“Company culture” has become a catch-all term to express the essence of what makes an organization good (or, in some cases, not so good) to work for. As a human resources leader, it’s my honor to work with teams dedicated to acting as positive influencers in the culture of our company. When we set out to create new processes to protect and grow the unique culture of Simpson Strong-Tie, we had outstanding direction from our founder, whose values are as relevant today as they were more than 60 years ago when he first opened the doors.
Category: Our Culture and Values
At Simpson Strong-Tie, you’ll find talented, passionate, dedicated, humble and genuinely kind people who are all connected by our shared mission — to provide solutions that help people design and build safer, stronger structures. It’s this mission and our strong people-focused values that have made Simpson Strong-Tie a unique place to work for more than 65 years — a place where you can connect, create and build your career. We want everyone who works at Simpson Strong-Tie to feel valued and build their careers here. We’ve created a unique culture that recognizes the talents and contributions of every individual and encourages ideas and feedback in all aspects of our business. And while our values and culture have stood us in good stead, we understand the need to go beyond principle to ensure we are promoting diversity in hiring, thought and leadership.
The Forgotten Talent Acquisition Tool — The Internal Candidate
Finding the right talent has never been more difficult, in my memory. It seems companies are clamoring for rock stars and unicorns and doing whatever they can to find and attract them. Salaries are on the rise, but so is turnover. With every valued employee that leaves for a new opportunity, the workload grows for depleted departments and internal recruiting teams. It’s a cycle that’s accelerated by making poor leadership hires or encouraging a candidate exclusion approach where only the most perfect choice will do.
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Leadership in Giving Back
“Give Back” is one of our nine Company Values established by our founder, Barc Simpson. He said, “No matter what each of our personal situations is, we know that there are many others in this world who will never have the opportunities we’ve had. It is our responsibility to reach out, in whatever manner we can, to support others. We’re all connected in some way and are all part of a greater community. It’s important to make what impact you can. . . . Look for small ways to give back every day. Help out your neighbor, make time for others, do what you can.”
From Our CEO: Prioritizing Resilience in Design and Construction
In September of last year, Simpson Strong-Tie hosted our first Strong Partners Seismic Symposium in Southern California. We were pleased to feature several top speakers, including seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones, discussing the importance of making our communities more resilient.
Resilience has become a hot topic in the past several years as we continue to experience more frequent and more powerful natural disasters that devastate communities. We’ve seen numerous distressing examples of what happens when people are left without structures in which to live, learn, work and shop.
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Connecting Through Art: The Dinosaurs of Simpson Strong-Tie
One of the first things you notice when you visit our home office in Pleasanton, CA, is the art. Our late founder, Barclay Simpson, had a great appreciation for art. It’s one of the many legacies he left us. From the eight-foot metal sculpture of Michelangelo’s David — made completely from Simpson Strong-Tie products — that greets you at the main entrance, to the one-of-a-kind paintings, prints and sculptures scattered throughout the building, it’s quickly apparent that ours is not just another suburban office building.
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Giving Back: Simpson Strong-Tie Celebrates Do What You Can Day
One of the Simpson Strong-Tie core values is to give back to the communities where our employees work and live. This value, established by our company founder, Barclay Simpson, is reflected in the actions of not only our company but also of our employees.
One of our biggest days of giving back is November’s Simpson Strong-Tie Do What You Can Day, an annual event celebrated throughout our company at our locations around the world. Here are some of the ways we did what we could.
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From Our CEO: Why Company Culture Matters
“When people join our company, they don’t come for a bus stop. This is a career.”
— Barclay Simpson
That quote from our company founder is one of my favorites. I had the pleasure to work very closely with Barc when he was alive, and I can tell you that he truly believed and invested in people. I’m certainly a product of that belief.
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Engineering with Kids: Popsicle Sticks, Spaghetti and Marshmallows
Back in March, a few colleagues and I were discussing how to prepare kids for college. With that subject in mind, I wanted to do something fun and meaningful for the kids in our community. So I organized some workshops in my back yard focused on engineering with kids who might be interested in exploring structural engineering — and summer was the perfect time to do it! We had a group of 12 kids, aged 7–11, who signed up and were all set to explore some engineering concepts. It was a learning experience for me, as well!
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Girls Inc. Visits Simpson Strong-Tie Lab
On July 6, the Simpson Strong-Tie home office in Pleasanton, California, welcomed girls from Girls, Inc. of Alameda County. This visit provided an opportunity for the girls to hear from and interact with the many women leaders of Simpson Strong-Tie.
The construction and manufacturing industries continue to be male-dominated fields. The visit provided the girls the opportunity to meet several of our women leaders and also learn about other career paths that might not be automatically associated with the manufacturing industry. Our leaders — including Jacinta Pister, senior vice president, Worldwide Manufacturing; Jennifer Lutz, vice president, Human Resources; and Shelby Short, director, Global Quality Systems — shared stories of their personal success and professional growth at Simpson Strong-Tie.
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Simpson Strong-Tie Renews Partnership with Habitat for Humanity to Help Build More Disaster-Resilient Homes
Simpson Strong-Tie is renewing its partnership with Habitat for Humanity to continue supporting the housing organization’s efforts to make homes resilient to disasters. This is the 12th consecutive year of the partnership to help more families in need of a decent and affordable place to call home. To date, the manufacturer of structural product solutions has contributed more than $2.75 million toward Habitat’s mission.
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