Rusty Koss is CEO/Owner at Koss Creative Brands, LLC. Recently, YEC spoke with Koss about his employee management and company culture experience. His best advice is below.

What interview question do you always ask potential hires and why?

My favorite interview question to ask is, “Give an example of a time when you initiated change to improve a process or situation.” The answer reveals their level of comfort with change and leading change. Our company grows from process improvement. From each area, we are moving through a process and then looking for areas to improve. This question shows an individuals commitment to be involved.

What makes your company culture unique?

I feel like our commitment to our company values makes us unique. While most companies state them and store them away, we are reminded of our values daily through coaching and interactions.

How can you make sure team outings or activities appeal as best they can to all employees?

We keep our team outings pretty simple. As an entire organization, we meet monthly for lunch and to review any company information. It’s a good time for me to speak to everyone as a group. For our smaller team work, we allow the leaders space to be creative. Our art department’s activities are different than our manufacturing’s.

What’s your best tip for keeping a personal touch to onboarding and training as you grow?

When new hires arrive, I make sure to keep in contact with them daily for the first week. Just knowing their name makes all the difference. A quick stop by to see how their day is going makes the transition easier.

What’s one quick, easy way any company at any stage can invest in their company culture?

Our monthly company lunches have been the best thing we’ve ever done for company culture. It doesn’t take much time or effort to pull everyone together to share a meal and fellowship. Celebrate the holidays, key milestones, birthdays and new hires at least monthly.