The Torch Award and Purpose

If you’ve looked at our social media over the past week, you’ve surely seen a post or two about our recent accolades. We were given the Torch Award for Business Ethics by the Better Business Bureau of Western Michigan for a company with 51-175 employees. That much was conveyed by the photos, but I want to talk about what that really means - for us, and for you.

The application process for the award is no joke - answering the questions required us to really dig deep and look at what ethics mean to us. We had to provide references from employees, customers, and vendors, and include pages and pages of supplementary materials that showcase everything from our hiring process to training and community service initiatives. What we found was how much we’ve grown in 2017, not just in number of customers helped, but in attitude and vision.

If you keep up with the current events of Ayers, you may have noticed that we launched our Purpose initiative in February. While we have always worked hard to do the right thing for our customers, this has taken that further and given it structure. The goal of Purpose is simple - to redefine our industry - but the mechanics of that can be difficult. It has required us to make “going the extra mile” the new normal.

This applies not only to creating remarkable experiences for our customers, but also for our employees and our community. We finally got our community service program going this year, with donation drives for Big Brothers Big Sisters and Toys for Tots, and provided materials and labor for a sustainable home project at Fenner Nature Center. We also held our first annual Team Challenge to encourage cross departmental communication and provoke a little healthy competition among our employees.

The year hasn’t been without its bumps and growing pains, and really it’s been a decade of changes. As a company grows from a one man show to a very small business with most of its employees in the field to one with a strong office staff presence, there’s a lot of trial and error and a lot of knowledge that only comes through hindsight. But we’re ending 2017 stronger than we began the year, and we’re excited for 2018.