Q: Over the past year, what extra actions have you taken to strengthen your company’s culture and keep employees engaged, motivated and happy at work?

Bridget Dahlgren, Executive Vice President of Marketing, Crystal D

“Last year was the year of ‘unprecedented times.’ The leaders at Crystal D could have made the choice to get caught up in this mindset, but we did not. The first and most impactful action we took last year during the pandemic was deciding to make tough decisions and act on them quickly. These decisions served and protected everyone in the organization. We didn’t let the negativity around us determine our mindset and actions. Instead we focused on making decisions that were best for the entire organization, not just what was best for leadership.

“The second thing we did was we followed general leadership principles. We focused on the future and put our people first. We communicated our vision and leaned on our core values. At Crystal D, we live by our core values, and it’s been the key to developing and sustaining our culture which we were able to do, even in the middle of a pandemic.

“We also continued to safely have company events. We embraced new technology, and we were able to include all of our employees in these events, even though some were furloughed temporarily. We tried hard to make sure all Memory Makers still felt as though they were part of the team, even if they weren’t working full-time.

“We were also very transparent with our Memory Makers. We consistently communicated what’s going on in the organization, and we also continued to invest in our team.

“Because of all these measures, we have one of the strongest teams in the history of our company. Our customer service is strong, we have lots of inventory, our production times are aggressive and remains in-house in St. Paul, Minnesota, and we have been expanding our departments as we experience and anticipate growth so we can continue providing our customers with an incredible customer experience.”