Forging Unity: ACE Metal Crafts’ Cohesive Culture

For the first two features in our Every Employee series, we spent time with Alpha Coffee and IWI Ventures – companies in high-turnover industries with part-time employees. For them, the culture challenge is defying industry norms by finding the right people, no matter their skill level, and giving them the tools and emotional support to thrive. Now, we turn to ACE Metal Crafts, a company that faces a different type of challenge: having two distinct bodies of employees – the shop and the office. We spoke to their VP of Manufacturing, Angela Pitzo, and President, Keith Stout, to take a deep dive into their culture. 

ACE is a stainless steel fabrication company that makes customized products for the food processing, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing industries. Its production is specialized and often just one deliverable per project. Whether they’re behind a computer or a welding helmet, their team needs to be highly skilled. 

Physical division in a workspace can easily lead to cultural division within a company. At ACE, though, they communicate that everyone plays a vital role in producing the best possible product for their clients, regardless of the tools used to execute their job. In doing so, their goal is to have a culture as smooth as the metal they work with.

Skills shine through

The majority of the ACE population works in the fabrication shop which makes up about 70% of the team and consists of welders and highly skilled craftsmen. The rest of the team works in the office, which includes the engineers who create the designs for the projects. As both Angela and Keith say, the engineers dream the dream while the shop team brings that dream to life. 

Because production is focused on low quantity and high specificity, ACE has little room for error. Precision and skill are crucial at every step in the production to deliver the best outcomes and result in high customer satisfaction. It’s not a job where employees can learn through repetition, Angela emphasizes. The work requires a high skill and experience level. 

Despite the highly skilled employee workforce, Angela admits that there can be a mentality rift. Unlike their office counterparts, most of the shop floor workers don’t have a four-year degree, and they sometimes get frustrated in thinking that a degree means more than their experience. Other inevitable divisions arise as well, including how each kind of worker is paid (salary vs. hourly). The engineers don’t think that way, and value their co-workers’ knowledge, but exterior societal undertones are still present. 

ACE is not the only organization that faces this type of rift. So-called white collar vs blue collar jobs have been valued differently for generations, with the former traditionally seen as more prestigious. Stereotypes may be changing, but deep-rooted social connotations are hard to shake (more on this here and here). This occurs despite the trades seeking more demand, offering a much more feasible and profitable career path for many.

“More recently, we’ve tried to be very intentional in sending this message,” Angela says in regards to the shop workers. “Their experience and their know-how is just as good as a college degree.”

The leadership team is mindful of blurring the lines between departments to show them that they’re all a part of one unified organization, no matter what path they took to get there. They all worked hard to develop their skills, and that dedication led them to be a part of a team that not just anyone could join.

Part of breaking down barriers between the sectors is reminding everyone that they are the gold standard (or the stainless steel standard!) of their profession. That’s only one piece of the puzzle. Strong communication across the board is another reason the ACE culture shines. 

The team does their customary huddle to cap off a quarterly company meeting.

Cross-communication is key

A fundamental cultural component at ACE is maintaining dialogue across the departments. This commitment allows for streamlined processes as well as relationship building.

Monthly value stream meetings are one way ACE keeps the conversation flowing. These meetings consist of employees who represent different departments and the various steps of the business process – from order entry to shipping. Customer requirements for each project are shared and aligned. The different teams can see the bigger picture, what other departments are doing, and how to support one another. 

ACE also offers company-wide development opportunities like book clubs and emotional intelligence classes. Naturally, these are resources for individuals’ growth. Employees across different sectors get the chance to interact and build bonds outside of communicating on a specific project. 

One specific example Keith shared was of a book club he hosted in Polish (without knowing Polish himself!). He would ask the discussion questions in English and then let the group talk amongst themselves in Polish. One employee in attendance was a man who Keith admitted was often spoken to in a simplified, orchestrated manner because of his English skills. But Keith saw this man light up while talking in his native language, and all of the other participants looked at him like a sage. It changed Keith’s perception of the employee and reminded him of the importance of allowing team members space to connect in settings that allow them to be themselves. 

While company-wide opportunities are important to ACE, Angela, and Keith mentioned that they have recently focused on developing their next bench of leaders as a way to help both with growth and retention. They do so through additional classes and mentoring so these individuals feel equipped and are also practicing their leadership in line with the ACE values. This is important because, as Keith said, most employees don’t quit a company, they quit a leader. Angela and Keith want their leaders to be aware of the impact on their teams and know they are supported in turn. 

Good communication is also fostered through consistent review and feedback discussions between leaders and their employees. Leaders talk with their teams daily and have frequent meetings with individuals they call “5-5-5’s” borrowed from the EOS vocabulary (a tool they use). These brief meetings are meant to cover five minutes of company values, five minutes of metrics individuals are responsible for, and five minutes of goals. These quick and frequent check-ins are meant to build relationships and also keep feedback personal and timely.

Through learning development classes, leadership training, and cross-departmental communication, the ACE team can grow a psychologically safe and healthy environment. Their people can be their authentic selves and support one another. Constant communication between leaders, their teams, and across departments allows for consistent and more timely feedback, trusting relationships, and a cohesive culture.

Welding together a seamless culture

Even in an industry that can often have a rift in its employee populations, ACE aims to show its workers they are all equally valued. From help buzzers to Polish book clubs to organic conversations about values, it takes a lot of components and intentionality to build a culture like the one at ACE. And the sum of these parts is a company that creates high-quality products and allows for their own people to shine bright.

Read the next part of this Every Employee series: Lawn Science’s Formula for Seasonal Employment & Year-Round Culture.