Humantech Named One of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For^® in Metropolitan Detroit

The Humantech office of VelocityEHS was recognized as one of Metropolitan Detroit’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® during the annual awards ceremony on Thursday, October 27, 2020. This is the eighth year VelocityEHS’ Humantech has received this award.

The annual awards program evaluates companies based on categories such as communication, work-life balance, employee education, diversity, recognition, retention, and more, through employee surveys.

The human resource strategies and practices implemented, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, have positively impacted the people at VelocityEHS.

While transitioning employees to work from home easily, VelocityEHS kept employees connected and engaged during regular Town Hall meetings, virtual happy hours, company-sponsored comedy shows and music festivals, and more. It’s no surprise we were recognized by Tom Jordan of WWJ Newsradio 950 and Devin Scillian of WDIV Local 4, along with the other winning companies.

In addition to the awards ceremony, organizational leaders and renowned authors spoke on topics current today.  A summary of my favorites is below.

“Pivoting During Uncertain Times” was a session presented by Steve Lowisz, CEO of Qualigence International, about the importance of leadership during times of change and uncertainty. “Change shows us who we really are as leaders. Change is constant, so the way we lead must constantly evolve,” said Lowisz. During the session, he challenged the audience to evaluate where their leadership level falls based on these five levels:

1. Positional: People follow you because they have to.
2. Permission: People follow you because they want to (a relationship has been formed between the leader and the team member).
3. Production: People want to join your team because they’ve seen positive results.
4. People Development: People follow you because you developed, grew, and created other leaders from the team.
5. Purpose-Driven: People follow you because you develop other level-4 leaders.

“Navigating Racial Justice in the Workplace,” was a panel consisting of Harriet Lewis, Ph.D., MPA, Konesens Development; Dr. Kenneth L. Harris, Ph.D., National Business League, Inc.; and Nathaniel Bennett II, Senior Vice President, Comerica Bank. The topic of the session: Companies and leadership must continue to take action to improve inclusion for people of color. “You have to be very deliberate and scripted in your process and have a well-planned education curriculum, employee engagement, and be committed to maximizing inclusion,” said Bennett. When companies are ready to develop an equity initiative, Dr. Lewis suggests focusing on the following:

• Economics: Equity must address economic disparity.
• Quantitative, Qualitative: Equity must be measurable.
• Uniformity: Equity must be just and impact everyone equally.
• Inclusive: Involve the people that equity is affecting in the process.
• Transparent: Everyone must be fully aware of the strategies for equity.
• Youth: Involve young adults so that equity initiatives are sustainable for years to come.

To learn the secret of employee engagement, read this blog post (an oldie but a goodie!).