In an industry known for triple-digit employee turnover, professional janitorial service provider ServiceMaster by Stratos has maintained record low turnover. President and CEO Stacy McCall believes that’s directly related to a purposeful focus on a positive employee culture.

“Our employees are the frontline of our business, and it’s important that we not only hire the best, but that we also retain those employees,” McCall said. “Our customers appreciate seeing the same faces every day and getting to know – and trust – their service partners.”

How do they do it? First of all, there is a commitment to communicating the value of their employees in a variety of ways, from referring to them as “service partners” (rather than just “employees”) to annual service partner appreciation events and individualized development and recognition opportunities.

Employees are offered a number of training opportunities to not only further their individual growth and development but also to provide opportunities for promotion within the company.

Even the organizational structure of the company is designed with culture in mind. A more horizontal configuration allows for more direct contact with the leaders of the company, as well as more promotion opportunities across the company. For McCall, this  structure also reduces the number of layers through which communication must pass within the organization.

“Our attention to ‘the two Cs’ – culture and communication – has paid off in a number of ways,” McCall noted. “We’ve preserved the core values of our company, first instituted in 1979, even as we’ve grown from a handful of employees to more than 300 at times.”