by Tony Connor, PIR Marketing Operations Manager
For more than three decades, organizations making a positive impact have made their home online at .ORG. Those three little letters in a web address—O-R-G—signal a business or non-profit’s desire to improve things locally or globally, on a small scale or huge one, for a small group or for everyone. It says: “This organization cares.” At PIR, we care too. About .ORGs. Supporting the .ORG community—the glimmering and diverse constellation of organizations that makes a beneficial impact every day in different ways, all around the world. It is the reason we go to work and give our best every day.
PIR promotes .ORGs’ varied missions and provides a secure and stable online platform from which they can to their good work. Whether we are sharing .ORG Stories to highlight the incredible work of this special community, or serving up information and best practices that help .ORGs thrive, We Live for This is who we are and what we do.
“PIR created We Live for This to rally, and reinforce our commitment to what matters most: the work of .ORGs. Your causes are our cause. You motivate us to provide an extra push to help you move your mountain.” says PIR President and CEO Jon Nevett.
.ORGs are PIR’s purpose and passion. And they wouldn’t exist without people. At PIR, we realize how central people are to our mission. For that reason, We Live for This is highlighting important PIR cultural programs to support our team as we support .ORGs. Our dynamic HR duo, Vice President of Human Resources Mary Cornwell and Human Resources Manager Bonnie Hughes, have created initiatives to help PIR employees feel connected and supported, even as the coronavirus brings new challenges.
“We want our close-knit family of 35 employees to be as prepared, equipped, and motivated as possible.” says Hughes. “We like to say we put the ‘human’ in human resources.” Their approach offers tangible, creative and fun ideas for .ORGs to remain engaged, productive and supportive of our .ORG community during this time of challenge. Sharing these strategies with you is another way we can demonstrate We Live for This:
Collective Engagement
Collective Engagement is all about creating opportunities for staff to remain close and engaged while working remotely. “We want to keep morale up, check on one another and interact.” says Cornwell. Whether it’s virtual bingo games, spirit weeks, embarrassing #tbt pictures, or virtually Bring Your Child or Pet to Work Day, employees enjoy daily and weekly touch points with one another. The popular communications app, Slack is another thing that keeps the PIR team smiling. “It’s the hallway banter we all miss. It’s so much fun. We put up music, have contests. Tony Connor [PIR’s manager of marketing operations] has the best Slack stuff.” Cornwell says.
Giving to the Broader Community
Giving to the Broader Community: According to a recent survey, 77% of American workers say that “volunteering is essential to employee well-being.” That is a big motivation behind Cornwell and Hughes’ second component, Giving to the Broader Community. Through PIR’s well-established Employee Volunteer Program (EVP), every team member is allotted 40 hours per year of volunteering time. In the past, employees have used those hours to build houses in areas devasted by natural disaster, volunteer in underserved communities in Africa, and stock local food kitchens. Historically, the team has also conducted a day of service at the Loudon Therapeutic Riding Center in Virginia, although it may not be possible this year. “Unfortunately, due to the outbreak, in-person volunteering has been scaled back.” says Hughes. But, participation in charitable works by staff has not. In fact, it’s in overdrive. “PIR and its employees together have donated as a team to 15 .ORG charities locally and around the world.” says Hughes.
Honoring the Individual
Honoring the Individual is a value embraced by PIR’s C-suite and carried throughout the company, particularly during this time of challenge. “Our President and CEO Jon Nevett sees how important it is to treat people well. He cares about them. It starts at the top.” says Cornwell. How does HR go about honoring people? They keep track of everybody’s birthdays and kids’ names, and they reach out to each employee on a weekly basis. In addition, they conducted a resilience survey to gauge how well employees feel the company has responded to the pandemic. There are also special celebrations, like the Spot Awards, which recognize employees who have embodied one of PIR’s core values, such as “bold stewardship” or “relentless commitment.” Perhaps most crucially, Honoring the Individual during this tough time means, “listening to our team, and knowing where gaps may be.” says Hughes. Cornwell agrees: “You’ve got to know your priorities and not sweat the small stuff and communicate that. Our team members are not robots who we only care about between the hours of 9-5. We are humans.”
Humans who live for this. We hope that learning a bit about and the ways in which our philosophy of dedication to, and support of, our community of .ORGs has positively driven PIR’s culture, is helpful to you. For more information about We Live for This, and the people and .ORGs PIR celebrates, click here.