Like many companies, California Commercial Security (CCS) found itself in a state of transition. The company’s service offerings had evolved significantly over the last several years, prompting the need for a new breed of talent to support the “new” world of managed commercial security solutions.

Ownership recognized that the landscape had changed, and they needed to appeal to a new generation of prospective employees. To help navigate this new reality, they partnered with Equal Parts. Early in the relationship they confirmed that their core values were intact but needed refinement. While these values were at work every day supporting a vibrant company culture, they had to further define them and communicate them formally. This process would better reinforce and secure the company culture with current employees, and showcase it to new and prospective hires.

A Robust Company Culture Based On Core Values

The owners of the business, Charlie Baker and Ken Robison, along with a focus group of key employees who spanned the generational continuum, worked on creating and defining a set of three strong core values. Everyone involved recognized the importance of core values in maintaining a resilient, lasting company culture that would help align the results of employee actions and behaviors with company goals.

With the Core Values defined, the team also developed their mission statement:

• Design and install tailored security solutions.

• Deliver exceptional client experiences.

• Cultivate a meaningful, rewarding workplace.

• Work safely. All the time.

• Improve today. Improve tomorrow.

Transforming The Values Into Action

Guided by this mission statement and their core values, the company culture revolves around four fundamental concepts that the employees live and breath each day:

• Entrepreneurial – Everybody takes ownership of their job and their work. They understand their place and how it impacts the company. Everyone benefits from successes and learns from setbacks.

• Fun – The work of the company is mentally and physically stressful. To counter the pressure, a lively and creative workplace is encouraged.

• Driven – Positive customer experience is everyone’s number one priority.

• Family first – Both within and outside of the company’s walls, family is important. They don’t want employees to feel like they are merely showing up to a job where their personal lives aren’t valued and respected.

Stated Values Combined With Consistent Modeling Works

The creation of values has paid off for the company. Today, CCS’s 35-person team is on the cutting edge of managed services for commercial security, and they command significant market share of the San Diego-area life-sciences industry.

Founder and CEO Charlie Baker said, “I’ve always strived to make CCS a place where opportunities abound. We’ve worked extremely hard to create an environment that provides interesting and fulfilling work, growth, and a focus on exceeding expectations. I am very proud of our team.”

How They Integrate Their Values Into The Company’s Culture

To foster an atmosphere of teamwork and motivation the company actively promotes their values and provides a complement of perks, including:

• They recognize and reward exceptional work. They tie each “win” to one of their values.

• They display their mission statement for everybody to see, and everybody knows the quality of work expected.

• Using an explainer video, the company defines who they are, what they do, and why they do it.

• Respect and mutual admiration between everyone is required.

• Mandatory weekly safety meetings keep employees informed of the best and safest practices.

• Exceptional benefits include generous time off, flexible work environment, exciting projects, employer-sponsored benefits, and plans for a future ESOP.

Equal Parts is proud of their partnership CCS. If you have any questions about this article, please feel free to contact us for further information.