We’ve covered a lot of ground in our Every Employee blog series, all in the hopes of spotlighting culture-driven companies with various types of workers. In our Alpha Coffee and IWI Ventures blogs, we focused on part-time employees in high turnover industries. Then, we looked to ACE Metal Crafts and how they unify employees in different sectors. Most recently, we focused on American Landscape and Lawn Science to see how they loop their seasonal workers into their year-round culture.
Most companies have different types of employees within their greater team – be it part-time workers, contractors or different physical environments in which they operate. Different employee types are a reflection of the complex work of any given organization. It can also pose the challenge of a fractured culture. We’re grateful to the leaders we spoke with at the formerly mentioned companies to prove that cohesive, supportive cultures can exist, and that teams can ensure everyone feels a sense of belonging.
For our final installment in the Every Employee series, we turn to ClearVision Optical, a family-owned designer and distributor of fashionable and quality eyewear and sunwear for businesses around the world. The industry is healthcare oriented and supports the gift of sight, so it is naturally prone to a purpose-driven culture. The leadership team also puts in great effort to develop programs and messaging to do so. Many of their customers are independent, family-owned businesses, which help to streamline their culture and communication with their clients.
They are celebrating 75 years of business, currently under the leadership of the second generation of family. Over the years, they’ve steadily built their culture to withstand growth and a changing world, always keeping a community mindset at the forefront.
In terms of staff, they have a little bit of everything: employees who work behind a desk, in a warehouse, or on the road as sales people. The wider team is comprised of interns, full-time and part-time permanent employees, as well as contingent employees (full-time and part-time temporary employees). We spoke with Co-COO and Chief People Officer, Jen Trakhtenberg, to understand how the leadership team strives to make everyone feel valued and part of a community. While they have many great practices to achieve this mission, the throughline is that they focus on the entire employee lifecycle.
One of the key ways that ClearVision attracts and retains talent is through their internship program. Jen herself started on her professional path via an internship program and is passionate about opening doors for other people beginning their careers. In Long Island, NY, ClearVision is located near plenty of universities. Since the pandemic, the company’s office workers are work-from-anywhere, so their interns are a mix of remote and in-person. They have built relationships with colleges, vocational schools, and career development programs to attract young people.
“You create an enormous opportunity for your company when you have a pipeline for talent and when you support people in establishing their roots on a professional path,” says Jen.
Interns typically work between 20-30 hours/ week, and are active students in high school, and undergraduate or graduate programs. It is a competitive paid program and they look to fill the spots with students who demonstrate commitment through extracurricular activities and other internships.
ClearVision’s internship program has also included individuals with different abilities. These could be individuals on the spectrum, with low vision, living in group homes for the disabled, or students who are in life skills courses. No matter what, there are ways for them all to contribute to the organization, and gain skills in the process.
Interns are placed in a department and role based on their fields of study and academic interests. However, ClearVision has a fairly flat hierarchical structure, and so people are able to shadow and gain exposure in other areas if they are curious to gain a wider perspective.
Workshops and mentoring are part of the internship program to help structure interns' time within the organization. Aside from these educational practices, they are doing real, productive work within their departments and are treated like employees. Jen shared that, when the interns are regarded as equals, they get a better idea of what it’s like to work within the company after graduation. This makes for a more streamlined transition as many are offered opportunities to continue on into a more permanent role.
The benefit of an internship program goes both ways. For the business, the interns inject the culture with an energy and excitement to test out new ideas. They also often introduce new technology to the company and offer a much larger capacity for researching alternative approaches. For the interns, working in a supportive, fluid environment such as ClearVision’s allows them the chance to experiment with what kind of work they do (and maybe more importantly, don’t) want to pursue.
Treating interns with dignity and fairness is a way that the ClearVision team establishes a good pipeline for talent, and sets a precedent for a supportive culture across the board.
ClearVision is home to many tenured employees, and having that longevity perpetuates a vision for other employees to see themselves having a full career there. Employees are seen as the first line of customers at the company, and that affects how employees are treated by leadership, as well as each other.
A lot of deliberate action and conversation goes into cultivating this successful retention. Because there are so many different types of employees, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to ensuring people feel secure in their positions. As Jen puts it, they aim to treat everyone fairly, but fairness doesn’t always look the same for everyone.
One example of this is the work schedule of warehouse employees. During the pandemic, the company changed their policy for office employees to a work-from-anywhere approach. This is a great benefit for office staff, but it was not a possibility for those in the warehouse. After some different variations and feedback discussions, the team was able to come up with a solution for that department that remains a positive change, both for the business and morale.
Now, instead of one long shift, there are two shorter shifts: 6:30am - 12:30pm and 1pm - 7pm. The shifts are only six hours, but the employees get paid for eight hours of work. This new structure allows staff to have the flexibility to take on child or elder care, pick up a second job, or pursue personal interests, all without sacrificing their pay. It also has meant more focused and efficient work during the time the staff are on the job. While the company may not be able to give these employees the benefit of remote work, they can give them the benefit of time, and therefore a different kind of life flexibility.
It is part of the ClearVision values to treat everyone with respect, fairness, and compassion, which is reflected in their culture and business structure. It’s a relatively flat company, which means people can have impact in various areas and to varying degrees. There’s no “stay in your lane” mentality – in fact, they want to hear from everyone – which in turn allows for greater creativity and collaboration. There are also company-wide meetings and cross-departmental focus groups to gain diverse feedback and bring people together, as well as developmental opportunities to keep people engaged.
“You stay because you have a community and you’re part of something meaningful,” Jen says.
From onboarding new hires and interns with a sense of respect right from the start, to perpetuating a culture of fairness, many employees feel a sense of belonging at ClearVision, and choose to stay for a fulfilling career. And just as the leadership team puts care into developing early and mid career security, they do so as well for those employees looking to retire.
Transitions out of the company are just as important at ClearVision as transitions into it. Their goal is that each individual feels cared for as they leave the company and helps to complete their tenure on their terms. For example, a beloved colleague who had been with the company for over 40 years recently retired, but first scaled back to part-time work, a setup that eased his transition.
Any company that’s been around for 75 years has to grapple with valuable tenured employees winding down their careers. When a member of the team retires, a new person must step into this vacancy, and ClearVision helps everyone to complete their tenure in a manner that is supportive and flexible. They aim to meet every individual where they are.
ClearVision’s industry boasts many people with extensive tenure, and, to thank them for their years of service, the company aims to help these individuals enjoy their next chapter of life. They thoughtfully orchestrate passing the baton from one generation of talent to the next so that customers are handled with seamless care. This fluid transition also benefits the person stepping into the more senior role, so that they can benefit from their predecessor’s wealth of knowledge. For example, if a senior salesperson is planning to retire, a new team member may be brought on to slowly take over that territory.
Onboarding and offboarding is synchronized in this way to emphasize ClearVision’s supportive culture. It is also a crystal clear depiction of their carefully developed employee lifecycle.
ClearVision fosters a culture of care, respect, and community, which can all be seen through their consideration of the employee lifecycle. They bring on new, enthusiastic talent largely through their internship program, and treat each one of these young people with dignity so that they’re encouraged to stay on if it’s a good fit. Then, they keep people motivated and satisfied with their jobs by creating a community-focused environment, prioritizing fairness. And finally, they ease the stress of retirement by working in tandem to onboard somebody gradually into that same role.
It’s no wonder that ClearVision is currently celebrating their 75th anniversary as a successful business, and hope for 75 more years and beyond. By creating an all-encompassing employee lifecycle, they allow their employees a clear vision of what their future entails at such a supportive company.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our Every Employee series and now have an inspired appreciation for what it can look like to include all different kinds of workers within one cohesive culture. It may require more effort to be inclusive of people working in different ways and within different structures. It can also lead to a greater understanding and respect for the many jobs it takes to unify one company together. When a whole, diverse team can come together under one mission and thrive within a unified culture, everyone’s stronger for it.
Start from the beginning! Read the first part of this Every Employee series: A Caffeinated Culture: Alpha Coffee's Emphasis on Training.