Throughout its 14-year history, SpeakerBox Communications has learned that in order to create a true sense of teamwork, its priority has to be an environment that encourages learning, leadership and collaboration. It has done this by facilitating growth and team-oriented initiatives like staff-led trainings, mentorship meetings, brainstorm sessions, annual peer reviews and team-building activities on a consistent basis. Two employee training and development programs of note are SpeakerBox's "Lunch and Learn" and "Blog and Learn"—each employee picks an account services area that they would like to get better at (such as social media, content development, SEO, etc.) and then commits to researching and training the team on that topic.
Furthermore, a core aspect of the company is its one-to-one mentoring program, where employees get a clearer sense of how to tackle their goals by sitting down with their manager to discuss progress every other week. The program is complemented by a collaborative management system that give employees the opportunity to work with managers who lead other client accounts.
"All of these initiatives are the building blocks for a unique and successful culture, one that we protect fiercely at SpeakerBox and value on a daily basis,” says Elizabeth Shea, president and CEO of SpeakerBox Communications.
In addition to traditional benefits, SpeakerBox employees are rewarded and recognized with a host of incentives, including the One Team Award, which is a peer recognition program with a quarterly and annual cash incentive, a referral program and business development incentives. In addition, after five years of service, employees are rewarded with a four-week paid sabbatical. The company also sponsors half-day community service projects each quarter, SpeakerBox Day (a team-building event held outside the office) and the Top SpeakerBox Chef competitive cook-off.
 |
| The SpeakerBox team celebrates the 2010 holiday season in their aprons, showcasing their love for food in office recipe battles. Back row (l-r): Pheniece Jones, Jonathan Katz, Crissy Upston, Stephanie Wonderlick, Jennifer Edgerly, Ali Robinson, Mary Evans, Elizabeth Shea, John Terrill, Katie Hanusik, Lisa Throckmorton. Front row: Kathryn Kaplan and Laura Norris. (Not pictured: New to the team this year is Pete Larmey and Kate Nesbitt.) |