Our CEO, David Olberding, shares his insights on how we fuel growth at Olberding Brand Family by investing in our existing talent for long-term success!
CEO, Olberding Brand Family | 4th Generation, Family-Owned Business | We Bring Out the Best In Brands
HOW WE INVEST IN OUR PEOPLE FOR FUTURE GROWTH In an industry where mergers and acquisitions are commonplace, we made the decision long ago to remain a family-owned business. By choosing to grow organically, we have been able to maintain the culture that has helped us succeed throughout our history. As we’ve grown, that’s meant investing time and resources to support our team members and to encourage their growth to ensure we have the talented professionals our business needs to expand. When it comes to hiring and promoting, my philosophy is: “Get the right people on the bus, in the right seat.” Which is often, of course, easier said than done. So how do we know who will be a good fit? We have made a long-term commitment to leadership training to identify and develop those individuals internally who we believe can help us grow. We have a dedicated head of training who guides an ongoing leadership development program. Individuals from within the organization (we call them our ‘internal clients’) who seek to develop their leadership skills are invited to apply and, every year, 30 people are selected to go through this intensive, year-long program of classroom instruction and personal mentoring. In addition, another leader on our team focuses solely on the client experience for both our internal and external clients. We are dedicated to maintaining a creative atmosphere where everyone is encouraged to provide input on ways to enhance the environment to feel appreciated, engaged, empowered, and professionally fulfilled. Finding the right person from inside our organization isn’t always possible though. This is especially true when making a step-change with our technical scope and creative capabilities, which are essential to continual growth in an industry driven by innovation. Rather than promoting achievers out of jobs they excel at into jobs that aren’t necessarily a good fit (which isn’t healthy for them or their careers), our two-prong approach to sustaining growth also includes searching outside our organization to find the people with new skills we need to help our clients (and ourselves) succeed and grow. When people ask what business achievement I’m most proud of, I always say it's especially rewarding to drive into our parking lot and see all the cars. I’m proud that for more than 100 years we’ve been able to create good jobs and that we continue to provide our people with the opportunity to grow. By remaining privately held, we can focus on what’s best for our clients—both external and internal—unlike our publicly held competitors, where layoffs are baked into meeting revenue targets. At Olberding Brand Family, we’re in it for multigenerational growth and long-term success.