Steinberger brings big ideas, compassion to workplace

Aug. 24—The leadership at Steinberger Construction believes the ideas and programs that have been implemented betters ensure the quality and balance of its employees' life and work.

The company helps its employees understand budgeting money. It keeps its worksites within distance of workers' homes so they can have evening meals with family or attend their children's events. It hosts cookouts and activities for workers and their families. It encourages growth and moving up through the company. It also inspires team members to be active in the community.

"I've got to be honest with you. We steal almost all of these ideas," said Steinberger president Matt Lewellen. "And most generally they do not come from Indiana. I sit on peer groups across the nation and (Kim Pearson and Kailin Bauman) go to those with me. We are learning what everybody else is doing and we are using those ideas. There are things you don't traditionally see in rural Indiana but they work. They work everywhere."

Steinberger employs approximately 70 people and nearly two-thirds of the team work in the field. It has offices both in Logansport and Lebanon and focus most of its construction work on industrial, manufacturing, energy and agricultural projects.

"Without (our employees) we wouldn't even need to be sitting right here and we wouldn't be talking about the things we do pretty well," said Pearson, the company's chief development officer

When Steinberger first launched its wellness initiative in 2007, it focused on just physical health. It received pushback from uncertain workers who weren't sure what was going on.

Workers have since seen the benefits and understand the construction company has their best interests in mind.

New hires are often bewildered when they learn about the opportunities available to them. Most employees are not used to a work environment where their job openly shows compassion and care for the workers.

"You'll have your early adopters who are all in but then there are ones who it takes a long time to get to," said Bauman, the company's wellness director. "When they see you consistently investing in it and you are not giving up—and that's one of the biggest things when you look at new and changing ideas—we will try new things. If they don't work you can quit—that's the easy thing to do—but if it's part of who you are and part of your culture, eventually they see the reason you are doing things and over time they will change their minds."

Wellness in the workplace

Lewellen approaches being a leader as "taking care of those who take care of you."

"I grew up in this small community and it's not like your talent pool is huge in a small rural community like it is in Indianapolis," he said. "So, I wasn't motivated by anything other than just taking care of the people that you see every day."

The wellness initiative evolved as they started reaching out to field team members and learning what they needed and wanted.

"We get employees eight hours a day but they are bringing everything else (with them to the job)," Lewellen said. "How can we meet them where they are at? They are more worried about everything else happening in their life. What they are eating and how much exercise they are getting is probably low on the priority list. So, we realized we had to meet them where they are at, get into their space."

Lewellen said he was noticing some employees would call off of work because they didn't have enough gas to get to the worksite.

"If you are spending 40 hours of your work week with your employer but no one is teaching you about financial wellness or creating a budget or healthier choices when it comes to nutrition, where are you learning those things? Outside on your own time?" Bauman said. "Unless you are just truly wanting to know or wanting to learn about those things, you don't have time. If we are trying to better the people here and we are trying to teach them to be well-rounded in wellness, it's got to be our job."

Bauman is quick to point out that wellness does not mean treating oneself to a bubble bath or simply kicking your feet up to relax. Wellness takes work, she said. It's about preparing for the future. It's investing in yourself. It's not eating a salad or meditating.

"You can talk at them all you want but until you are actually there with them, engaged with them and understanding what they are going through, that's all you will be doing is talking at them," added Lewellen. "You won't be making any true, substantive changes."

Thinking about the future

When Steinberger had their company wellness summit this past summer, part of the process was sharing the company's vision for the future with its employees.

"It showed our team where the different opportunities are," Lewellen said. "A lot of times, I'm guilty of this as much as anybody. I know what the long-term plan is. I don't cast it very well. In 2019, we cast a vision for 2025, so (Pearson and Bauman) are great at saying "hey Matt, you should probably reintroduce that. Let them know where we are at with the plan, what's coming up after that. I've gotten so much good feedback since then. 'It's really good knowing where our vision is going and being able to understand where I might fit in that.' That's a lot of what Kim does on a daily basis is meet with those guys. 'Where do you fit in that? What do you want to do for your long term goals and aspirations in your life."

Pearson said the summits are a good opportunity to talk about things like insurance or benefit package changes but learning what team members want is a crucial part of the process.

"We ask our team what they want to learn about and then we do the work to bring in all of the people, the experts, to teach those things," she said. "We continue to work on meeting our team where they are at so that's one, I'm really proud of. We do a lot of surveys and we ask a lot of questions. We have molded our engagements and our wellness to our team."

When presenting at a Logansport Cass County Chamber of Commerce discussion about workplace wellness, Pearson told a story about an employee who always doodled on paperwork. One day she asked him about his drawings and discovered his passion for art.

When she finally asked the employee about the drawings, she found out he was interested in art and always enjoyed putting together model cars with small intricate parts.

She asked him if he had ever considered welding.

Now, that employee is one of the top welders in the company and the opportunity for both the individual and Steinberger arose just from Pearson taking a moment to get to know someone she worked with.

Inside the Steinberger building is a board with a complete layout of the company's structure, including pictures of each person and the role they undertake.

Lewellen called the board a visual representation of opportunities coming up within the company so employees can see where they fit and where they could go.

Bauman said the career path is a transparent way for the company to help employees get to where they want to go within the organization.