Sterling Wilson is the President of Pop! Promos and the U.S. Market Leader in PMS Matched Branded Merchandise. Follow him sterling@poppromos.com.
Recently, YEC spoke with Sterling about his employee management and company culture experience. His best advice is below.
What interview question do you always ask potential hires and why?
“Please explain something you know well to me in 60 seconds or less.”
“How is your relationship with your family?”
“Tell me about a time you screwed up at work and how you handled it.”
What makes your company culture unique?
Pop! Promos is committed to providing exceptional service to our customers through constant innovation, transparency, and operational excellence. The only way we can deliver on those values is by having an office culture of trust, cooperation, and fun!
We have a democratically elected “fun fund captain” who is in charge of the company slush fund for keeping life for our staff fun. Best ideas to come from our captains: summer Fridays, corporate beer sponsor, bring your dog to work, limousine scavenger hunt.
How can you make sure team outings or activities appeal as best they can to all employees?
By letting everyone on our team vote on a fun fund captain every quarter and delegating the responsibility for planning, organizing, and executing events to that captain. Because everyone has a say in the leader and the events, our team members show up en-mass for outings.
What’s your best tip for keeping a personal touch to onboarding and training as you grow?
I still know everyone’s first name. I’ll let you know in a few years. My guess is I’ll keep holding a final interview with every candidate before they’re offered a job so I can get to know them and continue enforcing our “no jerk” rule for hiring.
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hat’s one quick, easy way any company at any stage can invest in their company culture?
Democratize the power to make your office fun. As an entrepreneur, you’re way too busy and focused on other things to be in charge of all the fun things your staff want to do. So open them a bank account, set some parameters, and hold an election. You’ll love the results as much as your team.
