that you help bring

pact is but uh i want to talk about uh you know that takes us up to about 2020 and uh you know i was out here with my family march 2020 we're watching the news. COVID is starting to happen. Lockdowns are starting to happen. And now all of a sudden, you know, like you built the culture around events, a lot of events that we used to do all the time with the staff. And now, like, unlike the US, Canada, the UK, the COVID restrictions here were really strong and really strict. There was no face-to-face. There was mask, face shield with the mask. They had police checkpoints throughout all of the Philippines, throughout the city here. One of our biggest challenges when COVID started, if you remember, was we had staff that didn't keep up with their motorcycle registration.

And so when they got to the police checkpoint trying to get to the office, they weren't let through because there was no registration. So they had to go back home. It's like weird stuff that we had to deal with. But they couldn't even come to the office. Like, you were just completely cut off from the events that you could put on. In fact, I remember we were getting ready for the five-year anniversary we were we do this thing called sports that's uh one of our traditions that we used to have here and really excited about it we're gonna have everyone getting together and then as it got closer we were meeting and they're like

okay we can't have a gathering of more than 100 people so okay how do we balance that then it started going to like 50 people and then it started going and next thing you know like the whole city's locked down so yeah what a challenge it was but you answered the call again and you stepped up and you found innovative ways to continue culture. So how did you manage that? And how did you not just like give up? Because I feel like some people in that role, this is it, I don't know, call me when COVID's over. But no, you took the challenge and you made it into an awesome workplace

when people couldn't even see each other. So how did you do that? so i remember it was march uh when that happened like you left though we can we can no longer work at the office and yeah i saw i i had that uh i had that in mind too that oh what what what am i gonna do with with company? But I remember also like a friend telling me about it, like, oh, this time would be like the more you need company culture, like your job is more needed. And yeah, so it's just about being able to quickly shift to the digital world.

So March, and it's interesting also, it was during COVID this time that we actually updated our company core values, which is more where everyone participated compared to the old one that we had. Somebody just put it out. It's true. It was like an acronym of something.

I don't remember anymore. It didn't have any meaning. No one could repeat it. I think I asked around. Do you guys know what it says out there for our core values? No one in the company. I couldn't even repeat it.

That's a problem. Right. So it was during the COVID time that we updated our company core values. And yeah, it was, because communication is a big thing and people are at home. And, you know, how do you make this like events? But there's always always the virtual world. And so I remember I did try to find resources, what other companies are doing.

And there is this group of culture, they call it culture champions. So there is that group, and I check what they're doing. And everyone is shifting to the virtual world. But during that time, we're also bringing something that can help, something relevant with the situation. And I remember we brought in speakers to do online talk. It's easy to do it anywhere you are.

So it's an opportunity, right? And you get to hear these people from all over. We brought in a couple of guests like monthly and also we did uh the pb jam or like online we just had like a few people doing uh a recording and then we we used the live on it was just facebook and equality wasn't even that good but yeah it was it was about quickly shifting to the virtual uh world and because communication was a very crucial part during covid yeah because we used to see each other all the time now we've got to get information to them and they're not in the office they're not in person so yeah and i'm so glad that again you're out looking you have

see this is where it's so important that personal growth if you wouldn't have gone out and made those connections before covid started i i think that really helped give you some ideas on you know how you could take this challenge. And, you know, I remember, like, I was, like, really impressed. Like, wow, you're getting some really great speakers here. And I don't think we wasted any time starting. It wasn't like we spent six months planning it out. Like, it was right away.

I think, like, by May, June, we were doing this kind of stuff. Yeah. Yeah, Eric was right. It was right away. It was, like, March. And then I attended this, like, we were doing this kind of stuff. Yeah. Yeah, it was, Eric was right, it was right away. It was like March and then, I attended this class, like culture, that was like about valley creation, so just perfect timing.

And Eric had the, it was like the, we had the PB variety show, where Eric would have his updates, what's going on with our cast. I mean, it was a literal like it could have been a Netflix series like a literal 30-minute episode.

I still love like we we're not doing enough of them. I think with everything coming back, we see each other all the time we're not really doing that as much uh anymore it really was something that helped us out through covid but i think we got to like episode 16 or something or we made a lot of episodes and they're high quality like it's me interviewing people like i think i always interviewed a staff member i'd do little segments where i'd intro and

outro clips and i'd have my daughter in the show with me uh and then the the creative team here came up with the program you know whether it was like you got different employees on for father's day with their kids or mother's day there There was something around that. We'd have staff doing performances. They'd do like a song every chord and we'd put that in the show and then mix that in with updates from leaders about housekeeping items and things that you need to know about your job and what's happening.

And I'm so proud of the work that we got to do. And all I did was say like we got to do this this show and but the work that happened behind the scenes to put it together you and and benzie and a lot of other people a lot of other leaders because you had to get people to step up and they had to submit videos. It was a lot of work. But what's awesome is I will save those videos forever. I wouldn't be old watching those videos and be like, wow, look at, there's like, it's just like a time machine, snapshot in time

of what we were going through, talking about COVID. But also, we're gonna look back at these episodes and when we're way through, talking about COVID, but also, you know, like we're going to look back at these episodes and, you know, like when we're way older, wow. I still, I actually saw part of the clip not too long ago. It's already been three years. And you know, when you're a parent and it's got a six year old and a three year old and, you know, they grow so fast. So it's cool to go back and look, it's like, oh my gosh, my daughter's so small there.

Look at how much more hair I had back then. Right. So we had those. And I think one of the really like important things that we did during that time was the updating of the core values because you know in company culture they always say like getting the right people for your business and so yeah we updated it and they were like people that we had to replace because they're actually not fit to the job. For example, we got a better videographer

because of that. At COVID, also, because of the lockdown, we were able to look at our... We were able to look at other things, like how we were able to look at other things

like how we can you know make our culture like stronger and it all starts with um with that updating of the core yeah so those were actually exciting times for me

and yeah for culture I'm so grateful we went through that because I use the core values there there is not a business I talk to if you guys ever reach out to PACBiz if you're if you're listening you're thinking about outsourcing and you know you set up a meeting with us there's no way we're going to get through that meeting without me spending the first couple minutes talking about our core values. And it makes my job so much easier because now with just a couple minutes, I could really explain who we are, what we're all about here, what we look for in staff. And if they don't match it, what we do when we let people go because they're not a good fit. And clients, too.

I want to attract clients that match those core values we didn't have that to begin with at first i wanted to attract clients that pay us money i want that but they also have to match our core values and i mean how important is it you know you i mean you're you're not working with the clients directly you get to help maybe entertain them when they come out to visit we got clients that come out from uk from canada from the us uh how how important are those core values and having clients that are a match with that right so uh without or without core core with our core model uh it is very like important to to always work with clients aligned to our core right because um it also happened to us when we worked with this client before i think i don't have the data like how many clients would just stop working with us like maybe there is such a difference with our clients before we

update that core or but I think there is different. Eight year anniversary and I think one of another one of the things that I really am really proud of that we've been able to build over these years and I think it's so important to culture is traditions and I think that was something too that we were pretty purposeful in from the beginning there's things that we keep coming back and

bringing back PB jams the well sports fest is something we're going to bring back another time um we've done like biggest loser challenge where we challenge everybody in the office to lose weight and we give a prize to the people who lose the most kilos uh you know but there's all these traditions oh birthdays like what you guys do for birthdays what we do when we hire new employees and there's like the welcomed and uh there's all these like traditions that we've created.

We have these big brother or like the mentor mentee program for new employees that they get to learn about the culture we have here and, you know, how to be a good fit and how to be successful at PACT is. So talk to me about that, because that a lot of that comes from you're the one executing these and many times I did not come up with PB jams. I did not come up with sports fast. I didn't I don't think I came up with any of them. I think I had to probably come from you maybe some of the other people here but talk to me about like these traditions and how like how important are they to who we are today at Pactis? Yeah when uh it's interesting with I think traditions add so much to our uh to Pactis personality just culture is you know the company's personality and how it also um so you can use that for your uh marketing your brand but aside for that this is just from a personal perspective uh like we all like as you hands right we

we wanted to have this i believe the tradition set the tone for the office for them to have this safe mindset when they know what to expect. And I'm glad that we are putting so much emphasis on tradition, like what they would expect on February, the anniversary. And so it kind of set their mind already what was going to happen. And for the Easter, so it's sort of creating that safety.

The same one, Easter, and then the sports fest, and the Baptist Jam. And even with our program, we, like the EcoRev, it has to have a name or that branding. And so yeah, it's easy for them to tell what practice is with this tradition. Every time you keep talking, I keep thinking of more questions to ask you. I'm like, man, are they going to be part four, part five.

So I think we'll have to do another couple episodes next time I'm out here in December, hopefully in December, because you're giving me more ideas. I think I want to ask more in the future about more on those traditions. There's some cool stuff that we do like the halloween decorations and again it's just don't realize how much you do and like there's so much and it really makes like it makes sense that the we are who we are today uh you know and again for those of you guys listening if you made it to the end of part two here uh and you're wondering you're like this is a lot of great stories but

how does this help my call center how does this help my my business well here's the the tangible part of it like we're celebrating our eight-year anniversary And, you know, over the weekend, I didn't even realize, but our hosts, we have two Packers employees, Nell and Sam, who are part of the culture department as well. And as well as agents on the phone providing support for our staff. But they announced and read the names of 53 people that by the end of the year they'll all be celebrating their five-year anniversary with us so i mean if you're a business owner and you have 53 people celebrating their five-year anniversary how impactful is that to a business how impactful is having people that many people here that long how does that make your job easier well yeah because uh it's all like it makes my job easier because they are the ambassadors or ambassadors of our culture and they've been here for a long time so express it like they're

they're a strong ambassador compared to if you hire a new one you have to you know it takes time for them to get used to these traditions

or what to expect with the company and and when they go out there they could tell that oh I've been working with actors

for this long of course we tell their friends why right and probably they will tell them about these traditions that we have so yeah they're very like strong um ambassador ambassadors for your company or company yeah and know, we're here. We're trying to grow a lot. That was a big theme. Every time I'm out here, it's like, hey, we want to grow the company. We want to add this stuff.

And it makes it a lot easier when you've got people that have been here for years. Yeah, you're right. They're the champions of the company. They're out there. They're like walking billboards and commercials for pac-biz because it's like well if you've been there for five years you know there's something that there's something there and uh i i never forget when i was out here last year in july and we were just starting the podcast and i was doing the first episodes with jake but i

was talking with the staff and so many of the staff were coming up to me because it was my first time back after two and a half, three years because of COVID. And so many of them were like, you know, I never worked at a company more than six months. I'd always bounce around and I've just celebrated my three-year anniversary or my four-year anniversary. And, you know, that's's that speaks to something there's something there like why would you stay at a company for that long when you never like you are no for actually jumping around like i i know one of our account managers that i'll never forget

his story and you know he's he actually said like he really stepped up he personally grew because he told himself, I don't want to keep doing this and I want to stay at this company, so I've got to make myself better so that I can stay here. He started out on the phones. He's actually having attendance issues and other things, performance issues, but he didn't want to lose his job, so he actually stepped up so much and turned himself around so much.

Now he's one of the leaders and he works with some of our best clients out in Canada and the Northeastern United States. So, yeah. But yeah, to add to that, Eric, I think there is something with Pathways because we just had this alumni thing. Because people would always come back to the company because we just had this alumni thing.

Because people would always come back to the company, even they're no longer working with PacBiz. And maybe it's all about the family that they have built here with the people. So yeah, that's interesting we call it, I think I even said it once, that PacBizians, PacB, admissions always be ambitious. So it's like, that's why we can't help with the top business at alumni. Yeah.

Yeah. That's true, too. And I didn't even realize it because these are familiar faces. We have 200 employees. I can't remember who's working here and who's not. But I'm like, I know these people. And then they're like, oh, yeah, they all came back. They're not working here anymore. What not but i'm like i know these people and then they're like oh yeah they all came back they're not working here anymore but they're still hanging out uh and i could say the same thing for our clients too you know we've got a couple clients that we no longer work with they just went a different direction as far as like their model and everything but

there's we're still friends like so that that's really telling to me that we've created these relationships, professionally, personally, that live beyond this business, and it's changing lives. So at the end of the day, the goal here that we have at PacBiz, and I think Keisha shares in that, is that we want to impact more lives. That's why we want to grow, because there's so much that we could do. I mean, you touched on like, we just for like five seconds on the echo rev or in the U S eco rev,

you know, where we're doing beach cleanups and tree plantings. And, you know, we have another be a blessing program that is all employee created. And I mean, if you looked it up online you would never realize it has anything to do with pacbiz it doesn't say pacbiz it doesn't have our logo they go out into the community and do stuff just to to do good and um and you know we'll have to talk about it in the next episode you know like the work we do with the orphanage, which you're so such a big part of with Casa Miani and, you know, some of the other organizations out here. So, well, Keisha, thank you so much for being my last guest for the eight year anniversary series podcast series here. And I really hope you guys learn a ton.

I think, you know, this could be some really powerful podcasts. I hope to go back onto YouTube and to check our stats and see thousands of views because there should be a lot of people listening to this message. If you're thinking about building culture at your company and whether you're just starting out or you're a big company you're

like how do I get to what pact this has that it starts somewhere you got to start traditions you got to start being purposeful you got to bring core values you got to start doing a lot of the stuff that we've done and it's not too late it's it's harder to do when your company's bigger and you've never done it we definitely have made it easier on ourselves because that's what we've known for we've been known for for day one but really hope you guys got a lot out of these these these two very long podcast episodes like you were like 25 minutes each or something but i think i can just keep talking all day so i was really looking forward to my podcast and

interview with you and uh you did not. So thank you for sharing and, and pouring your heart out in the, in stories and, and history with our listeners and with me. Thanks for being part of PAC biz. Thank you for having me, Eric, for this amazing episode with you.

All right. Until then. So you'll catch me. I'm going to be going back to the States and I'm going to be interviewing some more business owners out in Phoenix. We've got Clifford, who is a former UFC fighter and ultimate fighter champion. He's going to be on a future episode. He's now a business coach and we've got some other ceos lined up and so stay tuned make sure you're subscribing so you can get these episodes and uh if you know businesses that could use the information you just listened to today please share it with them especially this

one i don't think there's a business out there that could use more culture and to and that can improve that and uh oh before we go i wanted to show off this design uh because we got our awesome uh video our awesome designers here benzi who helped produce the podcast um made this shirt for our eight-year anniversary super cool um so i just wanted to show it off because he gave it to me hot off the press from my daughter uh so um she'll be rocking this back at home didn't she so uh so happy eight year anniversary pack biz we'll be back to more episodes uh next time so until then see you guys later