Cullum Mechanical Construction’s Human Resources Director, Mendi Arnold
After Juan Flores, the Human Resources Director at Blauch Brothers, Inc., shared how he implemented leadership training within their organization at the 2021 Human Resources Forum, Mendi Arnold, the Human Resources Director at Cullum Mechanical Construction, knew she wanted to further her company’s core values through quarterly leadership training. “This was implemented to establish organizational consistency for leaders and training HR non-negotiables,” Arnold said.
After the first trial session (topic: Professionalism and Respect) occurred April 6, 2021, Arnold determined the training was well attended and received great feedback, so Cullum Mechanical Construction planned another meeting date. The second session was July 7, 2021 (topic: Improving Efficiency) and also achieved a high level of success. “Everyone was involved from the top down,” Arnold said, “everyone took the time to show up and participate.” Through in-person and virtual communication, all employees were able to correlate ideas and converse with one another.
“The best part came from sharing real-world examples of issues that have come up and how they were handled, then having discussions on how things might have been handled differently,” Arnold mentioned.
Though an immense amount of positive progress has been made already, there is always room for increased growth, even for leaders. “It has opened the door for communication amongst leadership,” Arnold stated. “It has shown all leaders that executives and owners support the core values and want us to use them when deciding how to navigate problems.” An important aspect of this training is that everyone is included and the newer team members are exposed to the veterans, while also seeing how adaptable, approachable, and relatable the higher-ups actually are.
In the future, Cullum Mechanical Construction plans to continue reinforcement of their core values, mission, and vision through personal and professional improvement offered in their quarterly leadership sessions.